辅音，**称辅音，在发音语音学中是语音的一类，与元音相对，发音时气流在发音器官某一部分受到完全或部分阻碍。

辅音可以依据数个特点（distinctive feature）加以分类：

所有的辅音均能以上述的特点加以描述，例：汉语中的"t"即为"清齿龈塞音" [t]（未标明气流机制）。

有些辅音会被区分为强（fortis）或弱（lenis），如"p/b"、"t/d"，但这属于音韵学（phonology）而非语音学（phonetics）上的区分。

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are [p], pronounced with the lips; [t], pronounced with the front of the tongue; [k], pronounced with the back of the tongue; [h], pronounced in the throat; [f] and [s], pronounced by forcing air through a narrow channel (fricatives); and [m] and [n], which have air flowing through the nose (nasals). Contrasting with consonants are vowels.