Definition

Noun: The system of consonants used in a particular language. It refers to the complete inventory and organizational pattern of consonant sounds (phonemes) within a language's sound structure.

Usage

The term is used in linguistics to describe and analyze the set of consonant phonemes that function distinctively in a language. It is an abstract, systematic concept, not a list of written letters.

Examples

• Linguists compared the consonantal system of English with that of Hawaiian.
• The study focused on how the child acquired the complex consonantal system of their native language.
• A language's consonantal system can change significantly over centuries.

Advanced Usage

• "To analyze/reconstruct a consonantal system": To study or hypothesize the historical consonant sounds of a language.
  • Scholars attempted to reconstruct the Proto-Indo-European consonantal system.

Variants and Related Words

• Consonant inventory: A closely related term often used synonymously to list the consonant phonemes.
• Phonemic system: A broader term encompassing both the vowel and consonant systems.
• Consonantal (adj): Pertaining to or having the nature of a consonant.

Synonyms

• Consonant phonology (in a specific, systemic sense)
• System of consonants

Notes on Meaning

This is a technical term in phonology. It does not refer to extravagant spending or showing off. That meaning is associated with the homographic but etymologically distinct word conspicuous consumption.

Noun

1. the system of consonants used in a particular language