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.
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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” |
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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” |
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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”. |
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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”. |
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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”. |
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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”. |
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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”. |
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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” |
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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”. |
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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”. |
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approximant | Alveolar approximant Tongue tip raised toward alveolar ridge. Vocal folds vibrating. As in English [ɹɪd] “rid”. |
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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”.’ |
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