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plural formants
(physics, phonetics) A band of frequencies, in a sound spectrum, that have a greater intensity; they determine the quality of a sound; especially the characteristic sounds of the consonants. quotations examples
The resonances of the vocal tract are called formants. Trying to hear the separate formants in a vowel is difficult. We are so used to a vowel being a single meaningful entity that it is difficult to consider it as a sound with separable bits. But it is possible to say vowels so that some of their component parts are more obvious.
2012, Peter Ladefoged, Sandra Ferrari Disner, Vowels and Consonants, Kindle edition, New York: Wiley
(linguistics) A morpheme occurring as an affix to a root or stem, forming an extended root or stem. examples