▁of ▁approximately ▁ 3 3 ▁con son ants , ▁three ▁nas al ▁v ow els , ▁and ▁five ▁or al ▁v ow els . ▁ ▁Cons on ants ▁ ▁The ▁ph on eme ▁ ▁has ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁variants ▁and ▁allo ph ones . ▁It ▁can ▁appear ▁as ▁a ▁dent al ▁tap ▁or ▁f lap ▁ ▁( es pecially ▁word - med ial ly ), ▁as ▁an ▁al ve olar ▁fr ic ative ▁ ▁( as ▁in ▁Spanish ), ▁as ▁an ▁( inter ) d ental ▁fr ic ative ▁, ▁as ▁a ▁later al ▁, ▁as ▁a ▁nas al ▁, ▁or ▁as ▁a ▁vo iced ▁dent al ▁pl os ive ▁. ▁The ▁vel ar ▁nas al ▁ph on eme ▁ ▁does ▁not ▁occur ▁word - initial ly , ▁being ▁conf ined ▁to ▁" med ial ▁position ▁after ▁a ▁nas al ▁v owel ." ▁ ▁Ph on eme ▁combinations ▁In ▁languages ▁there ▁are ▁certain ▁clusters ▁of ▁ph on emes ▁that ▁show ▁up ▁in ▁particular ▁environments ▁within ▁a ▁word . ▁According ▁to ▁William ▁Whit man ' s ▁research ▁of ▁Ch iw ere , ▁there ▁are ▁approximately ▁ 2 3 ▁known ▁con son ant ▁clusters ▁which ▁are ▁word ▁med ial ▁and ▁approximately ▁ 1 4 ▁of ▁these ▁show ▁up ▁word ▁initially ▁or ▁word ▁med ial ly . ▁In ▁this ▁research ▁it ▁has ▁been ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁stop ▁+ ▁stop ▁con son ant ▁cluster ▁č d , ▁as ▁in ▁á č da ▁(' then '), ▁shows ▁up ▁in ▁the ▁word ▁med ial ▁position ▁but ▁not ▁as ▁a