# Loud / quiet / silent



## ThomasK

Music can be loud, quiet, silent. I suppose those are the main distinctions. How do you translate those? And do you use them in certain idiomatic combinations, wheres the word are no longer used literally? 

Dutch: 
- *luid *(loud) > _geluid _(sound) > _klokken luiden _(bells toll, chime), _het luidt als volgt _(it reads as follows) > _lees luidop _(read aloud)
- *zacht *(soft), *rustig *(quiet)
- *stil *(normally *'silent' *[_stille film, iets stil houden _(not to speak about something, keep it a secret)], but it can *also *mean *'soft, quiet'*, as in _stille muziek_, _zit stil _(be/ sit quiet(ly), stilletjes (quietly, _doucement _in French) > _stilte _(silence)
(You can turn them into verbs of course - using _ver-en_)

Do you have this parallel between 'quiet' and 'silent' as well?


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

*Loud*: 
As an adjective:
1/ «Hχηρός, -ή, -ό» [içi'ros içi'ri içi'ro] (masc./fem./neut.); a modern construction (1871) in order to translate the French expression _sonore bruyant_. From the Classical masculine noun «ἦχος» ('ēxŏs)--> _sound, echo_ (probably from *sengʷʰ-, _to sing_) + productive suffix (for adj.) «-ε/ηρός».
2/ «Bροντερός, -ή, -ό» [vronde'ros vronde'ri vronde'ro] (masc./fem./neut.); a modern construction (1883). From the Classical feminine noun «βροντὴ» (brŏn'tē)--> _thunder_ (PIE base *bʰrem-/*bʰerem- (2), _to make a noise, buzz, fuzz_).
As an adverb:
1/ «Δυνατά» [ðina'ta]; Medieval/Byzantine construction, a derivation from the Classical verb «δύναμαι» ('dŭnāmæ)--> _to be strong enough_ (with obscure etymology).
2/ «Φωναχτά» [fona'xta]; from the Classical verb «φωνασκέω/φωνασκῶ» (pʰōnă'skĕō [uncontracted]/pʰōnā'skō [contracted])--> lit. _to train one's voice, learn to sing_ metaph. _to produce loud noise/tone_, ultimately from the Classical feminine noun «φωνὴ» (pʰō'nē; [fo'ni] in Modern Greek)--> _the sound of the voice_ (PIE base *bʰā- (2), _to speak_). 
*Quiet*:
As an adjective:
1/ «ήσυχος, -χη, -χο» ['isixos 'isiçi 'isixo] (masc./fem./neut.); from the Classical feminine noun «ἡσυχία» (hēsŭ'xīă)--> _silence, stillness_ of unknown origin.
2/ «σιωπηλός, -λή, -λό» [siopi'los siopi'li siopi'lo] (masc./fem./neut.); from the Classical feminine noun «σιωπὴ» (sĭō'pē)--> _silence_ of unknown origin.
3/ «σιγανός, -νή, -νό» [siɣa'nos siɣa'ni siɣa'no] (masc./fem./neut.); from the Classical feminine noun «σιγὴ» (sī'gē)--> _silence_ (perhaps from PIE base *swī-, _to diminish, get smaller_).
4/ «αθόρυβος, -βη, -βο» [a'θorivos a'θorivi a'θorivo] (masc./fem./neut.); privative prefix «α-» (a-) + Classical masculine noun «θόρυβος» ('tʰŏrūbŏs; ['θorivos] in Modern Greek)--> _noise, tumult_ (PIE base *dʰrew-/*dʰerw-, _to bang, roar_ cognate with Ger. _dröhnen_).
All of the above adj. produce adverbs--> «ήσυχα» ['isixa], «σιωπηλά» [siopi'la], «σιγανά» [siɣa'na], «αθόρυβα» [a'θoriva].


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## Outsider

In Portuguese:
*loud*: _alto_; literally "high"
*quiet*: _suave_/_baixo_; literally "soft/low"

This previous thread is somewhat related.

How can music be silent?


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## ThomasK

There is indeed a link, but there is also a confusion, a mix-up: between pitch and volume. I am referring to volume only. 

*'Stille muziek'* (silent music) in Dutch (Belgian Dutch ?) just means 'not loud', that is the strange thing. So indeed, it becomes about the same as _zacht, rustig_, etc., as I said. There is a strange double meaning of 'stil' (ad.)indeed, but not of 'stilte' (silence). That reminds me of the English 'still': 'be still and ...' can just mean 'be quiet' (calm) and but 'be quiet' often means 'don't say a word'. So there is some ambiguity there as well.

