beginning of words, they only occur in loanwords (as in 'glass tumbler' from vaso and 'rooster' from gallo) where Trager describes them as "less voiced". Syllable-finally, they are voiceless, have no audible release, and have a long closure duration : {| | || ('and') || > || |} There is a neutralization of the contrast between the labialized consonants and their non-labial counterparts before the (labial) high back vowels where only phonetically labialized velars occur. In this environment, Trager assumes these are non-labials which are phonetically labialized due to assimilation (e.g. is , is , etc.): {| | || ('skunk') || > || |- | || ('sheep') || > || |- | || ('and then') || > || |} Fricative has weak frication, unlike the stronger frication found in other languages (such as, the closely related Picuris language). Voiceless is phonetically an affricate and usually post-alveolar . Taos is somewhat more palatal than English ..</ref> However, can freely vary with a more forward articulation ranging from post-alveolar to alveolar: . Some speakers tend to have more forward articulations before the vowels while ejective is before high vowels and elsewhere although there is some amount of free variation between these realizations. Examples: {| | || ('he caught') || > || |- | || ('blue, green') || > || |- | || ('mouse') || > || |- | || ('shirt') || > || |- | || ('yeast') || > || |- | || ('doll') || > || |- | || ('coyote') || > || |- | || ('be new') || > || |- | || ('ankle') || > || |- | || ('bluejay') || > || |} Fricative tends to have a post-alveolar allophone before high vowels (especially the high front vowel ): {| | || ('cow') || > || |- | || ('bluebird') || > || |} The flap is a borrowed phoneme (< Spanish ) that occurs in loanwords from New Mexican Spanish that were borrowed relatively recently as in {| | || ('ranch') || (from rancho) |- | || ('pear') || (from pera) |- | || ('vinegar') || (from vinagre) |} The lateral liquid is velarized at the end of syllables: {| | || ('be strong') || > || |} The labial glide is labio-velar. The glides are phonetically short high vowels no closer than Taos high vowels, which are very close as well. When they occur after nasal