Aramaic

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Post-alveolar consonant|Post-alv.]] / <br /> [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]] / <br /> [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>plain</small>
! <small>[[Emphatic consonant|emp.]]</small>
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} || || {{IPA link|n}} || || || || ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! <small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} || || {{IPA link|t}} || {{IPA link|tˤ}} || || {{IPA link|k}} || {{IPA link|q}} || {{IPA link|ʔ}}
|-
! <small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|b}} || || {{IPA link|d}} || || || {{IPA link|ɡ}} || ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! <small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|f}} || {{IPA link|θ}} || {{IPA link|s}} || {{IPA link|sˤ}} || {{IPA link|ʃ}} || {{IPA link|x}} || {{IPA link|ħ}} || {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! <small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|v}} || {{IPA link|ð}} || {{IPA link|z}} || || || {{IPA link|ɣ}} || {{IPA link|ʕ}} ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| || || {{IPA link|l}} || || {{IPA link|j}} || {{IPA link|w}} || ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| || || {{IPA link|r}} || || || || ||
|}

The various alphabets used for writing Aramaic languages have twenty-two letters (all of which are consonants). Some of these letters, though, can stand for two or three different sounds (usually a [[stop consonant|stop]] and a [[fricative consonant|fricative]] at the same point of articulation). Aramaic classically uses a series of lightly contrasted plosives and fricatives:
* Labial set: '''פּ'''\'''פ''' ''p''/''f'' and '''בּ'''\'''ב''' ''b''/''v'',
* Dental set: '''תּ'''\'''ת''' ''t''/''θ'' and '''דּ'''\'''ד''' ''d''/''ð'',
* Velar set: '''כּ'''\'''כ''' ''k''/''x'' and '''גּ'''\'''ג''' ''ɡ''/''ɣ''.
Each member of a certain pair is written with the same letter of the alphabet in most writing systems (that is, ''p'' and ''f'' are written with the same letter), and are near [[allophone]]s.

A distinguishing feature of Aramaic phonology (and that of Semitic languages in general) is the presence of "emphatic" consonants. These are consonants that are pronounced with the root of the tongue retracted, with varying degrees of [[pharyngealization]] and [[Velar consonant|velarization]]. Using their alphabetic names, these emphatics are:
* ח Ḥêṯ, a [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]], {{IPA|/ħ/}},
* ט Ṭêṯ, a pharyngealized ''t'', {{IPA|/tˤ/}},
* ע ʽAyin (or ʽE in some dialects), a pharyngealized [[glottal stop]] (sometimes considered to be a [[Voiced pharyngeal fricative|voiced pharyngeal approximant]]), {{IPA|[ʕ]}} or {{IPA|[ʔˤ]}},
* צ Ṣāḏê, a pharyngealized ''s'', {{IPA|/sˤ/}},
* ק Qôp, a [[voiceless uvular stop]], {{IPA|/q/}}.
{{listen|filename=Aramaic_emphatics.ogg|title=The emphatic consonants of Aramaic|description=|format=[[Ogg]]}}

Ancient Aramaic may have had a larger series of emphatics, and some Neo-Aramaic languages definitely do. Not all dialects of Aramaic give these consonants their historic values.

Overlapping with the set of emphatics are the "guttural" consonants. They include ח Ḥêṯ and ע ʽAyn from the emphatic set, and add א ʼĀlap̄ (a [[glottal stop]]) and ה Hê (as the English "h").

Aramaic classically has a set of four [[sibilant]]s (ancient Aramaic may have had six):
* ס, שׂ {{IPA|/s/}} (as in English "sea"),
* ז {{IPA|/z/}} (as in English "zero"),
* שׁ {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (as in English "ship"),
* צ {{IPA|/sˤ/}} (the emphatic Ṣāḏê listed above).

In addition to these sets, Aramaic has the [[nasal consonant]]s מ ''m'' and נ ''n'', and the [[approximant consonant|approximants]] ר ''r'' (usually an [[Dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills|alveolar trill]]), ל ''l'', י ''y'' and ו ''w''.