It seems amazing to me that Greek has three words for 'silence', none of them showing a clear etymology (could that not mean they are older?).


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*:

1) _Hiljainen_ is the word for 'quiet', _olla hiljaa_ 'to be quiet', _hiljentyä rukoukseen_ 'bow one's head in prayer' (lit. quiet oneself in a prayer), _hiljentyä kuolleen sotilaan muistolle_ 'calm oneself in the memory of the late soldier'. Sometimes _hiljaa_ (quietly) can be used in the sense of 'slowly': _aja hiljaa sillalla_, 'drive slowly on the bridge'.

2) _Kovaääninen_, "loud-voiced", means "loud" when used as an adjective. (The noun _kovaääninen_ = _kaiutin_ means "loudspeaker".) The primary meaning of 'kova' is 'hard, not soft, tough, rough'. _Laita radiota kovemmalle_, 'increase the volume of the radio' (lit. put the radio louder/"harder"), _puhua kovaa_/_kovaäänisesti_, to speak loudly. _Älä aja niin kovaa!_ means 'Don't drive so fast!'

3) Silent/mute is _mykkä_ in Finnish. The word also means 'a dumb/mute/speechless person'. _Mykistyä_ means 'be dumbfounded, fall silent (eg. of awe)', _mykistää tietokoneen kaiuttimet_, mute the loudspeakers of the computer, _mykkäfilmi_, 'a silent film'.


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## ThomasK

^Quite interesting that here too there is some association between loud and hard, between quiet and soft, between quiet and slow. I guess though that the main meaning of the word for _quiet _is often 'calm', and not 'silent' as such. I could have pointed out that loud music in Dutch may be translated as 'harde muziek'.


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## Tamar

In Hebrew:
Loud music - מוזיקה חזקה muzika khazaka - "strong/hard" music. Or: מוזיקה רועשת muzika ro'eshet. Come from רעש ra'ash - noise. 

Quiet music - מוזיקה שקטה muzika shketa - "shketa" means quite, silent ("sheket" is silence. מוזיקה שקטה would be all "zachte/rustige/stille muziek").
You can also say מוזיקה רגועה nuzika re'gua = calm music, but I would normally go for the first (and I'm not 100% sure that "quiet" and "calm" are the same).


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## Moro12

Actually, when you say “quiet music” and “silent music”, you mean the same thing, don’t you?

Well, in Russian:

*Music:* музыка ['mu.zᵻ.kə]
*Loud music:* громкая музыка ['ɡrom.kə.jə.'mu.zᵻ.kə]. There are also other expressions, but they involve additional nuances, e.g.: шумная музыка ['ʂum.nə.jə.'mu.zᵻ.kə] (literally: “noisy music”), the meaning is close but not exactly the same.
*Quiet/silent music:* тихая музыка ['tji.xə.jə.'mu.zᵻ.kə]. There are also other expressions, but they involve additional nuances, e.g.: спокойная музыка [spɐ'koɪ̯.nə.jə.'mu.zᵻ.kə] (literally: “calm music”), the meaning is somewhat similar but not exactly the same.

*Loud as adjective:* громкий ['ɡrom.kjɪ ɪ̯] – громкая ['ɡrom.kə.jə] – громкое ['ɡrom.kə.jə] – громкие ['ɡrom.kjɪ.jɪ] (masc. / fem. / neut. / pl.).
Its basic meaning is “loud” and it is only used to describe sounds (“high volume sound”). It can also be used figuratively when referring to words, speeches, news etc.: громкие слова ['ɡrom.kjɪ.jɪ.slɐ.'va] “big words”, “flaming words”, громкий скандал ['ɡrom.kjɪ ɪ̯.skɐn.'dɑɫ] “big scandal”, “resounding scandal” etc.
Ethimologically related words: громкость ['ɡrom.kəsjtj] “sound volume”, “loudness” (quality noun), гром [ɡrom] “thunder” (noun), греметь [ɡrjɪ.'mjetj] “to thunder” (verb), громыхать [ɡrə.mᵻ.'xatj] “to rumble”, “to lumber” (verb), громить [ɡrɐ.'mjitj] “to smash”, “to destroy”, “to raid”, “to defeat” (verb), разгром [rɐz.'ɡrom] “defeat”, “rout”, “devastation” (noun), погром [pɐ.'ɡrom] “massacre”, “pogrom” (Russian-origin word).

