also: しおん
noun
Linguistic term for a speech sound produced with partial or complete closure of the vocal tract. Often contrasted with 母音 (vowel).
See also: 母音
日本語の子音には「か」「さ」「た」などがある。
Japanese consonants include 'ka', 'sa', 'ta', and so on.
子音と母音の違
Please explain the difference between consonants and vowels.
母音 means 'vowel', the counterpart to 子音. Together they form the basic sound units of a language.
From 子 (child, small element) and 音 (sound), a calque of the Western linguistic term 'consonant'. The reading しいん is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi; しおん is a less common variant.