consonant

IPA: kˈɑnsʌnʌnt

(phonetics) A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant sound generally being a vowel.
A letter representing the sound of a consonant.

Examples of "consonant" in Sentences

In monosyllables a single vowel before a single consonant is short; as stag, frog.
Before a vowel in the same syllable it has the value of a consonant and is called _I consonant_.
That's because English favors closed syllables (ending in consonant) while French prefers open syllables (ending in a vowel).
If the last letter of the stem is a consonant, the word is said to have a _consonant stem_; if the stem ends in «-i-», the word is said to have an «i-»_stem_.
The Spanish tendency to add an intrusive e to English words that begin with s [consonant] is well known, as is its consequential effect on the article which leads to people saying an estation, an estatistic etc.
The English norm was to simplify to a single consonant, which is what we find with commissionaire and concessionaire, presumably following the pattern of the much earlier borrowing debonair, and also doctrinaire, which are recorded for the most part with a single n.
Thus, a syllable containing a short vowel followed by two consonants, as ng, is long, because such a syllable requires _more time_ for its pronunciation; while a syllable containing a short vowel followed by one consonant is short, because it takes _less time_ to pronounce it.