*Quite/silent as adjective:* тихий ['tji.xjɪ ɪ̯] – тихая ['tji.xə.jə] – тихое ['tji.xə.jə] – тихие ['tji.xjɪ.jɪ] (masc. / fem. / neut. / pl.).
It has 3 basic meanings.
The primary meaning is “quiet/silent” when referring to sounds (“low volume sound”). Note that the adjective can both mean “low volume sound” (assuming there is some sound) and “no sound at all” depending on the context. If applied to “sound”, “word”, “speech”, “voice”, “music”, “song” etc. it would be understood as “low (but not zero) volume sound”. If applied to “evening”, “night”, “forest”, “shore” etc. it would likely be understood as “no sound at all, zero-volume sound”.
An additional meaning is to describe behaviour: “calm”, “quiet”, “peaceful” when applied to “weather”, “child”, “disposition”, “life”, “town” etc. In this case, «тихий» can be replaced by its synonym «спокойный» [spɐ'koɪ̯.nᵻɪ̯] “calm”.
One more additional meaning is somewhat related to the previous one, it describes motion: “slow”, and can be applied to “ride”, “pace”. In this case, «тихий» can be replaced by its synonym «медленный» ['mje.dljɪ.n:ᵻɪ̯] “slow”.
Derivative: тишина [tjɪ.ʂᵻ.'na] “silence” (noun). Note that the noun (unlike the adjective) always means “no sound at all” and not “low volume sound”.


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## ThomasK

I don't think that 'silent music' could be used in English: that would be contradiction, I think, whereas our 'stil' is silent or quiet, depending on what you refer to: 'wees stil' and 'stille film' mean 'silent', one could say, but 'stille muziek' would be quiet music, few decibels. By the way: your тихий  word seems to show up the same 'ambiguity'. Would you also be able to say : _do something very тихий_, meaning very slowly, carefully? 

Interesting notes on /grom/ : the link with thunder and with destroying. The word suggests a link between loud noise and violence, so it seems. Would the 'underlying meaning' of /grom/ be thunder indeed, or noise at the same time.


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:*_
_Hög_ (high) - _med hög röst/stämma_ (with a loud voice) - _högljudd musik_ (highsounding music)
_Stark_ (strong) - _med stark röst_ (with a loud voice) -_ kyrkklockorna ljöd starkt_ (the church bells sounded strong)
_Ljudlig_ (sounding) - _med ljudlig stämma_ (with a sounding voice) 

_Tyst_ (silent) - _hon pratade tyst_ (she spoke silently/with a low voice) 
_Mjuk_ (soft) - _hon talade mjukt/hennes röst var mjuk_ (she spoke softly/her voice was soft)
_Stillsam_ (quiet) - _stillsam musik _(quiet/soft/slow music)

_Kraftfull_ (powerful) - _kraftfull musik_ (strong music, not necessarily loud)


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:
			
		

> It seems amazing to me that Greek has three words for 'silence', none of them showing a clear etymology (could that not mean they are older?).


Now that you mention it, it's indeed weird. And we use the three interchangeably, a mother could ask from her rowdy children for a few minutes of «ησυχία», «σιγή» or «σιωπή». Come to think of it, we mostly associate «σιωπή» with a loud voice and «ησυχία» or «σιγή» with loud noises in general.



			
				ThomasK said:
			
		

> I don't think that 'silent music' could be used in English: that would be contradiction, I think, whereas our 'stil' is silent or quiet, depending on what you refer to: 'wees stil' and 'stille film' mean 'silent', one could say, but 'stille muziek' would be quiet music, few decibels.


We too can associate music with «ησυχία», «σιγή» or «σιωπή». «Ἠσυχη μουσική» ['isiçi musi'ci] is the quiet music with low db. «Σιγανή μουσική» [siɣa'ni musi'ci] is the slow music (without beats or highs). «Σιωπηλή μουσική» [siopi'li musi'ci] is the song-less/instrument-less music; e.g. the sound of the waves drifting ashore is «σιωπηλή μουσική»


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## francisgranada

Hungarian:

*hangos *loud, e.g. music, speach
*halk *"not loud", quiet, e.g. music, speach
*csendes *silent, still in general, e.g. a small town, a man who is not speaking

Other words:
*
hallgatag *"silent", e.g. a man who does not to speek to much
*hangtalan *silent, soundless 
*zajtalan *silent, noiseless
*néma* silent, mute (also in case of the silent film)

(For _quiet_, in general, there are other words: _békés, szelíd, nyugodt ...)_


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## Moro12

francisgranada said:


> Hungarian:
> *néma* silent, mute (also in case of the silent film)



I wonder if this Hungarian word somehow related to the Russian немой /nemoy/ meaning "dumb". And we can use it referring to a film exactly the same way: немой фильм /nemoy fil'm/ or немое кино /nemoye kino/.

