Editing Consonant cluster (section)

{{Short description|Group of consonants without a vowel in between}} 
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In [[linguistics]], a '''consonant cluster''', '''consonant sequence''' or '''consonant compound''' is a group of [[consonant]]s which have no intervening [[vowel]]. In English, for example, the groups {{IPA|/spl/}} and {{IPA|/ts/}} are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education field it is variously called a consonant cluster or a '''consonant blend'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf|title=National reading panel, page 2-99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonics-and-word-recognition-instruction-early-reading-programs-guidelines-children-reading|title =Phonics and Word Recognition Instruction in Early Reading Programs, Reading Rockets|date =5 August 2013}}</ref>

Some linguists{{who|date=April 2015}} argue that the term can be properly applied only to those consonant clusters that occur within one [[syllable]]. Others claim that the concept is more useful when it includes consonant sequences across syllable boundaries.  According to the former definition, the longest consonant clusters in the word ''extra'' would be {{IPA|/ks/}} and {{IPA|/tr/}},<ref>J.C. Wells, [http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/syllabif.htm ''Syllabification and allophony'']</ref> whereas the latter allows {{IPA|/kstr/}}, which is phonetically {{IPA|[kst̠ɹ̠̊˔ʷ]}} in some accents.