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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sonant

Sonant \So"nant\, a. [L. sonans, -antis, p. pr. of sonare to sound. See Sound a noise.]

  1. Of or pertaining to sound; sounding.

  2. (Phonetics) Uttered, as an element of speech, with tone or proper vocal sound, as distinguished from mere breath sound; intonated; voiced; vocal; tonic; the opposite of nonvocal, or surd; -- said of the vowels, semivowels, liquids, and nasals, and particularly of the consonants b, d, g hard, v, etc., as compared with their cognates p, t, k, f, etc., which are called nonvocal, surd, or aspirate. -- n. A sonant letter.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
sonant

1846, from Latin sonantem (nominative sonans), present participle of sonare "make a noise," (see sonata). As a noun from 1849.

Wiktionary
sonant

a. 1 Of or pertaining to sound; sounding. 2 (context linguistics English) voiced n. (context linguistics English) A voiced letter.

WordNet
sonant
  1. adj. of speech sounds [syn: voiced] [ant: surd]

  2. n. a speech sound accompanied by sound from the vocal cords [syn: voiced sound]

Wikipedia
Sonant

Usage examples of "sonant".

Cynthi graditur mollique fluentem fronde premit crinem fingens atque implicat auro tela sonant umeris: haud illo segnior ibat Aeneas, tantum egregio decus enitet ore.

A deep, rumbling, string of vowellike sonants that seemed for all the worid an attempt at vocalization.