To create an intended oral consonant sound, the entire mouth plays a role in modifying the air's passageway.
This rapid modification of the air passageway using the tongue and lips makes changes to the waveform of the sound by compressing and expanding the air.
In addition to the nose and mouth, the vocal cords and lungs also make a contribution to producing speech by controlling the volume (amplitude) and pitch (frequency) of the sound.
The use of the vocal cords will also determine whether the consonant is voiced or voiceless.
Once the nasal consonant has been opposed to the oral as presence to absence of the open tract, the contrast consonant/vowel is revalued as presence vs. absence of a closed tract.