Single word for something that is 'sound producing'

Question

I need a single word for "sound producing".

What do you call something that produces sound?

Example: Radio is ___________ (sound producing) but I need a single word.

Answer 1

Soniferous is what you're looking for.

Soniferous: Producing or conducting sound.

Example: Soniferous marine animals — M-W

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How I found it:

I combined soni and ferous to make an adjective:

Soni of sonication + (-iferous) → Soniferous.

Sonication is a noun which means relating to sound. It's derived from sonic.

Sonic is an adjective which means:

Denoting, relating to, or of the nature of sound or sound waves.

Example: The whales emit sonic pulse systems — Lexico

-Ferous is a suffix which is defined by Lexico as:

-ferous (also -iferous): Having, bearing, or containing (a specified thing)

Examples: Carboniferous, pestiferous.

Origin: From French -fère or Latin -fer ‘producing’, from ferre ‘to bear’.

First I combined sono of sonography and some adjective forming suffixes like ful, ive, ic etc and googled them but did not find any useful results. But googled sonoferous, the second result was 'soniferous' so I then googled soniferous and found its definition.

Quote from IBT UK:

The most common sources of marine biological sounds are snapping shrimp snaps, sea urchin raspings and fish vocalisations. Snapping shrimp (family Alpheidae), are the most ubiquitous and noisy soniferous animals in coastal ecosystems.

Answer 2

If you think of television as a visual medium, then the obvious equivalent word would be aural. The word is often used in educational contexts but may be less familiar more widely. You could otherwise speak of a sound medium. You would, I think, be forgiven by the possible ambiguity. Aural is better.

Answer 3

Your other apparent option would be sonic
From M-W: capable of uttering sounds; utilizing, produced by, or relating to sound waves

Answer 4

My suggestion is:

• Radio is/has sound

If you're talking about something that's more than sound, you need to use the verb has:

• TV has sound

Why would I suggest this? Because it's extremely natural and it works in virtually any context. (You might say it's so natural that it seems silly to even suggest this as an answer!) It's neutral in connotation and formality. I offer no definitions because it can be used to communicate with anyone of any level of English fluency.

Here are some examples in use:

• Live radio is sound transmitted by radio waves, as the sound happens. (Wikipedia)

• Even though radio is sound only, nonverbal communication is still important. (Speaking via Electronic Media)

• Radio has sound, but no text or visuals. Television has sound, video and, theoretically, it can also display text. (Teens and the Media)

You can also sometimes use "audio" instead of "sound", with the difference being that "audio" is usually used only for sound that came from somewhere else (e.g. it's a recording or a speaker that you're hearing). For example:

• Radio is audio and audio is sound. Voice is sound and sound is audio. (How Technology Helps Radio and Its Listeners)

(Also that last source shows us another example of flexibility here with the expressions "audio medium", "audio technology", etc.: noun adjuncts!)

Answer 5

Not very descriptive so, here's what a radio is, what radio is, and what radio does.

A transistor radio is an electroacoustic device used to reproduce sound via an integral speaker(s) or an ear piece(s).

"Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz)."

"Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sometimes with related metadata) by radio waves intended to reach a wide audience."

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I realize I'm way to caught up on radio, but it's the only thing we have to go on for "sound producible", as it's all dependent on how the thing is capable of making sound. If it's percussive you have to hit it. If it requires electrical energy it's electroacoustic. If it relies solely on vibration and does not require electrical energy nor percussive force, it needs a resonance chamber or body, which is called acoustic.