Every consonant in every human language can be described in a few simple parameters. For instance, the letter 'b'of English's technical name is 'leinously voiced unaspirated bilabial plosive stop with egressive pulmonic air. And the technical name of our 'sh' sound is voiceless palato-alveolar fricative with egressive pulmonic air. These are the parameters:
Type of voicing:
Type of release (mainly for stops and affricates):
Place of Articulation:
Manner of Articulation:
Air-stream mechanism:
* Retroflection is debated as either a place or manner of articulation...linguists are divided on this. Peter Ladefoged regards it as a manner of articulation.
Using these parameters, it is possible to describe any consonant in human language, including clicks and other odd sounds.