All consonants

Click on the buttons to hear the sound and read the description. All consonants here are articulated in the frame [Ca] and [aCa] and [aC], demonstrating their use in initial, intervocalic, and final environments.

MANNER OF ARTICULARTION PLACE OF ARTICULATION
bilabial labio-dental dental alveolar retroflex palato-alveolar palatal velar uvular glottal
 voiceless stop
Voiceless bilabial stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with both lips.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [pɪn] “pin”
Voiceless dental stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip or blade against the teeth.
Vocal folds held open.
As in Murrinh-Patha [pʌt̪ʌ] meaning good.
Voiceless alveolar stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip raised to the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [tæn] “tan”
Voiceless retroflex stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip curled back, touching behind the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating
As in Hindi [ʈal] meaning “postpone”.
 
Voiceless palatal stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate.
Vocal folds held open.
As in Quechua [ciri] meaning “cold”.
Voiceless velar stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the velum.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [kɪl] “kill”.
 
Voiceless uvular stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the uvular.
Vocal folds held open.
As in Quechua [qara] meaning “skin”
 
Glottal stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the vocal chords.
Vocal folds held shut.
As in Uyghur [ʔotuN] “your fire”, or English [ʔɒʔoʊ] “oh-oh”
 voiced stop
Voiced bilabial stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with both lips.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [bɪn] “bin”
Voiced dental stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip or blade touching the teeth.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Hindi [d̪ʌn] meaning “charity”
Voiced alveolar stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip raised to the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating
As in English [dɪn] “din”
Voiced retroflex stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip curled back, touching behind the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Hindi [ɖaɪ] meaning “branch”
Voiced palatal stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Dyirbal [ɟʌnɟʌ] meaning “now”‘
Voiced velar stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the velum.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [gɪl] “gill”
 
Voiced uvular stop
Full closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the uvula.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Tabassaran [Gan] meaning “stone”
 voiceless fricative
Voiceless bilabial fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made with both lips.
Vocal folds held open.
As in Japanese [ɸɯdʒi] meaning “Fuji”
Voiceless labio-dental fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by touching the upper teeth and lower lip.
Vocal folds held open
As in English [fʊt] “foot”
Voiceless dental fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by touching the tongue tip or blade to the teeth.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English “thing”
Voiceless alveolar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the tongue tip to the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [sɪp] “sip”
Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the blade of the tongue to the area between the alveolar and palate.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [ʃɪp]  “ship”
Voiceless palatal fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate.
Vocal folds held open.
As in German [ɪç] meaning “I”
Voiceless velar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the back of the tongue to the velum.
Vocal folds held open.
As in Spanish [xamas] meaning “never”.
 
Voiceless uvular fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the back of the tongue to the uvula.
Vocal folds held open.
As in French [lɛtχ] meaning “letter”.
Voiceless glottal fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by approximating the vocal cords.
Vocal folds held slightly open.
As in English [hɪl] “hill”.
 voiced fricative
Voiced bilabial fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made with both lips.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Fijian [suβʌ] Meaning “Suva”
Voiced labio-dental fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by touching the upper teeth and lower lip.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [væn] “van”
Voiced dental fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by touching the tongue tip or blade to the teeth.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English “this”.
Voiced alveolar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the tongue tip to the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [zɪp] “zip”.
Voiced palato-alveolar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the blade of the tongue to the area between the alveolar and palate.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English MD=[eɪʒə], HCE=[æɪʒə] “Asia”.
 
Voiced velar fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the back of the tongue to the velum.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Spanish [diɣa] meaning “speak”.
Voiced uvular fricative
Near closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the back of the tongue to the uvula.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in some dialects of French [ʁuʒ] meaning “red”.
 voiceless affricate
Voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
Full closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the blade of the tongue to the area between the alveolar and palate, followed by fricative release.
Vocal folds held open.
As in English [tʃɪp] “chip”.
 voiced affricate
Voiced palato-alveolar affricate
Full closure of the vocal tract, made by raising the blade of the tongue to the area between the alveolar and palate, followed by fricative release.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [dʒæm] “jam”.
 nasal
Bilabial nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with both lips. Velum lowered, airflow through the nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [mæn] “man”.
Dental nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tip or blade against the teeth. Velum lowered, airflow through the nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Malayalam [pʌn̪n̪i] meaning “pig”.
Aleveolar nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with the tongue tips raised to the alveolar ridge. Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [nɪp] “nip”.
Retroflex nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with tongue tip curled back, touching behind the alveolar ridge. Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Malayalam [eɳɳʌ] meaning “oil”
Palato nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate. Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating. As in Ngen’giwumirri [ɲɪɲɪ] meaning ‘you’.”
Velar nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the velum. Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [sɪŋ] “sing”.
Uvular nasal
Closure of the vocal tract, made with the back of the tongue raised to the uvular. Velum lowered, airflow through nasal cavity.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Uyghur [ʔotuN] meaning “your fire”.
 lateral
alveolar lateral
Tongue tip raised to the alveolar ridge, tongue sides lowered so that air flows over them, either side of tip.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [lɪp] “lip”.
Retroflex lateral
Tongue tip curled back, touching behind alveolar ridge. Tongue sides lowered so that air flows over them.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Nunggubuyu [ɭiba] meaning “paperbark”.
 
Palatal lateral
Made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate. Tongue sides lowered so that air flows either side of the raised blade.
Vocal folds vibrating. As in Italian [fiʎʎo] meaning “son”
 trill
Alveolar trill
Tongue tip raised near alveolar ridge, airflow sets up a high speed oscillation.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Spanish [pero] meaning “dog”.
 
Uvular trill
The back of the tongue is raised so that it is held loosely agains the uvular. The airflow sets up a high speed vibration in the uvula.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in some dialects of French [ʀuʒ] meaning “red”.
 tap/flap
Alveolar tap
A single muscle contraction flicks the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Spanish [peɾo] meaning “but”.
Retroflex flap
Curled back tongue tip flaps forward striking post-alveolar region.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in Hindi [bəɽɑ]  meaning “big”.
 approximant
Alveolar approximant
Tongue tip raised toward alveolar ridge.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [ɹɪd] “rid”.
 glide
Bilabial glide (semi-vowel)
Sometimes referred to as “labial velar”, this sound involves both lip rounding and raising the dorsum towards the velum.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [wɪn] “win”
Palatal glide (semi-vowel)
Made with the middle of the tongue (between blade and dorsum) raised to the hard palate.
Vocal folds vibrating.
As in English [jɪə] “year”.’