There is another important way that consonants are categorized, besides whether they are voiced or voiceless. Consonants can either be “stops” or “continuants,” depending on whether the airflow is stopped or if it is continued. For example, when we say the /s/ sound we can prolong it by saying “yessssssss.” The /s/ sound is considered a continuant because the air flow can continue as long as we have air in our lungs. But if we say a word like “job,” we cannot continue the final consonant, /b/. We stop the airflow by closing our lips. Therefore, /b/ is a stop. If we quickly open our lips, we can then “release” the stop and say job.