Obstruent

An obstruent is a speech sound such as , , or that is formed by obstructing airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate . All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include both vowels and consonants. An obstruent is a speech sound such as , , or that is formed by obstructing airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate . All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include both vowels and consonants. Obstruents are subdivided into plosives (oral stops), such as , with complete occlusion of the vocal tract, often followed by a release burst; fricatives, such as , with limited closure, not stopping airflow but making it turbulent; and affricates, which begin with complete occlusion but then release into a fricative-like release, such as and . Obstruents are prototypically voiceless, but voiced obstruents are common. This contrasts with sonorants, which are prototypically voiced and only rarely voiceless.