syllabicity

Syllabicity is a phonological concept describing whether a particular speech segment functions as the nucleus of a syllable. The term is used to distinguish the element that serves as the syllable’s core from surrounding segments such as the onset (beginning) and the coda (ending). The word itself comes from syllabē, meaning a “hole or division” in a word, and ultimately from Greek roots.

In most languages, the syllable nucleus is a vowel. This nucleus anchors the syllable and typically determines its syllabic weight. Consonants can form the nucleus only in special cases, when they are syllabic and carry the role of a nucleus without a vowel. Syllabic consonants are common in many languages and can occur in various environments, sometimes arising in unstressed or reduced syllables, or as a consequence of phonological simplification at the end of a word or morpheme.

In phonetic transcription, syllabicity is marked by a diacritic on the segment that serves as the nucleus. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, a small vertical line below a consonant signifies a syllabic consonant, as in n̩ or l̩. A vowel that is itself syllabic can be indicated with a diacritic or by placing the vowel as the nucleus of a syllable without a separate diacritic.

Syllabicity interacts with language-specific phonotactics, stress patterns, and historical sound changes. It is a useful tool for describing syllable structure, especially in cases where consonants assume nucleus-like prominence or when vowel presence is reduced or absent.