initial consonant; syllable onset
Linguistic term referring to the first consonant of a syllable or word. Used in phonology and language study.
Japanese initial consonants include voiced and semi-voiced sounds.
The initial consonant of this word is 'k'.
Compound of 頭 (とう, 'head; beginning') and 子音 (しいん, 'consonant'). The term is a direct calque from Western linguistic terminology.