Consonants

A consonant is a sound that is produced by blocking air from flowing out of the mouth with
the teeth, tongue, lips or palate. Consonants may come alone or in clusters but have to be
connected to a vowel to form a syllable.

English has 21 consonant letters, for 24 consonant sounds in most English accents:  H, J,
K, L, M B, C, D, F, G, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X,  Z and (sometimes Y). The letter ‘y’
produces a consonant sound if at the beginning of a word ‘yellow’ but a vowel sound if at
the end of a word ‘sunny’. 

Consonant Digraphs
Digraphs are two letters that produce just one sound. These are the seven basic consonant
digraphs; ch, ck, th, sh, ph, ng, wh. Yet, some digraphs have more than one pronunciation. 
‘ghosts’ are some digraphs like ‘wr’ and ‘gn’  because the first letter is not pronounced. Let’s
check the list of the digraphs with examples:
What is a Diagraph?
Digraph Examples
ch Makes the sound /t∫/ in Chair , /k/ in chorus and /sh/ in chute
ck which makes the sound  /k/ sound as in click
ff which makes the sound /f/ sound as in stuff
gh which makes the sound /g/ sound as in yoghurt or /f/ as in enough
gn which makes the /n/ sound as in reign and foreign
kn which makes the /n/ sound as in know and knot
ll which makes the /l/ sound as in hall
lm which makes the /m/ sound as in calm and palm
mb which makes the /m/ sound as in dumb and thumb
ng which makes the /ŋ/ sound as in ring and hung
ph which makes the /f/ sound as in photo, and elephant
sh which makes the /ʃ/ sound as in splash and sheet
ss which makes the /s/ sound as in less and grass
ss which makes the /ʃ/ sound as in assure and issue 
th which makes the /θ/ sound as in three and myth
th which makes the /ð/ sound as in that and them
wh which makes the /w/ sound as in where and where
wr which makes the /r/ sound as in wreck
zz which makes the /z/ sound as in jazz and buzz
dg Which makes the sound /ʤ/ as in edge and wedge
ng which makes the /nʤ/ sound as angel
nk which makes the /ŋk/ sound as in link

Consonant Blends
A consonant blend occurs when two or more consonants are blended together, yet each
sound may be heard in the blend. The most common beginning consonant blends include:
pl, pr, sl, sm, sp and st, bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fr, tr, fl, gl, gr. Blends can also appear at the end of
words. 
What is a Consonant Blend?

Blends are most of the time categorized into r-blends, such as “br” and “cr”, s-blends, such
as “sc” and “sk” and l-blends, such as “bl” and “cl”. There are also blends that include three
consonants. Popular three consonant blends include str, spl, and spr.

Let’s check the list of two letters blends

blends examples
bl which make the /bl/ sound as in blend and black 
br which make the /br/ sound as in bread and brave
cl which make the /cl/ sound as in clap and clip
cr which make the /cr/ sound as in crab and crew
dr which make the /dr/ sound as in drum and drag
fl which make the /fl/ sound as in flame and flat
fr which make the /fr/ sound as in fresh and frame
gl which make the /gl/ sound as in globe
gr which make the /gr/ sound as in grammar
nd which make the /nd/ sound as in bend 
pl which make the /pl/ sound as in please
pr which make the /pr/ sound as in print and prey
sl which make the /sl/ sound as in slim and sleep
sm which make the /sm/ sound as in smash
sn which make the /sn/ sound as in snail
sp which make the /sp/ sound as in spare
st which make the /st/ sound as in strange

Consonant Clusters
Consonant cluster refers to two or more consonants positioned side by side in a word. They
are also called consonant blends. The longest possible cluster in English is three consonant
sounds at the beginning. They can be up to four consonants long at the end of the word.
Three-letter blends examples
shr which make the /ʃr/ sound as in shrimp
spl which make the /spl/ sound as in splendid
spr which make the /spr/ sound as in spread
squ which make the /sqw/ sound as in squash
str which make the /str/ sound as in string
thr which make the /θr/ sound as in threw
lfths As in twelfths

Consonants charts

Symbol  example
/b,(b)/ Bin, back
/k,(k)/  Cat, key
/ch,(ʧ)/  Check, cheese
/d,(d)/    Dog, doll
/f,(f)/  Fish, fries
/g,(g)/ Goat, great
/h,(h)/   Hotel, hat
/j,(ʤ)/  Bridge. Jigsaw 
/l,(l)/    Lemon, ballon
/m,(m)/ Ment, lamb
/n,(n)/  Nest, pen
/ng,(ŋ)/  King, ring
/p,(p)/ Plenty, hippo
/r,(r)/  Rat, wrist
/s,(s)/  Sad, dress
/sh,(ʃ)/  Shine, splash
/t,(t)/  Tent, cart
/th,(θ)/ Thin, length
/th,(ð)/ There, father
/v,(v)/ Vowel, love
/w,(w)/ Where, well
/y,(j)/  Yet, yellow
/z,(z)/  Zero, prize
/zh,(Ʒ)/ Measure, television

What Do You Know about Place and Manner of

Articulation of Consonants and Vowels?
Manner of Articulation refers to the “how” of making sounds. There are six different ways or
manners of articulation. Place of Articulation refers to the ‘where’ of pronunciation. It is the
location where sounds are made. Let’s check the below charts that show the manner and
place of articulations of consonants and vowels.
Consonants
IPA
Phoneme Graphemes Examples Voiced?
Symbol

1 b b, bb bug, bubble Yes

2 d d, dd, ed dad, add, milled Yes

3 f f, ff, ph, gh, lf, ft fat, cliff, phone, enough, half, often No

4 g g, gg, gh,gu,gue gun, egg, ghost, guest, prologue Yes

5 h h, wh hop, who No

6 dʒ j, ge, g, dge, di, gg jam, wage, giraffe, edge, soldier, exaggerate Yes

k, c, ch, cc, lk, qu ,q(u),

7 k kit, cat, chris, accent, folk, bouquet, queen, rack, box No
ck, x

8 l l, ll live, well Yes

9 m m, mm, mb, mn, lm man, summer, comb, column, palm Yes

10 n n, nn,kn, gn, pn, mn net, funny, know, gnat, pneumonic, mnemonic Yes

11 p p, pp pin, dippy No

12 r r, rr, wr, rh run, carrot, wrench, rhyme Yes

13 s s, ss, c, sc, ps, st, ce, se sit, less, circle, scene, psycho, listen, pace, course No

14 t t, tt, th, ed tip, matter, thomas, ripped No

15 v v, f, ph, ve vine, of, stephen, five Yes

16 w w, wh, u, o wit, why, quick, choir Yes

17 z z, zz, s, ss, x, ze, se zed, buzz, his, scissors, xylophone, craze Yes

18 ʒ s, si, z treasure, division, azure Yes

19 tʃ ch, tch, tu, ti, te chip, watch, future, action, righteous No

sham, ocean, sure, special, pension, machine,

20 ʃ sh, ce, s, ci, si, ch, sci, ti No
conscience, station

21 θ th thongs No

22 ð th leather Yes

23 ŋ ng, n, ngue ring, pink, tongue Yes

24 j y, i, j you, onion, hallelujah Yes