Syllabic consonants

We have looked at vowels in weak syllables. We must also consider syllables in which no vowel is found. In this case, a consonant, either l, r or a nasal, stands as the peak of the syllable instead of the vowel, and we count these as weak syllables like the vowel examples given earlier. It is usual to indicate that a consonant is syllabic by means of a small vertical mark () beneath the symbol, for example 'cattle' kæṭl.