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The idea behind something appearing is more visual in nature; it comes into sight.

What would I say if something "appeared audibly"? The sound of the oncoming car appeared to my ears!

Synonyms for appear all seem to stick to visual, material, or abstract concepts; nothing for auditory elements stand out.

LCIII
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    This comment is not intended as a criticism for your question: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/thesaurus-category/american/to-make-a-sound – Lumberjack May 08 '15 at 16:26
  • I suspect any word that is generic enough to apply to all sounds will be unappealing. We have a myriad of words to describe the act of a sound being made, but I think they're mostly specific to a particular form of sound. For consideration, look at the answer provided by @centaurus. An engine thrums, a car comes (and goes.) Or consider instead http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia and the verbs "oink" "meow" and "roar." Each of these verbs can be used to describe the appearance of a particular sound. – Lumberjack May 08 '15 at 16:38
  • Appear has many senses, but presumably OP is focused on the to become visible meaning. Which can be paralleled by to become audible*, but it's not really a direct equivalent because a sight* can suddenly manifest itself (subject was looking elsewhere or had his eyes closed, object was concealed behind something, etc.). But a sound is either there or it isn't - we can't listen in the wrong direction or close our ears, and a sound source remains audible even if it's "hiding" behind a tree. So the question itself is unsound - effectively, there is no equivalent "auditory" term. – FumbleFingers May 08 '15 at 16:52
  • @FumbleFingers If you open a door or window, the sounds on the other side will become audible. Also, as something comes closer, its sound increases in volume, which is somewhat analogous. – Barmar May 08 '15 at 18:07
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    A sight appears - and is then seen. A sound sounds - and is then heard. – Nigel J Jun 19 '18 at 03:46
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    ^ lol classic example of a comment that should have been an answer – Daniel Thompson Jun 19 '18 at 05:08
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    Not sure that appear means to come into visual "consciousness"; perhaps: appear means to come into view. And perhaps you mean to become aware of a sound or sight. Visual awareness. – Lambie Jun 19 '18 at 13:18
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    @NigelJ aha! See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil! If a tree falls in the forest .... – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 14:48
  • @DanielThompson hear was lately made an answer. Nigel is generous! – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 15:52
  • Need to make the Title question match the first sentence as the definition for appear has nothing to do with consciousness but the ability for it to be registered. Visually perceptible is different than the act of perception itself. ie ( John turned his head to look after the deer appeared from behind above the tree ) – Tom22 Jun 19 '18 at 16:55
  • So, you're looking for a word that means "perceive via hearing". There are various words like perceive, pick up, catch that mean something becomes perceptible, but don't specify hearing as the sense being used. Some answers here focus on the sending of the sound, rather than the receiving of it... – Tom Hundt Jun 19 '18 at 21:03
  • Good discussion on a more recent duplicate question https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/450913/what-is-the-aural-equivalent-to-the-word-appear/450938?noredirect=1#comment1085643_450938 – Tom22 Jun 19 '18 at 22:40
  • All of the given answers are only audio versions of appear, none work for appearance. You can't say a person made an appearance at a show if it was only an audio call and none of the answers below work for this situation, they're only for the verb form, not the noun form. – Synetech May 04 '22 at 17:19

13 Answers13

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Assuming you're asking for the sound equivalent of:

A light appeared in the forest

Emerge

to become manifest : become known

  • A sound emerged from the forest
wrymug
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    and emergence is not registered till heard – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 14:44
  • @lbf, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" – user28434 Jun 19 '18 at 14:49
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    @user28434 ... most certainty. you though may not hear it! – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 14:58
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    @Ibf and appearance is not registered till seen :) – wrymug Jun 19 '18 at 16:54
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    Sure, it's correct usage, but I feel like this risks sounding unnatural. In my reckoning 'emerge' sounds almost volitional and is better used with beings, ideas, etc. Not only that but I feel like it applies to visual cues more than auditory ones. – Daniel Thompson Jun 20 '18 at 05:18
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Along with "arise" or "emerge," you could use "ring out."

"Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night."

Or, along with those, and if you aren't talking about a sound, you could use sound as a verb. Like this:

"The trumpets sounded from the other side of the room."

But maybe don't say: "The sound sounded from the other side of the room." Unless you're after that.

Lyovin K.
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A word that's sometimes used is arise. As in the line from A Visit From Saint Nicholas:

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Barmar
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4

Along with "emerge", you could use "arise"

Arise

a : to begin to occur or to exist : to come into being or to attention

Emerged is taking over in usage, though, vs. arose, when paired with "sound"

You might try looking up the comparison for your specific example.

Edit

To clarify the difference between verbs that reference the production or perception of a sound or image:

Like appear (and emerge), arise references the perception of its subject (to come in sight, to come into attention, to become known).

