consonants
Letters needing vowels
Consonants are speech sounds produced by obstructing airflow—with lips, tongue, teeth, or throat—as opposed to vowels, which flow freely.
The term also refers to the letters representing these sounds: in English, all letters except a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.
The word "strength" has eight consonants and one vowel.
Consonants with airflow burst
- fricativesConsonants with audible turbulence
- nasalsSounds produced through nose
- sibilantsHissing speech sounds
- stopsCeases to continue
voiced · voiceless · bilabial · alveolar · velar · palatal · glottal · uvular
Manner of speaking words
- enunciationClarity of spoken words
- dictionChoice of words
- articulationClear vocal expression
- clustersGrouped collections
blends · digraphs · syllables · stress · accent · fluency · slurring · lisping
Minimal sound distinctions
- allophonesPositional sound variants
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
transcription · IPA · distribution · assimilation · dissimilation · deletion · syllabification · onset
Agreement or musical blend
- dissonanceLack of harmony
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
- chordNotes sounded simultaneously
- intervalDuration between two points
counterpoint · polyphony · tension · release · assonance · alliteration · cacophony · euphony
plosives
Consonants with airflow burst
- fricativesConsonants with audible turbulence
- nasalsSounds produced through nose
- sibilantsHissing speech sounds
stops · voiced · voiceless · bilabial · alveolar · velar · palatal · glottal · uvular · interdental
pronunciation
Manner of speaking words
- enunciationClarity of spoken words
- dictionChoice of words
- articulationClear vocal expression
clusters · blends · digraphs · syllables · stress · accent · fluency · slurring · lisping · stuttering
phonemes
Minimal sound distinctions
- allophonesPositional sound variants
- phonologyScience of language sounds
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
orthography · transcription · IPA · distribution · assimilation · dissimilation · deletion · syllabification · onset · coda
harmony
Agreement or musical blend
- dissonanceLack of harmony
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
- chordNotes sounded simultaneously
interval · counterpoint · polyphony · tension · release · assonance · alliteration · cacophony · euphony · rhythm
letters
Alphabetic characters or mail
- alphabetABC, vowels, uppercase, lowercase, capital letters
- lettersa, d, e, h, q
- alphabetsLatin, vowels, Latin alphabet, Greek alphabet, Roman alphabet
- English languagelinguistics, semantics, phonetics, orthography, vocabulary
- literacyliteracy, reading, spelling, alphabet, writing
- Latin alphabeta, d, e, h, q
- consonant mutationGrammatical sound alteration
- click consonantsNon-pulmonic speech sounds
- consonant gradationSystematic sound weakening
- double consonantsRepeated letter sequences