Consonant cluster

A consonant cluster (/kɒnsənənt klʌstə/) is a group of consonants in a word with no vowel(s) separating them. Very common in English, this phenomenon is particularly difficult for speakers of languages such as Spanish, Arabic and Japanese, where vowel/consonant or consonant/vowel follow each other quite strictly.

Consonant clusters can occur at the beginning of a word, in the middle, and/or at the end. Linking further hinders understanding for students.

Examples of clusters

initial consonant clusters

Note: Don’t confuse consonant sounds with consonant letters. For example system /ˈsɪstəm/ begins with only one consonant and not 4, because "y" is a vowel in this case. See Decoding the letter Y.

Beginning

English words can have up to three consonants at the beginning of a word:

• screw; split; spring; strange; street; stream; clumps ; swell; pray; through.

Middle

English words can have four or even five consonants in the middle of a word. In these cases they will be in different syllables.

• handspring /nd.spr/
• abstract /b.str/
• extra /k.str/
• explain /k.spl/
• instruct /n.str/
• sightscreen /t.skr/
• watchstrap /tʃ.str/ (/tʃ/ counts as only one consonant)

Ending

Although not very frequent, English words can have up to four consonants at the end of a word:

• attempts /mpts/
• glimpsed /mpst/
• sixths /ksθs/
• twelfths /lfθs/
• thousandths /ndθs/
• prompt /mpt/

References

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