consonantal

Or con·so·nan·tic

[kon-suh-nan-tl]

adjective

1. of, or of the nature of, a consonant.

2. marked by consonant sounds.

consonantal

/ ˌkɒnsəˈnæntəl /

adjective

1. relating to, functioning as, or constituting a consonant, such as the semivowel w in English work

2. consisting of or characterized by consonants

   a consonantal cluster

Other Word Forms

• consonantally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of consonantal¹

First recorded in 1785–95; consonant + -al ¹

Example Sentences

The writing was no longer an ambiguous syllabary mixed with logograms but an alphabet borrowed from the Phoenician consonantal alphabet and improved by the Greek invention of vowels.

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But this is not to say that K — as U.S. headline writers shortened his rather unwieldy and consonantal name — didn’t do some sight-seeing in the Washington area.

Read more on Washington Post

It gave him not so much a lisp as a consonantal slurp, making gibberish out of his sweet nothings, but talking was never the main thing between them.

Read more on The New Yorker

The consonantal text sometimes betrays these in spite of the Massorah.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

The vowel assonance was after a time completed by the addition of consonantal assonance and then the invention of rhyme was completed.

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