Editing Syriac language (section)

=== Consonants ===
Syriac shares with Aramaic a set of lightly contrasted [[stop consonant|stop]]/[[fricative consonant|fricative]] pairs. In different variations of a certain lexical root, a root consonant might exist in stop form in one variation and fricative form in another. In the Syriac alphabet, a single letter is used for each pair. Sometimes a dot is placed above the letter (''quššāyā'' "strengthening"; equivalent to a [[dagesh]] in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]) to mark that the stop pronunciation is required, and a dot is placed below the letter (''rukkāḵā'' "softening") to mark that the fricative pronunciation is required. The pairs are:
* Voiced [[labial consonant|labial]] pair – {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/v/}}
* Voiced [[velar consonant|velar]] pair – {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}}
* Voiced [[dental consonant|dental]] pair – {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ð/}}
* Voiceless [[labial consonant|labial]] pair – {{IPA|/p/}} and {{IPA|/f/}}
* Voiceless [[velar consonant|velar]] pair – {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/x/}}
* Voiceless [[dental consonant|dental]] pair – {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}}

Like some Semitic languages, Syriac too has [[emphatic consonant]]s, and it has three of them, {{IPA|/q/}} being a historically emphatic variant of {{IPA|/k/}}. These are consonants that have a coarticulation in the [[human pharynx|pharynx]] or slightly higher.  There are two [[Pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] fricatives, another class of consonants typically found in Semitic languages. Syriac also has a rich array of [[sibilant]]s:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Table of Syriac consonants
|-
! rowspan=2 | 
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Labiodental consonant|Labio-<br />dental]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan=4 | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyn-<br />geal]]
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!  colspan=2 | <small>plain</small> ||   colspan=2 | <small>[[pharyngealization|emphatic]]</small> 
|- align=center
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|m}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|n}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
|- align=center
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|p}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|b}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|t}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|d}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|tˤ}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|k}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|ɡ}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|q}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
| colspan=2 | 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|ʔ}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
|- align=center
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| colspan=2 | 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|f}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|v}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|θ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|ð}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|s}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|z}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|sˤ}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|ʃ}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|x}} || colspan=2 style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|ɣ}} 
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|ħ}} || style="border-left: 0;" | {{IPA link|ʕ}}
| style="border-right: 0;" | {{IPA link|h}} || style="border-left: 0;" |
|- align=center
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|w}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|l}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|j}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
|- align=center
! [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | {{IPA link|r}}
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
| colspan=2 | 
|}
*