sonant
9.9
A sound made when the vocal cords vibrate during speech
- noun
- /ˈsɒnənt/
- Specialized
:
sonido sonoro
- The distinction between a sonant and a voiceless sound can be heard in 'z' versus 's'.
Examples
-
The letter 'm' is a sonant because it is pronounced with vocal cord vibration.
-
Linguists classify sounds such as 'l', 'm', and 'n' as sonants.
-
A sonant is crucial for speech.
-
In phonetics, a sonant is crucial for understanding speech.
-
Linguists classify sounds such as 'l', 'm', and 'n' as sonants.
-
The distinction between a sonant and a voiceless sound can be heard in 'z' versus 's'.
-
The letter 'm' is a sonant because it is pronounced with vocal cord vibration.
Synonyms
4.1
A speech sound made when the vocal cords in your throat move quickly
is the same meaning but used as a single technical term
Antonyms
How Voiced
sonant
- Specialized
voiceless
1
7.0
- Specialized
1
7.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
Sonant comes from the Latin root sonus 'sound', like in sonic and the word sound, so it simply means a sound that 'sounds'. A sonant (noun) is a speech sound made with vocal cord vibration, in other words a 'voiced' sound.