Continuant

For the mathematical term, see Continuant (mathematics).

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 nasals, plosives and affricates.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} By another definition, it refers exclusively to consonantal sounds produced with an incomplete closure of the oral cavity, prototypically approximants and fricatives,^[6][7] but sometimes also trills.^[8]

Compare sonorants (resonants), a class of speech sounds which includes vowels, approximants and nasals (but not fricatives), and contrasts with obstruents.

See also

• List of phonetics topics
• Spectromorphology

References

1. "continuant" in Bussamann, Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics, 1996
2. Hayes, Bruce (2009). Introductory Phonology. Blackwell. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4051-8411-3.
3. Chalker, Sylvia. (1998). The Oxford dictionary of English grammar. Weiner, E. S. C., Oxford University Press. (1st rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-172767-2. OCLC 49356718.
4. "continuant" in Crystal, A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics, 6th ed, 2008
5. Matthews, P.H. (2014). The Concise Oxford English Dictionary of Linguistics (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191753060.
6. "continuant" in Bussamann, Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics, 1996
7. Matthews, P.H. (2014). The Concise Oxford English Dictionary of Linguistics (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191753060.
8. Anderson, Catherine; Bjorkman, Bronwyn; Denis, Derek; Doner, Julianne; Grant, Margaret; Sanders, Nathan; Taniguchi, Ai (2022-02-28), "3.4 Describing consonants: Manner", Essentials of Linguistics (2nd ed.), McMaster University, retrieved 2023-08-28