Definition of spirant in English:
spirant
adjective ˈspʌɪr(ə)ntˈspaɪrənt
Phonetics (of a consonant) uttered with a continuous expulsion of breath.
Example sentencesExamples
- The exception to this rule is the preposition a from Latin ` ad ’, where the final d became assimilated in sound with the consonant following it, and then the cluster underwent spirant mutation.
- There are three types of mutations, the nasal mutation, the spirant mutation and lenition.
- All the Welsh grammars say Welsh has 3 types of mutation - soft, nasal and spirant, and 9 consonants that are mutable.
- Despite this assertion I do not believe the spirant pronunciation is obvious at all.
noun ˈspʌɪr(ə)ntˈspaɪrənt
Phonetics A spirant consonant; a fricative.
Example sentencesExamples
- The shifting of the voiced spirants and explosives did not extend over all the HG. dialects.
- When at the beginning of a word it will be a stop, otherwise it will be a spirant.
- That leaves the rest of the ‘spirants’ free and clear.
- The English example provided in the Collegiate is the ‘ch’ in ‘choose’ being a combination of the ‘explosive’ ‘t’ and the spirant ‘sh.’
- When we extend our analysis to Western and Southern Numic, we are forced to conclude that in no Numic language have the taps ever belonged to a series of spirants.
Derivatives
noun ˌspʌɪrəntʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)nˌspaɪrənˌtaɪˈzeɪʃən
Phonetics The constraint which forces spirantization also predicts the distribution of released and unreleased stops.
Example sentencesExamples
- This paper presents the results of a first acoustic phonetic investigation into voiceless spirantization in the variety of Tuscan Italian spoken in Siena.
- This study addresses whether or not intervocalic nasal consonants in Spanish undergo spirantization in aerodynamic terms.
verb ˈspʌɪrəntʌɪzˈspaɪrənˌtaɪz
[with object]Phonetics Pronounce (a consonant) with a continuous expulsion of breath.
intervocalic voiced stops are generally spirantized
Example sentencesExamples
- Since there is no voiced bilabial fricative in English, when you spirantize a [b] in English you often get [v].
- As a result, the endings are spirantized since they now follow directly on a vowel sound.
- But they did not participate in the later spirantizing and deaffrication processes that characterize the consonant systems of the recorded Iranian languages.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin spirant- 'breathing', from the verb spirare.
Definition of spirant in US English:
spirant
adjectiveˈspīrəntˈspaɪrənt
(of a consonant) uttered with a continuous expulsion of breath.
Example sentencesExamples
- All the Welsh grammars say Welsh has 3 types of mutation - soft, nasal and spirant, and 9 consonants that are mutable.
- There are three types of mutations, the nasal mutation, the spirant mutation and lenition.
- The exception to this rule is the preposition a from Latin ` ad ’, where the final d became assimilated in sound with the consonant following it, and then the cluster underwent spirant mutation.
- Despite this assertion I do not believe the spirant pronunciation is obvious at all.
nounˈspīrəntˈspaɪrənt
A spirant consonant; a fricative.
Example sentencesExamples
- When at the beginning of a word it will be a stop, otherwise it will be a spirant.
- The English example provided in the Collegiate is the ‘ch’ in ‘choose’ being a combination of the ‘explosive’ ‘t’ and the spirant ‘sh.’
- When we extend our analysis to Western and Southern Numic, we are forced to conclude that in no Numic language have the taps ever belonged to a series of spirants.
- The shifting of the voiced spirants and explosives did not extend over all the HG. dialects.
- That leaves the rest of the ‘spirants’ free and clear.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from Latin spirant- ‘breathing’, from the verb spirare.