| Library / English Dictionary |
SPIRANT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A continuant consonant produced by breath moving against a narrowing of the vocal tract
Synonyms:
fricative; fricative consonant; spirant
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("spirant" is a kind of...):
continuant; continuant consonant (consonant articulated by constricting (but not closing) the vocal tract)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spirant"):
sibilant; sibilant consonant (a consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like s or sh))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as 'f', 's', 'z', or 'th' in both 'thin' and 'then')
Synonyms:
continuant; fricative; sibilant; spirant; strident
Classified under:
Similar:
soft ((of speech sounds); produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the hard palate; characterized by a hissing or hushing sound (as 's' and 'sh'))
