consonans

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.so.nans/, [ˈkõːs̠ɔnä̃ːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.so.nans/, [ˈkɔnsonäns]

Etymology 1

Present active participle of cōnsonō (“I resound”). By surface analysis, con- (“with, together”) +‎ sonāns (“sounding”).

Participle

cōnsonāns (genitive cōnsonantis, adverb cōnsonanter); third-declension one-termination participle

1. agreeing, fit, suitable

Declension

Third-declension participle.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	cōnsonāns			cōnsonantēs	cōnsonantia
genitive	cōnsonantis			cōnsonantium
dative	cōnsonantī			cōnsonantibus
accusative	cōnsonantem	cōnsonāns		cōnsonantēs cōnsonantīs	cōnsonantia
ablative	cōnsonante cōnsonantī1			cōnsonantibus
vocative	cōnsonāns			cōnsonantēs	cōnsonantia

¹When used purely as an adjective.

Related terms

• cōnsonanter
• cōnsonō
• cōnsonus

Etymology 2

Noun use of the participle cōnsonāns, in elliptical use for littera cōnsonāns (literally “resounding letter”). This is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek σύμφωνον (súmphōnon). The components of the Latin word do not exactly correspond to those of the Greek word; a word that more precisely corresponds to the Greek would be cōnsona.

Noun

cōnsonāns f (genitive cōnsonantis); third declension

1. (grammar) a consonant

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	cōnsonāns	cōnsonantēs
genitive	cōnsonantis	cōnsonantium
dative	cōnsonantī	cōnsonantibus
accusative	cōnsonantem	cōnsonantēs cōnsonantīs
ablative	cōnsonante	cōnsonantibus
vocative	cōnsonāns	cōnsonantēs

Synonyms

• littera cōnsonāns

Descendants

• Asturian: consonante
• Corsican: cunsunante, cunsunente, consonante
• Old French: consonant
  • → Middle English: consonant
    • English: consonant
• Italian: consonante
• Old Galician-Portuguese: *consõante
  • Galician: consoante
  • Portuguese: consoante
• Spanish: consonante
  • → Basque: konsonante
• → Catalan: consonant
• → Czech: konsonant
• → Danish: konsonant
• → Dutch: consonant
  • Afrikaans: konsonant
• → Esperanto: konsonanto
• → German: Konsonant
• → Ido: konsonanto
• → Norwegian:

  → Norwegian Bokmål: konsonant

  → Norwegian Nynorsk: konsonant

• → Swedish: konsonant
  • →? Estonian: konsonant
  • →? Finnish: konsonantti
  • →? Ingrian: konsonantti
  • →? Veps: konsonant
• → Dutch: medeklinker (calque)
• → German: Mitlaut (calque)

See also

• vōcālis

References

• “consonans”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• consonans in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.