Syllabic consonants

Syllabic consonants are consonant sounds that act as the nucleus of a syllable, similar to a vowel. Typically, vowels carry this role, but in some words, a consonant—like "l" or "n"—can form the core of the syllable. For example, in the word "bottle" (pronounced "bot-əl"), the "l" in the second syllable functions as a syllabic consonant. This phenomenon often occurs in rapid or casual speech, making certain consonants carry the syllabic weight within a word.