c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le
"my @strings = qw(vw vwx vwxz vwxzp vwxzpd vwxzpdq);
 ;;
 my $consonant = qr{ [bBcCdDfFgGhHjJkKlLmMnNpPqQrRsStTvVwWxXzZ] }xms;
 ;;
 for my $s (@strings) {
   print qq{'$s'};
   print qq{{4,} matched; captured '$1'}  if $s =~ m{ ($consonant{4,} ) }xms;
   print qq{{4,}? matched; captured '$1'} if $s =~ m{ ($consonant{4,}?) }xms;
   print '';
   }
"
'vw'

'vwx'

'vwxz'
{4,} matched; captured 'vwxz'
{4,}? matched; captured 'vwxz'

'vwxzp'
{4,} matched; captured 'vwxzp'
{4,}? matched; captured 'vwxz'

'vwxzpd'
{4,} matched; captured 'vwxzpd'
{4,}? matched; captured 'vwxz'

'vwxzpdq'
{4,} matched; captured 'vwxzpdq'
{4,}? matched; captured 'vwxz'