consonantal
Like B or D
Consonantal describes sounds or letters that function as consonants rather than vowels.
In phonetics, consonantal sounds involve some obstruction of airflow in the vocal tract: The word "strength" has a highly consonantal structure.
Languages vary in how consonantal they sound—some cluster consonants heavily, others favor open syllables with more vowels.
Consonant with blocked release
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- nasalOf the nose
- affricateConsonant blending closure and friction
- liquidFree-flowing substance
lateral · glottal · bilabial · alveolar · palatal · velar · uvular · pharyngeal
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- syllableUnit of pronunciation
- clusterGathered group nearby
coda · onset · segment · grapheme · transcription · diacritic · orthography · assimilation
Semitic language of Israel
- ArabicSemitic language family member
- PhoenicianAncient Lebanese seafarer
- AramaicAncient Semitic language
- matres lectionisConsonants marking vowels
alphabet · writing · script · vowelless · diacritical · pointing · harakat
plosive
Consonant with blocked release
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- nasalOf the nose
- affricateConsonant blending closure and friction
liquid · lateral · glottal · bilabial · alveolar · palatal · velar · uvular · pharyngeal · sibilant
phoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
- allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- syllableUnit of pronunciation
cluster · coda · onset · segment · grapheme · transcription · diacritic · orthography · assimilation · dissimilation
Hebrew
Semitic language of Israel
- ArabicSemitic language family member
- PhoenicianAncient Lebanese seafarer
- AramaicAncient Semitic language
matres lectionis · alphabet · writing · script · vowelless · diacritical · pointing · harakat
- consonant mutationGrammatical sound alteration
- click consonantsNon-pulmonic speech sounds
- consonant gradationSystematic sound weakening
- double consonantsRepeated letter sequences