noun
- speech sounds produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing the tongue near the roof of the mouth, creating a hissing or shushing sound
Usage: linguistics; phonetics
Examples
- The sounds /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and /ʒ/ are common sibilants in English.
- Children often have difficulty pronouncing sibilants correctly.
- The speech therapist worked on the patient’s production of sibilants.
- Sibilants are characterized by their hissing quality.
- The word ‘scissors’ contains multiple sibilants.
- Linguists classify sibilants as a subset of fricative consonants.