Continuant

 ( Phonetics ) 

In phonetics, a continuant is a speech sound produced without a complete closure in the oral cavity. By one definition, continuant is a distinctive feature that refers to any sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract, thus encompassing all sounds (including vowels) except nasal consonant, and ."continuant" in Bussamann, Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics, 1996

Chalker, Sylvia. (1998). 9780191727672, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191727672

"continuant" in Crystal, A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics, 6th ed, 2008

P.H. Matthews (2025). 9780191753060, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191753060

By another definition, it refers exclusively to consonant produced with an incomplete closure of the oral cavity, prototypically approximants and fricatives,"continuant" in Bussamann, Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics, 1996

P.H. Matthews (2025). 9780191753060, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191753060

but sometimes also trill consonant.

Compare sonorant (resonants), a class of speech sounds which includes vowels, approximants and Nasal consonant (but not fricatives), and contrasts with obstruent.

---

See also

• List of phonetics topics
• Spectromorphology

Post Comment