Single onsets

The only consonant that is not allowed to take the onset position in English is /ŋ/. Another sound, /Ʒ/, does not start an English word (save for items such as genre, as well as some foreign names such as Zhivago) but is capable of occurring in non-word-initial onsets, as in vision [vɪ.Ʒən] and measure [mε.Ʒɚ]. Finally, /ð/ deserves a mention for its restricted occurrence in word-initial position; this sound is found only in grammatical (function) words (e.g. the, then , there, etc.) word-initially.