Consonant is a speech sound produced by obstructing the flow of air through the vocal tract.

• A. Consonant
• B. Vowel
• C. Diphthong
• D. Glottal stop

Answer: (A)

The statement is about what makes a consonant in speech: sounds produced by obstructing the flow of air through the vocal tract. That obstruction can happen in different places and in different ways—tongue, lips, teeth, or vocal cords—creating a range of consonant sounds from stops to fricatives. The important idea is that air is constrained as it moves, unlike vowels, which are produced with a relatively open vocal tract and act as the syllable’s core. Diphthongs are vowel sounds that glide from one vowel quality to another, so they aren’t consonants. A glottal stop is a specific way to realize a consonant by briefly closing the vocal cords, which fits the general concept but is a particular articulation rather than the broad category described. Therefore, the best answer is the consonant.