dental continuant

phonetics

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July 19, 2026

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A dental continuant is a speech sound produced without a complete closure of the breath passage, specifically involving the tongue and the upper front teeth. In phonetics, these sounds are described by the physical properties of their production, such as the actions of the tongue and lips.123

In early Semitic languages, dental continuants included sounds similar to the English "th" in "think" and "this," as well as an emphatic version. However, these sounds have been lost in many modern Semitic languages, merging with other consonant sounds like sibilants or "t" and "d".2

Continuants, in general, are speech sounds that are articulated without a complete blockage of airflow. This category includes sounds like fricatives (e.g., 'f', 's') and approximants (e.g., 'w', 'y').134

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Semitic languages
The dental continuant or interdental sounds
In phonetic terms, the dental continuants (voiceless *th and voiced *dh) were probably pronounced like the initial sounds of English think and this, respectively. The emphatic *ṭh of early Semitic was probably an analogue to th pronounced as an ejective.
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In phonetic terms, the dental continuants (voiceless *th and voiced *dh) were probably pronounced like the initial sounds of English think and this, respectively. The emphatic *ṭh of early Semitic was probably an analogue to th pronounced as an ejective.
Read More