American English IPA Consonants


Welcome to our chart of American English IPA consonants. The sounds are classified according to their place of articulation in the mouth (columns), their type of obstruction (rows), and voicing. Voiced sounds are red in color and voiceless sounds are green.

IPA Chart

For more information about place of articulation, type of obstruction, and voicing, check out the links below.

Place of Articulation
Every sound is produced at some location in the mouth, ranging from the front to back. Place of articulation refers to where the tongue is articulating. Here are the eight places of articulation found in the English language:

Bilabial

Labio-dental

Inter-dental

Alveolar

Alveo-palatal

Palatal

Velar

Glottal


Type of Obstruction
Sounds are produced when there is an obstruction (or degree of blockage) of air coming out. Different sounds have different types of obstructions. Therefore, type of obstruction refers to how the air is being blocked. Here are the six types of obstructions found in the English language:

Stops

Fricatives

Affricates

Nasals

Liquids

Glides


Sound Classifications
Here we describe specific sound classifications for the range of American English consonants. We classify sounds based on three characteristics: place of articulation, type of obstruction, and voicing. Each sound has a combination of these three features.

Voiced Bilabial Stop

Voiceless Bilabial Stop

Voiced Alveolar Stop

Voiceless Alveolar Stop

Voiced Velar Stop

Voiceless Velar Stop

Voiceless Glottal Stop

Voiced Labio-dental Fricative

Voiceless Labio-dental Fricative

Voiced Inter-dental Fricative

Voiceless Inter-dental Fricative

Voiced Alveolar Fricative

Voiceless Alveolar Fricative

Voiced Alveo-palatal Fricative

Voiceless Alveo-palatal Fricative

Voiceless Glottal Fricative

Voiced Alveo-palatal Affricate

Voiceless Alveo-palatal Affricate

Voiced Bilabial Nasal

Voiced Alveolar Nasal

Voiced Velar Nasal

Voiced Alveolar Liquid

Voiced Bilabial Glide

Voiced Palatal Glide

Voiced Velar Glide





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