Editing Aleut language (section)

===Consonants===

The [[consonant]] [[phoneme]]s of the various Aleut dialects are represented below. Each cell indicates the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) representation of the phoneme; consonants existing only in loanwords are in parentheses. Some phonemes are unique to specific dialects of Aleut.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br>alveolar]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| 
| 
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
| 
| 
|-
! {{small|devoiced}}
| {{IPA link|m̥}}
| {{IPA link|n̥}}
| 
| 
| {{IPA link|ŋ̥}}
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
! {{small|voiceless}}
| ({{IPA link|p}})
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|t̺͡s̺}}{{efn|name=loanwords|Only found in Attuan and loanwords}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|q}}
| 
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| ({{IPA link|b}})
| ({{IPA link|d}})
| 
| 
| ({{IPA link|g}})
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! {{small|voiceless}}
| ({{IPA link|f}})
| {{IPA link|θ}}{{efn|Only found in Eastern Aleut}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ç}}
| {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|χ}}
| 
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|v}}{{efn|name=loanwords}}
| {{IPA link|ð}}
| {{IPA link|z}}{{efn|Only found in Atkan and loanwords}}
| 
| {{IPA link|ɣ}}
| {{IPA link|ʁ}}
| 
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
| ({{IPA link|ɹ}}, {{IPA link|ɾ}})
| {{IPA link|j}}
| 
|
| 
|-
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|ʍ}}
| {{IPA link|l̥}}
| 
| 
| 
| 
| {{IPA link|h}}
|}
{{notelist}}

The palato-alveolar affricate {{IPAslink|tʃ}} and uvular stop {{IPAslink|q}} are pronounced with strong aspiration.

Attuan labial fricative {{IPAslink|v}} is pronounced voiced or devoiced.<ref name=":1" />

Voiceless approximants and [[devoiced]] nasals are [[Preaspiration|preaspirated]]. The preaspiration of approximants causes very little friction and may pronounced more as a breathy voice. The preaspiration of devoiced nasals starts with a voiceless airstream through the nose and may end voiced before a vowel. The preaspiration feature is represented orthographically with an {{angbr|h}} preceding the given sound. For example, a devoiced, preaspirated labial nasal would be written {{angbr|hm}}.<ref name=":0" />

Voiced approximants and nasals may be partly devoiced in contact with a voiceless consonant and at the end of a word.

The voiceless glottal approximant {{IPAslink|h}} functions as an initial aspiration before a vowel. In Atkan and Attuan, the prevocalic {{IPAslink|h}} aspiration contrasts with an audible but not written glottal stop initiation of the vowel. Compare {{lang|ale-latn|halal}} ('to turn the head') and {{lang|ale-latn|alal}} ('to need'). This contrast has been lost in Eastern Aleut.<ref name=":1" />

Modern Eastern Aleut has a much simpler consonant inventory because the voice contrasts among nasals, [[sibilants]] and approximants have been lost.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Taff |first=Alice |display-authors=et al |date=2001 |title=Phonetic Structures of Aleut |journal=Journal of Phonetics |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=231–271 |doi=10.1006/jpho.2001.0142 |s2cid=35100326}}</ref>

Consonants listed in the dental column have varied places of articulation. The stop, nasal, and lateral dentals commonly have a laminal articulation. The voiced dental fricative is pronounced interdentally.<ref name=":2" />

The  pronunciation of the sibilant {{IPA|/s/}} varies from an alveolar articulation to a retracted articulation like a palato-alveolar consonant. There is no contrast between {{IPAslink|s}} and {{IPAslink|ʃ}} in Aleut. Many Aleut speakers experience difficulties with this distinction while learning English.<ref name=":2" />