Tenuis consonant

In linguistics, a tenuis consonant (/ˈtɛn.juːɪs/ ^ⓘ or /ˈtɛnuːɪs/) is an obstruent that is voiceless, unaspirated and unglottalized.

In other words, it has the "plain" phonation of [p, t, ts, tʃ, k] with a voice onset time close to zero (a zero-VOT consonant), as Spanish p, t, ch, k or English p, t, k after s (spy, sty, sky).

For most languages, the distinction is relevant only for stops and affricates. However, a few languages have analogous series for fricatives. Mazahua, for example, has ejective, aspirated, and voiced fricatives /sʼ sʰ z/ alongside tenuis /s/, parallel to stops /ɗ tʼ tʰ d/ alongside tenuis /t/.

Many click languages have tenuis click consonants alongside voiced, aspirated, and glottalized series.