2006-07-30 22:05:31 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
A ventriloquist is a performer of an act that requires a "dummy" and the ability to speak without moving ones' mouth.
2006-07-30 22:13:57 · answer #1 · answered by allannela 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ventriloquism is an act of deception in which a person (a ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The Greeks called this gastromancy. The act of ventriliquism is ventriliquizing.
Linguists claim that the technique of making sounds while giving away no clues about actually talking must have been discovered thousands of years ago and was aptly used by early chieftains and tribesmen, who acted as mediums between men and supernatural forces. Religions based on divine communications also rely on this skill which was originally performed from within a template, a circle drawn at sufficient distance from the audience so that the trick would be difficult to discover.
Some claim that possessed people mentioned in the Bible were just ventriloquists, and the case has been made that diviners in many religions, including perhaps the Oracle of Delphi, were ventriloquists or, as they were once called, "Belly Talkers".
The most familiar type of ventriloquist today is a nightclub performer sitting on a stool with a wooden dummy on his lap. This comedic style of ventriloquism, however, is a fairly recent innovation. It began in the days of Vaudeville in the late 19th century. The vaudeville acts did not concentrate on humor as much as on demonstrating the ventriloquist's ability to deceive the audience and his skill in switching voices. For this reason, many of the performers used multiple figures, switching quickly from one voice to another. Jules Vernon was one of the more famous American vaudeville ventriloquists who used multiple figures. Englishman Fred Russell pioneered the use of a single figure with his dummy Coster Joe. Perhaps the most famous vaudeville ventriloquist, however, The Great Lester, used only one figure, Frank Byron, Jr., and it is the Great Lester's success which paved the way for the one ventriloquist-with-one-figure routine which is so common today.
2006-07-31 05:10:05 · answer #2 · answered by Deep 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ventriloquism is an act of deception in which a person (a ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The Greeks called this gastromancy. The act of ventriliquism is ventriliquizing.
Linguists claim that the technique of making sounds while giving away no clues about actually talking must have been discovered thousands of years ago and was aptly used by early chieftains and tribesmen, who acted as mediums between men and supernatural forces. Religions based on divine communications also rely on this skill which was originally performed from within a template, a circle drawn at sufficient distance from the audience so that the trick would be difficult to discover.
Wikipedia.com
2006-07-31 05:09:34 · answer #3 · answered by Meh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It literally means "a person who talks(loqui) from his stomach (ventri)". That's why Greeks called it "gastromancy".
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Etymology: Late Latin ventriloquus ventriloquist, from Latin ventr-, venter + loqui to speak; from the belief that the voice is produced from the ventriloquist's stomach
1 : the production of the voice in such a way that the sound seems to come from a source other than the vocal organs of the speaker
2 : the expression of one's views and attitudes through another; especially : such expression by a writer through a fictional character or literary persona
From Wikipedia:
Linguists claim that the technique of making sounds while giving away no clues about actually talking must have been discovered thousands of years ago and was aptly used by early chieftains and tribesmen, who acted as mediums between men and supernatural forces. Religions based on divine communications also rely on this skill which was originally performed from within a template, a circle drawn at sufficient distance from the audience so that the trick would be difficult to discover.
2006-07-31 05:09:12 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ventriloquist: A person able to perfrom the act of speaking so the sounds appear to come from another source than the actual speaker themself.
Also known as "throwing one's voice"
2006-07-31 05:10:27 · answer #5 · answered by jeshzisd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ventriloquism is the ability to articulate or speak without moving your lips and this gives the illusion that the voice is emerging from thin air. It is a favourite trick of magicians and artists.
2006-07-31 09:53:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The meaning is:
A performer who projects the voice into a wooden dummy
2006-07-31 07:04:11 · answer #7 · answered by ali365_pk 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The art of projecting one's voice so that it seems to come from another source, as from a wooden figure.
2006-07-31 05:10:50 · answer #8 · answered by Erica 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someonue who uses a dummy to fake the dummy's voice.
2006-07-31 05:08:52 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someone who can throw his/her voice so as to appear not to be speaking. Usually uses a puppet to pretend that the puppet and not he/she is speaking.
2006-08-03 22:39:55 · answer #10 · answered by Totoru 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