consonant
UK[ˈkɒnsənənt]US[ˈkɑːnsənənt]
n
A speech sound made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air through the mouth.
n
A letter of the alphabet that represents a consonant sound, such as 'b', 'f', or 't'.
Morpheme Breakdown
con
son
ant
con
together
son
sound
ant
adjective suffix
Etymology
The word 'consonant' originates from the Latin 'consonant-', the present participle of 'consonare', meaning "to sound together". This is a compound of the prefix 'con-' (together) and 'sonare' (to sound). In ancient Latin grammar, a 'consonans' was a sound that could only be made "together with" a vowel, as opposed to a vowel which could be sounded independently. This literal sense of "sounding with" another evolved into the modern linguistic term for a class of speech sounds characterized by constriction or closure in the vocal tract, and by extension, the letters that represent them.
Analysis
Structure: con (together) + son (sound) + ant (adjective suffix)
- con: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "together, with".
- son: Latin origin, from 'sonus', meaning "sound".
- ant: Latin origin, an adjective-forming suffix meaning "being, performing".
Examples
The sounds represented by the letters 'p', 't', and 'k' are all voiceless consonants.
Every syllable in English must contain at least one vowel sound, though it may have several consonants.
The word "strengths" is notable for having a cluster of three consonants at the end.