There seems to be little agreement on the definition of these names. Locher and Wedgwood describe Suabile and Suavial as names for a soft-toned Geigenprincipal, usually of 8' pitch and starting at tenor C. Hopkins & Rimbault describe Suabe Flöte as a wooden 4' stop with inverted mouths and a clear, liquid tone, starting at tenor C, and attributes its invention to William Hill. Grove, however, describes Suavial and Suabe Flöte as �a narrow-scaled 8' or 4' metal stop popular in southern Germany, Switzerland and the Habsburg countries from c1710 to the early 19th century.� Bonavia-Hunt calls Suabe Flöte a 4' Clarabella, and Maclean describes it as a small-scale metal flute, sometimes harmonic. Audsley considers Suabile to be a synonym for Soave, a different stop. M. Philbert, by way of Audsley, describes Suavial as a German Swiss celeste of Salicional scale, intended to be drawn with a Flute or Bourdon, and of very soft tone that is absorbed by the stop drawn with it. The name comes from the Latin suavis, meaning �sweet�.

Suavial 2', Hauptwerk; Herz-Jesu, Koblenz, Germany; Klais 1959. Suavial 4', Rückpositiv; Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen (Concert Hall), Magdeburg, Germany; Jehmlich 1995.

Suavial 16', Pedal; Lorenzkirche, Nürnberg, Germany; Steinmeyer 1937. Suavial 8', Great; Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, USA; Hope-Jones 1907. This is the earliest known example.

Suabe-flote 4', Swell; St. Andrew Hall, Glasgow, Scotland; Lewis 1877.