| Syllabic consonant | |
|---|---|
| ◌̩ | |
| ◌̍ | |
| IPA number | 431 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | ̩ |
| Unicode (hex) | U+0329 |
|
|
|
A syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the under-stroke, ⟨ ̩⟩ U+0329 ◌̩ combining vertical line below (HTML: ̩ ). It may be represented by an over-stroke, ⟨ ̍⟩ U+030D ◌̍ combining vertical line above (HTML: ̍ ), if the symbol that it modifies has a descender, such as in [ŋ̍].[1]
Contents |
In many dialects of High-German and Low Saxon, pronouncing syllabic consonants may be considered a sign of nativity. In High-German and Tweants (a Low Saxon dialect spoken in the Netherlands), all word-final syllables in infinite verbs and feminine plural nouns spelled -en are pronounced with syllabic consonants. The High-German infinitive laufen (to walk) is pronounced [ˈlaufn̩] and its Tweants counterpart loopn is pronounced [ˈlɔːʔm̩]. Tweants scholars even debate whether or not this feature should be incorporated in spelling, resulting in two generally accepted spelling forms (either loopn or lopen).
Many dialects of English may use syllabic consonants in words such as even [ˈiːvn̩], awful [ˈɔːfɫ̩] and rhythm [ˈɹɪðm̩], which are usually regarded as realizations of underlying sequences of schwa plus consonant (/ˈiːvən/ etc).
In some Norwegian and Swedish dialects, syllabic consonants may also be heard, for instance in the word liten (little): ['litn̩].
All of these consonants are sonorants. The only time obstruents are used syllabically in English is in onomatopoeia, such as sh! [ʃ̩] (a command to be quiet), sss [s̩] (the hiss of a snake), zzz [z̩] (the sound of a bee buzzing or someone sleeping), and tsk tsk! [ǀǀ] (used to express disapproval or pity), though it's not certain how to define what a syllable is in such cases.
Sanskrit ṛ [r̩] (and Vedic Sanskrit ḷ [l̩]) are syllabic consonants, allophones of consonantal r and l. This continues the reconstructed situation of Proto-Indo-European, where both nasals and liquids had syllabic allophones, r̩, l̩, m̩, n̩.
Many Slavic languages allow syllabic consonants. Some examples include:
Cantonese features both syllabic m ([m̩]) and ng ([ŋ̍]) that stand alone as their own words. The former is most often used in the word meaning 'not' (唔, [m̭̍]) while the latter can be seen in the word for 'five' (五, [ŋ̬̍]) and the surname Ng (吳, [ŋ̭̍] or 伍, [ŋ̬̍], depending on the tone), among others.
A number of languages have syllabic fricatives, also known as fricative vowels. In Mandarin Chinese the pinyin syllables sī shī rī are sometimes pronounced [sź̩ ʂʐ̩́ ʐʐ̩́] respectively, with a syllabic fricative, although a pronunciation with a very close vowel is also heard, i.e. [sɨ̝́ ʂɨ̝́˞ ʐɨ̝́˞]. Standard Liangshan Yi has two "buzzed" vowels that are also syllabic fricatives, [β̩, ɹ̝̍], the former of which may even be trilled [ʙ̞̍].
Sinologists and linguists working in the Chinese analytical tradition frequently use the term apical vowel (舌尖元音 shejian yuanyin) to describe the above sounds and others like them in Mandarin Chinese and other Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages. The signs [ɿ], [ʅ], [ʮ], [ʯ] typically indicate these "apical vowels" in place of [z̩], [ʐ̩], [z̩ʷ], [ʐ̩ʷ], respectively. The term apical vowel should not be taken as synonymous with "syllabic fricative," as some syllabic fricatives do not have an apical place of articulation, e.g. the bilabial fricative in Liangshan Yi [β̩].
Berber, Salish, and Wakashan languages are sometimes used to illustrate syllabic obstruents in normal vocabulary, such as Nuxálk [pʰtʰkʰtsʰ], [spʰs] "northeast wind", [sχs] "seal blubber", [ɬqʰ] "wet", [ťɬɬ] "dry", or [nujamɬɬɬɬ] "we (ɬ) used to (ɬɬ) sing (nujamɬ)". However, it is not clear how one would define a syllable or a syllabic nucleus in such cases, and it's therefore not clear whether any of these consonants should be considered syllabic.
In Standard Yorùbá, the consonants m and n are becomes syllabic consonants (or syllabic nasals) when they carry tone like vowels. However they can only stand alone as syllables not being able to stand as syllable nucleus.