Consonants are speech sounds articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Below is an extract from the pulmonic consonants section of the IPA, showing just British English consonants. All English consonants are 'pulmonic' - this just means they are produced by air flowing out of the lungs. Where there are two symbols in a cell, the one on the left is 'voiceless' and the one on the right is 'voiced' (the vocal folds are vibrating in voiced sounds).