A speech sound that is not a vowel

Usage examples of consonant.

Since C is active in the map, and D is not very active, the consonant relationship with C causes E to be activated in the map.

Made up of vowels and consonants, speech is not an undifferentiated outburst of sound.

Quenya consonants are easy to pronounce for people used to speaking a Western language.

In a weak rhyme either the vowels are the same but the consonants are only similar, or vowels are altered to create a rhyme that would not exist using normal spoken pronunciation.

It is not surprising, therefore, that precisely those vibrations of the vocal cords, precisely those shapings of the cavity of the mouth, and those positions of the lips, often occur which we observe in the utterance of our vowels, and that among the child-noises produced unconsciously and in play are found almost all our consonants and, besides, many that are used in foreign languages.

Thus the spoken consonants are at last surely recognized in their differences of sound.

The babbling only, abounding in consonants, yields him great pleasure, particularly when it is laughed at, although it remains wholly void of meaning as language.

He most easily retains and repeats, among the infinitely manifold consonants that are produced by loud expiration, those which have been distinctly heard by him.

I have been often surprised to hear how Patti, so conscientious in other respects, slights her texts, obliterating consonants and altering vowels after the fashion of the Italian school.

Having neglected to master the more vigorous vowels and expressive consonants, she cannot assert her art in dramatic works.

They are, certainly, too lazy to pronounce any harsh or difficult consonants, and the Italian language therefore presents a picture of sad effeminate degeneracy compared with the more vigorous Latin and even Spanish.

English vocal style of the future will have to be modelled after the German style, which, instead of shirking difficult consonants boldly tackles and utilizes them.

Wagner has shown in his music-dramas, and Hey in his vocal method, that by means of a proper division of syllables and correct articulation, the harshness of consonants can be toned down as much as is desirable.

It is only an unharmonious combination of dissimilar consonants that offends a refined ear.

This not only insures a smooth, melodious flow, but enables the composer to heighten the effect of any situation by choosing consonants that harmonize with it.