8
Consonant sounds and letters
Textbook: Part 1, topic 3, pp. 30–45
GoalTell consonants from vowels and know how many consonant sounds there are.
New words
consonant · undoshobstacle · to‘siqtongue · tiltooth · tish
Explanation
When we say a consonant, the air meets an obstacle in the mouth: the lips, tongue or teeth stop it. Try saying b, t, k. Uzbek has 24 consonant sounds. Most are written with one letter (b, d, k, m, r), but sh, ch, ng are written with two letters. The letter j stands for two different consonants: as in jo‘ja (chick) and jirafa (giraffe).
Worked examples
Samarqand — 6 consonants (s, m, r, q, n, d) and 3 vowels (a, a, a).
kitob (book) — consonants: k, t, b. Vowels: i, o.
Class activity
“Balloon experiment”: children breathe in deeply, then say the vowels a, o, u and the consonants b, t, k, and describe how the mouth, lips and tongue move differently.
Practice
1
Name the consonants in kitob.
k, t, b
2
Name the consonants in o‘zbek.
z, b, k
3
How many consonant sounds does Uzbek have?
24