one of the frictionless continuants or nasals (l, r, m, n, ŋ) having consonantal or vocalic functions depending on its situation within the syllable
2.
either of the two consonants represented in English orthography by w or y and regarded as either consonantal or vocalic articulations of the vowels iː and uː
Word origin
from Latin sonor a noise + -ant
sonorant in American English
(səˈnɔrənt; soʊˈnɔrənt)
noun
Phonetics
a voiced consonant that is less sonorous than a vowel but more sonorous than an unvoiced plosive and that may occur as a syllabic
English sonorants are (l), (r), (w), (y), (m), (n), and (ŋ)