sonant

[ soh-nuh nt ]

/ ˈsoʊ nənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sonant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Phonetics. voiced (opposed to surd).

noun Phonetics.

a speech sound that by itself makes a syllable or subordinates to itself the other sounds in the syllable; a syllabic sound (opposed to consonant).

a voiced sound (opposed to surd).

(in Indo-European) a sonorant.

Words related to sonant

oral, lyric, voiced, singing, choral, vowel, sung, articulate, phonetic, pronounced, said, spoken, uttered, verbal, articulated, expressed, operatic, phonic, vocalic

Words nearby sonant

son-, son-in-law, son-of-a-bitch stew, sonal, sonance, sonant, sonar, sonarman, sonata, sonata da camera, sonata da chiesa

Origin of sonant

1840–50; < Latin sonānt- (stem of sonāns), present participle of sonāre to sound¹. See son-, -ant

OTHER WORDS FROM sonant

so·nan·tal

[soh-nan-tl] /soʊˈnæn tl/, so·nan·tic

[soh-nan-tik] /soʊˈnæn tɪk/, adjectivein·ter·so·nant, adjectivenon·so·nant, adjective, nounun·so·nant, adjective

un·so·nan·tal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sonant

As if the 'internal evidence' of a poem containing no sonant final -e is not enough to condemn it at once.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer
Surdimū′tism, the condition of being deaf and dumb; Surd′ity, want of sonant quality.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
His hands moved quietly; his voice was clear and sonant; his words were few and polite.
Life Immovable|Kostes Palamas
The sonant and the interval of each element were measured, and all the pauses except the stanza pause were recorded.
Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1|Various

One, for example, gets the accent by a slight increase in intensity, but especially by a pause following the sonant.
Harvard Psychological Studies, Volume 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sonant

sonant

/ (ˈsəʊnənt) /

adjective

phonetics denoting a voiced sound capable of forming a syllable or syllable nucleus

inherently possessing, exhibiting, or producing a sound

noun

phonetics a voiced sound belonging to the class of frictionless continuants or nasals (l, r, m, n, ŋ) considered from the point of view of being a vowel and, in this capacity, able to form a syllable or syllable nucleus

Derived forms of sonant

sonance, nounsonantal (səʊˈnæntəl) or sonantic, adjective

Word Origin for sonant

C19: from Latin sonāns sounding, from sonāre to make a noise, resound

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012