consonantalize

consonantal +‎ -ize

consonantalize (third-person singular simple present consonantalizes, present participle consonantalizing, simple past and past participle consonantalized)

1. (phonetics) To become, or cause to become, (more) consonantal.
   • 2006, Casper Jan Hendrik Krüger, R.S. Pretorius, Introduction to the morphology of Setswana, →ISBN:

     It is usually defined as a process whereby front vowels consonantalize (palatalize) to the semivowel /j/ when followed by certain other vowels [...] or whereby back vowels consonantalize (labiovelarize) to the semivowel /w/ [...]