guttural

comparative more guttural · superlative most guttural

1. anatomyOf, relating to, or connected to the throat.

   guttural duct of the ear; guttural pouch infection

2. human sciencesHaving a place of articulation towards the back of the mouth; in modern use, uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal; in earlier or non-technical use, also including velar.
3. Sounding harsh and throaty.

   Arabic is considered a very guttural language, with many harsh consonants.

   1 more example

   The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

plural gutturals

1. A harsh and throaty spoken sound

   He was hairy, and his speech of rough gutturals was imperfect.

   1899, Stanley Waterloo, The Wolf's Long Howl

   2 more examples

   He seems quite an exception to some husbands in that respect!" remarked the Berliner in deep gutturals.

   1912, Frederic Stewart Isham, A Man and His Money

   "Teeka is Tarzan's," said the ape-man, in the low gutturals of the great anthropoids.

   1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jungle Tales of Tarzan