Syllabic

Syllabic l is perhaps the most noticeable example of the English syllabic consonants, although it would be wrong to expect to find it in all accents. It occurs after another consonant, and the way it is produced depends to some extent on the nature of that consonant. If the preceding consonant is alveolar, as in 'bottle' bðtl, 'muddle' mɑdl, 'tunnel' tΛṇl, the articulatory movement from the preceding consonant to the syllabic l is quite simple. The sides of the tongue, which are raised for the preceding consonant, are lowered to allow air to escape over them (this is called lateral release). The tip and blade of the tongue do not move until the articulatory contact for the l is released. The l is a "dark l". In some accents - particularly London ones, and "Estuary English" - we often find a close back rounded vowel instead (e.g. 'bottle' bɒtu). Where do we find syllabic l in the BBC accent? It is useful to look at the spelling as a guide. The most obvious case is where we have a word ending with one or more consonant letters followed by 'le' (or, in the case of noun plurals or third person singular verb forms, 'les'). Examples are:

i) with alveolar consonant preceding

'cattle' k{tl .

'wrestle' resl .

'bottle' bDtl .

'muddle' mVdl .

ii) with non-alveolar consonant preceding

'couple' kVpl .

'struggle' strAgl

'trouble' trVbl .

'knuckle' nVkl .

Such words usually lose their final letter 'e' when a suffix beginning with a vowel is attached, but the l usually remains syllabic. Thus:

'bottle'-'bottling'                 bnt|-bɒthr)

'muddle' - 'muddling'         mΛd_.l – nΛd_.lɪŋ

'struggle' - 'struggling'        strɑgl – strΛg_.lɪŋ

Similar words not derived in this way do not have the syllabic l - it has been pointed out that the two words 'coddling' (derived from the verb 'coddle') and 'codling' (meaning "small cod", derived by adding the diminutive suffix '-ling' to 'cod') show a contrast between syllabic and non-syllabic l: 'coddling' knd_.lɪŋ and 'codling' kɒdlɪŋ. In the case of words such as 'bottle', 'muddle', 'struggle', which are quite common, it would be a mispronunciation to insert a vowel between the l and the preceding consonant in the accent described here. There are many accents of English which may do this, so that, for example, 'cattle' is pronounced kætəl, but this is rarely the case in BBC pronunciation.

We also find syllabic l in words spelt, at the end, with one or more consonant letters followed by 'al' or 'el', for example:

'panel' paen_.l

'kernel' kз:n_.l

'parcel' pa:sl

'Babel' beɪb_.l

'petal' pet_.l

'pedal' ped_.l

'papal' peɪp_.l

'ducal' dju:kl

In some less common or more technical words, it is not obligatory to pronounce syllabic l and the sequence əl may be used instead, although it is less likely: 'missal' mɪs_.l= or mɪs'l , 'acquittal' əkwɪt_.l or əkwɪtol.