Or is it a pure coincidence?


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## francisgranada

^In Hungarian,_ néma i_s a borrowing from some (probably southern) Slavic language.


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## Moro12

Thank you! That's interesting, so my guess was right.

This is a bit of out of the topic, but might be interesting:
As far as I know, the original meaning of немой /nemoy/ in old Russian (and, probably, in other Slavic languages) was "a person who speaks incomprehensibly" (the modern meaning is "a dumb person"). That explains why the Russian word for "a German" is немец /nemets/, and "the German language" is немецкий язык /nemetskiy yazyk/.


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## ThomasK

Thanks, Mr AO, and can you use any of those terms in a metaphorical way ? 

Thanks, Apmoy, for the explanations. It does seem strange indeed to have the three words if they almost mean the same. But I guess there is this implicit idea of 'peace and quiet' involved? I suppose. We'd say to children that they must be 'stil' or 'rustig' (quiet - you recognize the English word _rest_).

As for Hungarian, Francis: it is clear that 'silent' means way more than 'no dB', doesn't it. That is the interesting thing about this issue: those terms are seldom purely descriptive. But I don't feel able to explore the depth of that distinction, or no, ambiguity. or can we simply 'reduce' it to the very human association that peace and quiet suppose silence or lack of noise? I suppose some of the terms mentioned here for *'loud' are synonyms of 'noisy'*, but it has not become clear from the translations.


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## ThomasK

I just read this at the _high/low _thread: 



> We use 'high' (*alta*) for loud voice and 'low' (*baja*) for whispering.
> 
> _Dilo en voz alta_: say it outloud [in a loud/high voice]
> _Dilo en voz baja_: whisper it



The same in French: _*à voix basse/ haute*. 

_As for the *nemoy/ dumb *point: quite interesting, but a sidethread, I am afraid. We also have *doof *(deaf)/ *stom *(mute), and _stom _is considered a very high degree of... stupidity (just like German _dof_, also stupid). But I consider that a sidethread, because this association only turns up here due to *stomme film *(silent movie, but now often replaced by *stille film *in Dutch because of that unpleasant association).


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## francisgranada

ThomasK said:


> ... As for Hungarian, Francis: it is clear that 'silent' means way more than 'no dB', doesn't it. That is the interesting thing about this issue: those terms are seldom purely descriptive. But I don't feel able to explore the depth of that distinction, or no, ambiguity. or can we simply 'reduce' it to the very human association that peace and quiet suppose silence or lack of noise? I suppose some of the terms mentioned here for *'loud' are synonyms of 'noisy'*, but it has not become clear from the translations.



As to the logic of Hungarian: I don't know if the following will help you, but let me try ... :

*csend *- silence (noun)
*csendes -* silent, still ... (adjective)
[*csendtelen *- "silentless" (possible adjective, but practically not used) ]

*hang *- sound (noun)
*hangos -* loud (adjective, the meaning is clearly "loud", not  "noisy")
*hangtalan -* soundless (adjective)

*zaj *- noise (noun)
*zajos -* noisy (adjective)
*zajtalan *- noiseless (adjective)

*halk -* quiet, "not loud" (adjective, with no corresponding noun; only in sense of "dB", without any other connotation)
*hallgatag -* silent, taciturn (adjective from the verb _hallgatni - to listen_)
*néma -* dumb, mute (adjective/noun; unable to speak; "who doesn't speak at all" (even if temporarily))

(The English_ quiet_ is translated with various words, according to the context)


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## ThomasK

That is quite a lot of information, thanks a lot. I have just been thinking in terms of antonyms. In /concept/ terms: I thought /silence (1, semantically speaking)/ could be opposed to noise, and therefore just implies: little 'noise', no disturbing noise. I suppose sound (hang) and silence (2) are more technical, to be expressed in dB. I suppose English has two different words for these two concepts: _*silence *_/silence, 2/ and _*quiet *_/ silence, 1/, and maybe that is your opposition between _csend _and _halk_.  We can do it with stilte, which we use in quite some contexts, and very, very metaphorically, I'd say. 

