ˌtriconsoˈnantal, a.
[f. tri- + consonantal.]
Consisting of or containing three consonants: said chiefly of the radical words of the Semitic languages. Hence triconsoˈnantalism, triconsonantal formation. So triconsoˈnantic a.
| 1863 Smith's Bible Dict. III. 1539/1 It is more than probable that the triconsonantal has been evolved out of a biconsonantal root. Ibid., The bisyllabism [of the Hebrew verb] is in reality triconsonantalism, the vowels not forming any part of the essence of the root. 1869 Farrar Fam. Speech iii. (1873) 88 The root of the Semitic verb is always triliteral, or rather triconsonantic. |