Appear, 1 a : to be or come in sight

when the sun appears on the horizon

Compare to the verb sound, which references the moment of sound production

transitive verb 1 a : to cause to sound

sound a trumpet

intransitive verb 1 a: to make a sound

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De Novo
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    Good call on the distinction that "sound" is different from appear ! I agree with you there that "sound" is not "able to be heard" but "production of a noise". A car approaching does not "sound" at the point you can hear it but it does appear at the point you can see it. – Tom22 Jun 19 '18 at 18:20
  • @Tom22 I think the OP is just trying to be more precise about what sense of appear s/he is looking for. I understand to come in sight as coming into visual awareness. OED uses become visible or noticeable. You notice something visible when it comes into visual consciousness. That's my read, anyway. – De Novo Jun 19 '18 at 18:40
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Emanated

You can have "a person appeared from behind the wall" as well as "a sound emanated from behind the wall".

Dorian
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"Appear means to come into visual consciousness"

and

Hear means to "perceive with the ear the sound made by (someone or something)."

"Behind her she could hear men's voices"
verb: hear; 3rd person present: hears; past tense: heard; past participle: heard; gerund or present participle: hearing

Robyn Simpson
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  • The analogous word for 'hear' in visual context would be 'see', so I don't agree with your answer. – Bakabaka Jun 19 '18 at 08:59
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    +1 to hear is elegantly simple ... most other words are embellishment and matters of opinion @Bakabaka – lbf Jun 19 '18 at 14:42
  • @Ibf I agree that using to hear would generally make for a better sentence, since it's transitive (vs. appear, which is intransitive) – De Novo Jun 19 '18 at 16:54
  • hear is to see as ____ is to appear. The two do not go together. I hear the sound, I see the elephant . The bell can be heard and the elephant can be seen (but need past particle with the 'can'?). However He appeared the elephant doesn't work - the elephant appearing and it being seen are two different things. – Tom22 Jun 19 '18 at 22:59
2

Stick with simplicity. I propose go.(Oxford, sense 4.2)

Make a sound of a specified kind:

the engine went bang

The elevator went ping and the doors opened.

It was dark. I couldn't see anything. Suddenly, I heard a gun go bang.

Speaking of guns, go off is related:

(Of a gun, bomb, or similar device) explode or fire:

(Of an alarm) begin to sound.

And then, I heard an alarm go off in the distance.

In case you're not still convinced, watch this.

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Tushar Raj
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When used as a verb sound can mean (ODO):

Emit or cause to emit sound

[no object]: a loud buzzer sounded

[with object]: she sounded the horn

Similarly to the way to appear is used for visible objects, e.g.

A magnificent sight appeared in front of their eyes

there are examples of usage for to sound

This chiming... Which I've had sounding in my ears for ten years

from: Strindberg and the Five Senses by Hans-Goran Ekman

or

Another and other hoofs than Puck's sounded in my ears close ... and crushed against mo-a sharp pain smote through my chest—a roar sounded in my ears- horses seemed to be about and around me on every side, and it was all darkness.

from: London Society, Volume 8; Volume 10 James Hogg, Florence Marryat

(emphasis mine)

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Lucky
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Fade-In; or, Coalesce

Per the OED, Fade-in is:

...the gradual... increase in the brightness or definition of a picture or the loudness of a sound.

A more poetic, if not literal, word would be Coalesce:

To bring together, merge; to combine (parts or elements) to form one whole.

Though it does not use the word Coalesce, I always think of Salieri's quote from Amadeus, which I think captures the spirit of it:

On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse, bassoons and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly; high above it, an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight!

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Jerry
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"The sound became audible." Other ways it could be phrased are: "I began to hear the sound of ...", "I became aware of the sound of ...", "The sound of ... slowly entered my awareness." or possibly "The silence was broken by the sound of ..."

Wayne Goode
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  • "A faint noise which quickly evolved into the thrumming of an engine."

  • "I could hear the faint noise of a car coming in the distance."

  • "A faint noise which quickly turned into the distant sound of a car coming down the road."

Centaurus
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Resound -
re·sound
rəˈzound/Submit
verb
1.
(of a sound, voice, etc.) fill a place with sound; be loud enough to echo.
"another scream resounded through the school"
synonyms: echo, re-echo, reverberate, ring out, boom, thunder, rumble "the explosion resounded around the silent street"

Alternatively a source independent descriptor for something to appear, emerge, or develop could be the word arrive which could apply to sound.

Jacob
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Crescendo

Depending on what you're after, then crescendo might be what you want.

From https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crescendo:

Verb. To increase in intensity, to reach or head for a crescendo.

An example from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/crescendo:

Then his ears caught a crescendo of the whispering that he had heard before.

The Whispering Spheres, Russell Robert Winterbotham

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plebbus
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