Not sure, but guessing. Thanks for your food for thought.


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## mataripis

In Tagalog, Loud= 1.) Malakas (vibration is felt)  2.) Maingay (the sounds of rock music)  2.) Quite= Malumanay/ katamtaman    3.) Silent= Mahina/tila bulong


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## OneStroke

Chinese:
Loud: 大聲 - da sheng, big sound (no lit. necessary because it's already lit.! )
Quiet: 安靜 - anjing. 'An' means peaceful, serene, etc.; 'jing' (as a morpheme) can mean stationary or quiet, and I'm not sure which is the root...
Soft: 小聲 - xiao sheng, small sound (again, not lit.!)
Silent: 寧靜 - ningjing. 'Ning' means peaceful, serene, etc., much like 安, really; 'jing' is the same as above. Ning has a different meaning with a different tone (there's a Chinese forum thread on that). There's also the idiom 鴉雀無聲 ya que wu sheng - the crows and birds make no sound, which is very silent!


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## ThomasK

Just one more question, Mr/Ms OneStroke: do you use _anjing _or _ningjing _when telling/ asking someone to be quiet? Or can you use both?

Could you give me the specific meaning of the crows expression ?


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## AquisM

ThomasK said:


> Just one more question, Mr/Ms OneStroke: do you use _anjing _or _ningjing _when telling/ asking someone to be quiet? Or can you use both?


安静 _anjing_ would be used (Be quiet!: 安静一点！). 宁静 _ninjing_ is used only as adjective.



> Could you give me the specific meaning of the crows expression ?


It is just a nice little phrase to describe a silent surrounding.


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## OneStroke

Yep. We also have other words for quiet, e.g. 寂靜 (jijing, both morphemes meaning quiet) and 幽靜 (youjing, in which the you is a rather profound morpheme describing an atmosphere which is quiet, dark, etc.)

肅靜 is used to tell noisy children to be quiet and serious.


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## ThomasK

Just by the way, I started a similar topic at this thread, but I was younger then ;-(...


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## ger4

Trying to compare German with its related languages...


ThomasK said:


> Dutch:
> - *luid *(loud) > _geluid _(sound) > _klokken luiden _(bells toll, chime), _het luidt als volgt _(it reads as follows) > _lees luidop _(read aloud)
> - *laut* (laut) > _Klang, Geräusch_ (sound) > _die Glocken läuten_ (bells chime), _es lautet folgendermaßen _(it reads as follows) > _laut lesen_ (to read aloud





> - *zacht *(soft), *rustig *(quiet)
> - (*sanft, weich* isn't really used to describe sounds in German, I think), *ruhig* (quiet)





> - *stil *(normally *'silent' *[_stille film, iets stil houden _(not to speak about something, keep it a secret)], but it can *also *mean *'soft, quiet'*, as in _stille muziek_, _zit stil _(be/ sit quiet(ly), stilletjes (quietly, _doucement _in French) > _stilte _(silence)
> - *still; verschwiegen* (<-- schweigen) [_etwas verschweigen_ (not to speak about sth)], _stille Musik_ (quiet music), _still sitzen_ (to sit quietly) > _Stille_ (silence)





AutumnOwl said:


> _*Swedish:*
> Hög_ (high) - _med hög röst/stämma_ (with a loud voice) - _högljudd musik_ (highsounding music)
> _Stark_ (strong) - _med stark röst_ (with a loud voice) -_ kyrkklockorna ljöd starkt_ (the church bells sounded strong)
> _Ljudlig_ (sounding) - _med ljudlig stämma_ (with a sounding voice)
> _laut_ (loud), _lautstark_ (lit.: sound-strong), _kräftige Stimme_ (powerful voice), _geräuschvoll _(lit.: sound-full)





> _Tyst_ (silent) - _hon pratade tyst_ (she spoke silently/with a low voice)
> _Mjuk_ (soft) - _hon talade mjukt/hennes röst var mjuk_ (she spoke softly/her voice was soft)
> _Stillsam_ (quiet) - _stillsam musik _(quiet/soft/slow music)
> _leise, still _(both can be translated as 'quiet', 'silent') - _sie sprach leise, ihre Stimme war leise_ (she spoke softly, with a soft voice)





> _Kraftfull_ (powerful) - _kraftfull musik_ (strong music, not necessarily loud)
> _kraftvoll_ - kraftvolle Musik (very similar, I think; not necessarily loud)


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