con
so
nant
Plural
consonants
1
(phonetics) a speech sound produced by interfering with or stopping the flow of air through the mouth or nose
A consonant is a speech sound produced when airflow is partially or completely blocked in the vocal tract. Unlike vowels, which are produced with an open vocal tract, consonants involve some form of closure or narrowing, creating distinct sounds. In the English alphabet, consonants include letters such as "b," "c," "d," "f," "g," "h," and so on. Consonants can be classified based on their place and manner of articulation, such as stops, fricatives, and nasals. Understanding consonants is essential for phonetics, spelling, and pronunciation in language.
- The teacher explained that consonants are speech sounds made by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract.
- In the English alphabet, there are 21 consonants and 5 vowels.
- She struggled with blending consonants at the beginning of words during her reading lessons.
- The poem had a pleasing rhythm because of the repeated consonant sounds.
Antonyms:
2
a letter of the alphabet representing a spoken consonant
- B, C, and D are consonants in the English alphabet.
- The word "strength" contains several consonants in sequence.
- Children learn consonants alongside vowels in early literacy.
- Consonants are often combined with vowels to form syllables.
- Some alphabets have more consonant letters than vowel letters.