What does sonorant mean?
A sonorant is a speech sound produced with a vocal tract that is sufficiently open for voiced airflow to pass through smoothly. Nasals such as /m/ and /n/, liquids such as /l/ and /r/, and semivowels such as /w/ and /j/ are commonly classified as sonorants. This distinguishes them from obstruents, which involve a significant closure or constriction that creates turbulence, as in /p/, /t/, /f/, and /s/. The word is most common in phonetic and phonological analysis, where it describes a articulatory class rather than the meaning of an individual sound. In some linguistic frameworks, vowels are also treated as sonorant sounds because they are produced without the complete obstruction associated with consonants. Although the classification can vary by descriptive system, “sonorant” is especially useful when comparing consonants according to airflow and vocal-tract configuration.
nounIn phonetics and linguistics, a sound produced with a relatively open vocal tract and without the turbulence that characterizes an obstruent. Nasals and liquids such as /m/, /n/, /l/, and /r/ are typical sonorants.
- A speech sound classified by its articulatory properties as having an open or relatively unobstructed vocal tract, especially a nasal or liquid consonant.
"The phoneme /r/ is a sonorant because the tongue remains close to the roof of the mouth without completely blocking the airflow."
"The /m/ and /n/ sounds are sonorants because the mouth and nasal passages are open to the moving air."
"Students learned that the glides /j/ and /w/ are sonorants in the analysis used by their phonetics course."
The plural is used when referring collectively to sounds belonging to this phonetic class.
"The manual distinguishes sonorants from fricatives, stops, and other obstruents."
Sonorants are sounds that let the voice flow: they are produced without completely sealing or sharply obstructing the airway.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sonorant come from?
The English word came through French from Latin sonorantem, a form related to sonorare, “to sound” or “to resound,” and ultimately to sonus, “sound.” The Latin root also underlies related English words such as sonorous and sonority. Latin formations connected with sounding together contributed to words including assonant and consonant.
How sonorant is actually used
The term is primarily used in phonetics, phonology, and linguistics. Classification practices vary somewhat, especially concerning whether vowels are grouped with sonorants in broader sound-class systems.
Easily confused with sonorant
A sonorant allows air to flow relatively freely through the vocal tract, whereas an obstruent, such as /f/, /s/, or /t/, creates substantial airflow obstruction or turbulence.