Ouxu has eleven consonants. Eight of them are "series" consonants, which form stop/fricative pairs at four places of articulation. The other three are "exceptional" consonants.
Table 2.3. Consonants
| p | bilabial stop | "p" |
| f | bilabial fricative | similar to "f" |
| t | alveolar stop | "t" |
| s | alveolar sibilant | "s" |
| c | palatal stop | similar to "ch" |
| x | palatal sibilant | a little bit like "sh" |
| k | velar stop | "k" |
| g | velar fricative | "g" |
| h | velar fricative | "h" |
| n | alveolar nasal | "n" |
| l | alveolar liquid | "l" |
"P" is the same as in English. "F" does not occur in English; it is produced by holding the lips together evenly (not pursed) and blowing through them.
"T" and "s" are the same as in English.
"C" and "x" do not occur in English. They are produced with the tongue against the roof of the mouth. "C" is softer than English "ch", and "x" is sharper than English "sh".
"K" is as in English. "G" is the sound of "ch" in German or in the word "Loch". It is sometimes written "kh". "G" is a much lower sound than "x"; it should be easy to tell the difference.
"H" is the same as in English, light and breathy rather than rough as in some languages. There should be no chance of confusing "h" with "g", which is a rougher sound. Be careful to always prounounce "h", even at the end of a syllable. "Bah" has an "h" sound at the end, unlike "ba". ("H" at the end of a syllable is also pronounced in Malay-Indonesian. It's nothing strange.)
"L" and "n" are the same as in English, but see below.
Consonants are pronounced differently depending on their environment in the word. The rules may sound a little complicated, but they're natural and easy to follow in practice.
A series consonant (pftscxkg) appearing at the beginning or end of a word is unvoiced. If it appears between vowels in the middle of a word, it is voiced.
An exceptional consonant does not change its voicing. "H" is never voiced. "N" and "l" are always voiced.
When two series consonants are brought together in the middle of a word, they are unvoiced. When a series consonant is brought together with an exceptional consonant, the series consonant takes on the voicing of the exceptional consonant.
Example 2.2. Clustered Consonants
okto "okto"
otto "oto"
olko "olgo"
ohko "oh-ko" (pronounce the "h")
"N" may change its place of articulation if it is immediately followed by a series consonant. In "np" or "nf" it is pronounced "m"; in "nc" or "nx" it is pronounced as a palatal nasal; in "nk" and "ng" it is pronounced like English "ng".