vocant

Etymology
in 1981 (see quotation).

Noun

 * 1)  A vowel-like sound such as uttered by a preverbal infant.
 * 2) * 2012, J. A. M. Martin, Voice, Speech, and Language in the Child, Springer, page 70,
 * It is extremely difficult to identify the different vocants, partly because they are probably being produced in ways which differ from an adult speaker.
 * 1) * 2020, Eugenia Costa-Giomi, Lucia Benetti, 14: Home Musical Environment and Singing Development in Infancy, Frank A. Russo, Beatriz Ilari, Annabel J. Cohen (editors), The Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Studies in Singing, Volume I, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), unnumbered page,
 * Gradually, infants' repertoire of vocalizations incorporates speech-related features such as vowel-like sounds (vocants) and consonant-like sounds (closants); vocants and closants are then combined into syllable-like units called marginal syllables.
 * 1) * 2022, Margaret Fish, Amy Skinder-Meredith, Here's How to Treat Childhood Apraxia of Speech, 3rd edition, page 207,
 * In the first year of life, the most frequent vocalizations are low front, low back, and central vowel-like vocants. Though not true vowels, these vocants resemble /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɑ/, /ə/, and /ʌ/.
 * 1) * 2022, Margaret Fish, Amy Skinder-Meredith, Here's How to Treat Childhood Apraxia of Speech, 3rd edition, page 207,
 * In the first year of life, the most frequent vocalizations are low front, low back, and central vowel-like vocants. Though not true vowels, these vocants resemble /ɛ/, /æ/, /ɑ/, /ə/, and /ʌ/.

Translations

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