| bilabial | labio-velar | labio-dental | alveolar | postalveolar | velar | uvular | |
| stop | b, p | d, t | g, k | q | |||
| trill | r | ||||||
| fricative | v, f | z, s | ʒ, ʃ | ɣ | ʁ, χ | ||
| affricate | dʒ, tʃ | ||||||
| nasal | m | n | ɴ | ||||
| approximant | w | ||||||
| lateral approximant | l |
| front | central | back | |
| close | i, y | ɯ, u | |
| close-mid | ø | o | |
| near-open | æ | ||
| open | a |
(C)V(C)(C)
Source: Chechenov, A.A.; and I.Kh. Akhmatov. 1996. Balkarskiy yazyk. Yazyki mira. Tyurkskiye yazyki, ed. by Edgem R. Tenishev, 272–286. Moscow: RAS.
Comments: Initial clusters found in loans.
Contributed by: Dmitry Nikolaev (dnikolaev@fastmail.com)