Respiratory volumes during phonation of a series of voiced and voiceless fricatives and plosives placed within a carrier phrase were measured in 20 normal adult subjects. The purpose was to (1) determine whether consonant type influences respiratory volume and (2) determine whether intraoral pressure differences among voiced‐voiceless consonants could be a reflection of volume differences during speech. The results indicate that voiceless consonants utilize substantially larger volumes of air than their voiced cognates. The data also suggest that consonant intraoral pressures may be influenced more by intraoral respiratory volumes than by energy losses caused by glottal resistance during voicing.