Features

Each spoken consonant can be distinguished by several phonetic features:

 The manner of articulation is how air escapes from the vocal tract when the consonant or
approximant (vowel-like) sound is made. Manners include stops, fricatives, and nasals.
 The place of articulation is where in the vocal tract the obstruction of the consonant
occurs, and which speech organs are involved. Places include bilabial (both lips), alveolar
(tongue against the gum ridge), and velar (tongue against soft palate). In addition, there
may be a simultaneous narrowing at another place of articulation, such as palatalisation
or pharyngealisation.
 The phonation of a consonant is how the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
When the vocal cords vibrate fully, the consonant is called voiced; when they do not
vibrate at all, it is voiceless.
 The voice onset time (VOT) indicates the timing of the phonation. Aspiration is a feature
of VOT.
 The airstream mechanism is how the air moving through the vocal tract is powered. Most
languages have exclusively pulmonic egressive consonants, which use the lungs and
diaphragm, but ejectives, clicks, and implosives use different mechanisms.
 The length is how long the obstruction of a consonant lasts. This feature is borderline
distinctive in English, as in "wholly" [hoʊlli] vs. "holy" [hoʊli], but cases are limited to
morpheme boundaries. Unrelated roots are differentiated in various languages such as
Italian, Japanese, and Finnish, with two length levels, "single" and "geminate". Estonian
and some Sami languages have three phonemic lengths: short, geminate, and long
geminate, although the distinction between the geminate and overlong geminate includes
suprasegmental features.
 The articulatory force is how much muscular energy is involved. This has been proposed
many times, but no distinction relying exclusively on force has ever been demonstrated.

All English consonants can be classified by a combination of these features, such as "voiceless
alveolar stop" [t]. In this case, the airstream mechanism is omitted.

Some pairs of consonants like p::b, t::d are sometimes called fortis and lenis, but this is a
phonological rather than phonetic distinction.
Consonants are scheduled by their features in a number of IPA charts:

IPA: Pulmonic consonants

Place → Labial Coronal Laryngeal Dorsal
Pharyn-
Bi- Labio- Linguo- Post- Retro-
Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular geal/Epi- Glottal
labial dental labial alveolar flex
Manner ↓ glottal
Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ
Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
Sibilant
affricate
ts dz t̠ ʃ d̠ʒ ʈʂ ɖʐ t̠ ɕ d̠ʑ
Non-sibilant
affricate
pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪ θ d̪ð tɹ̊ dɹ t̠ ɹ̠̊ ˔ d̠ɹ̠ ˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ʡʢ ʔh
Sibilant
fricative
s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ
Non-sibilant
fricative
ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊ ˔ ɹ̠ ˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Approximant ʋ̥ ʋ ɹ̥ ɹ ɻ̊ ɻ j̊ j ɰ̊ ɰ ʔ̞
Tap/Flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̆
Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ
ʈɭ̊˔ cʎ̊
Lateral
affricate
tɬ dɮ kʟ̊ ɡʟ

ɭ̊˔ ɭ˔ ʎ̊ ʎ ʟ̊ ʟ
Lateral
fricative
ɬ ɮ

ɭ̊ ɭ ʎ̥ ʎ ʟ̥ ʟ
Lateral
approximant
l̥ l ʟ̠

ɭ̆ ʎ̆
Lateral
tap/flap
ɺ ʟ̆

 help
 full chart
 template

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged to be
impossible.

IPA: Non-pulmonic consonants

Bi- Labio- Post- Retro- Epi-
Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
labial dental alveolar flex glottal
Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ ʡʼ
Affricate t̪ θʼ tsʼ t̠ ʃʼ ʈʂʼ kxʼ qχʼ
Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ
Ejectives
cʎ̊ ʼ
Lateral
affricate
tɬʼ kʟ̊ ʼ
Lateral
fricative
ɬʼ
 Tenuis/Voiced ʘ ʘ̬ ǀ ǀ̬ ǃ ǃ̬ ǃ˞ ǃ̬˞ ǂ ǂ̬ ʞ ◌ˀ
Nasal ʘ̃ ǀ̃ ǃ̃ ǃ̃˞ ǂ̃ ◌̃ˀ
Clicks
Lateral ǁ ǁ̬
Lateral nasal ǁ̃
Implosive ɓ̥ ɓ ɗ̥ ɗ ᶑ̥ ᶑ ʄ̊ ʄ ɠ̊ ɠ ʛ̥ ʛ
 help
 full chart
 template

IPA: Co-articulated consonants

Nasals Fricatives
n͡m Labial–alveolar ɧ Sj-sound
ŋ͡m Labial–velar Approximants

Stops ʍ Labialized velar (voiceless)

͡tp Labial–alveolar (voiceless) w Labialized velar (voiced)
d͡b Labial–alveolar (voiced) ɫ Velarized alveolar (lateral)
k͡p Labial–velar (voiceless) ɥ̊ Labialized palatal (voiceless)
ɡ͡b Labial–velar (voiced) ɥ Labialized palatal (voiced)
q͡ʡ Uvular–epiglottal