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spirantmore about spirant

spirant


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Spirant  \Spi"rant\,  n.  [L.  spirans,  -antis,  p.  pr  of  spirare  to 
  breathe.  See  {Spirit}.]  (Phon.) 
  A  term  used  differently  by  different  authorities;  --  by  some 
  as  equivalent  to  fricative,  --  that  is  as  including  all  the 
  continuous  consonants,  except  the  nasals  m,  n,  ng  with  the 
  further  exception,  by  others  of  the  liquids  r,  l,  and  the 
  semivowels  w,  y;  by  others  limited  to  f,  v,  th  surd  and 
  sonant,  and  the  sound  of  German  ch  --  thus  excluding  the 
  sibilants,  as  well  as  the  nasals,  liquids,  and  semivowels. 
  See  Guide  to  Pronunciation,  [sect][sect]  197-208. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  spirant 
  adj  :  produced  by  forcing  air  through  a  constricted  passage  (as 
  `f'.  `s',  `z',  or  `th'  (in  both  `thin'  and  `then')) 
  [syn:  {fricative},  {sibilant}] 
  n  :  a  continuant  consonant  produced  by  breath  moving  against  a 
  narrowing  of  the  vocal  tract  [syn:  {fricative  consonant}, 
  {fricative}] 




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