sonante

Sonante is an adjective in Italian and Spanish derived from Latin sonans, meaning "sounding" or "producing sound." In linguistics, the term is used to describe a class of sounds that are produced with a relatively open vocal tract and typically involve voicing. In many languages, vowels are inherently sonante, and several consonants also belong to this class, including nasals such as m and n, liquids such as l and r, and approximants such as w and j. By contrast, obstruents like stops and fricatives are produced with greater constriction and may be voiced or voiceless.

The exact inventory of sonantes varies by language, and some phonologists treat glides and rhotics as part of the sonorant set, while others treat them separately. The term is used in contrast to obstruents, helping explain syllable structure and sound-based hierarchies in phonology.

Etymology traces "sonante" to Latin sonans, from "sonare" to sound, with the suffix -ante forming adjectives. In contemporary use, "sonante" remains common in dictionaries of Italian and Spanish to describe general sound-producing or resonant qualities; in linguistics, the English equivalent is usually "sonorant."

Outside linguistics, in music or general descriptive language, "sonante" may be used to indicate something that produces sound or is resonant, but this usage is less standardized and varies by domain and language.