BUILDING VOCABULARY 2

 TO UTTER AND MUTTER

In the introduction, we came across the word 'mutter'. But did you know that 'mutter' has something to do with 'utter'? Sounds interesting, right?

👉 To utter means to speak. Simple!
👉 To mutter means to speak in a low, unclear tone — like when you're grumbling or talking under your breath.

So, the opposite of muttering is speaking clearly. And when we speak clearly, we either articulate or enunciate.

• To articulate means to speak clearly and distinctly.
• To enunciate means to pronounce each word very clearly.

Let's do a quick recap:

WORD	MEANING
UTTER	Speak
MUTTER	Speak Unclearly
ARTICULATE	Speak Clearly
ENUNCIATE	Speak clearly and Precisely

 

Spotting Connections (Analogies)

Now, here's something interesting. Sometimes you'll come across word problems that test how well you understand connections between words - analogy problems.

For example:
ENUNCIATE: WORDS

✅ "Think about it: What could be the connection here?"  Well, when we enunciate, our words become clear and distinct. So, the connection is:
✅ Enunciating makes words clear.

Now, look at this analogy:
LIMN: LINES

Ever heard the word limn? It means to draw or sketch something very clearly. So, just like enunciating makes words clear, limning makes lines clear. The link here is all about making something clear or distinct.

So the analogy works like this:
👉 ENUNCIATE: WORDS
👉 LIMN: LINES

(When we ‘enunciate’ our words become clear, just as when we ‘limn’ our lines become clear)

Cool, right?

 

Back to Muttering...

Now that we've explored clear speaking, let's turn back to muttering.

✅ Did you know there are many synonyms for 'mutter'?

·       Mumble – when you speak unclearly.

• Whisper – when you speak in a low voice, usually so no one hears you.
• Murmur – when you speak softly and in an unclear way.

All of these are ways of speaking in low or unclear tones. And when we speak like that, our voice can get muffled (like when you talk under a blanket).

Here's something fun to think about:

• Sound can get muffled.
• Light can get muted (dimmed).

Now we can create an analogy:
👉 SOUND: MUFFLED
👉 LIGHT: MUTED

(In each pair, the first word tells you how someone speaks, and the second shows in what manner they do it.)

Neat, huh?

Different Ways of Speaking

Let's go a little further. There are many different ways of speaking. Here's a quick look:

• MUTTER → Speak unclearly.
• SHOUT → Speak very loudly.
• DRONE → Speak in a flat, monotonous tone.
• ARTICULATE → Speak clearly and distinctly.

This creates another set of analogies:
👉 MUTTER: INDISTINCTLY (You can't hear clearly.)
👉 SHOUT: LOUDLY (Everyone hears you!)
👉 DRONE: MONOTONOUSLY (Same tone, no excitement.)
👉 ARTICULATE: DISTINCTLY (Perfect clarity.)

(In each pair the first word denotes a way of uttering and the second the mode of uttering)

You can even flip the analogy:
👉 MUTTER: DISTINCT (When you mutter, your words are not distinct.)
👉 ARTICULATE: UNCLEAR (When you articulate, your words are not unclear.)

(The first word is in opposite relation to the second)

Isn't it amazing how much you can learn from just two simple words — utter and mutter?

So the next time someone mutters, don't just say 'What?!' — ask them to ‘articulate’ or ‘enunciate’. Who knows, you might impress them with your vocabulary!