listen, bottle, politician, etc. Syllabic consonants
Most syllables contain a vowel sound. However/sometimes a syllable consists only of a consonant. In dictionaries, these are usually shown either with a , symbol under the consonant or a' symbol before the consonant Consonants like this are called syllabic consonants.
article /'az.ti.kl/
listen /'lis.'n/
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It is always possible to pronounce a syllabic consonant as an ordinary syllable with a vowel (/a/) and a consonant (or consonants), although the syllabic consonant is usually more natural and fluent: article ■ /a:tikal/ or: /a:tikl/ listen = /hsan/ or: /bsn/
/!/ syllabic consonants are usually found in unstressed syllables after the following consonants:
Itl	bottle, little, hospital, pistol	7s/	hassle, parcel, whistle, colossal
Idl	saddle, muddle, handle, pedal	M	puzzle, drizzle, dazzle, hazel
bl	couple, people, example, principal		knuckle, article, classical, comical
Ibl	able, trouble, global, jumble	Inl	communal, channel, tunnel, panel
Most of these consonants are spelt -/e, but a few are spelt -al, -cl and -ol.
Inl syllabic consonants are usually found in unstressed syllables after the following consonants:
N	button, rotten, threaten, kitten	Itl	often, deafen, stiffen, soften
Idl	sadden, widen, garden, pardon	M	seven, given, eleven, proven
Ipl	happen, deepen, open, sharpen	m	marathon, python, strengthen, lengthen
Isl	listen, loosen, comparison, person	HI	fashion, action, politician, musician
M	cousin, horizon, poison, prison	l3l	illusion, collision, occasion, precision
Most of these consonants are spelt -en, -on, -ion or -ian. Words ending -sm have an /m/ syllabic consonant For example: Buddhism, capitalism, criticism, journalism, mannerism, socialism, chasm, enthusiasm
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Note: Contracted forms such as didn't, haven't, shouldn't, wouldn't etc have a syllabic 'nf: haven't = /haevnt/ or /haevant/
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•Some words have two syllabic consonants together, including: conditional, diagonal, general, literal, national, veteran. But notice that these can be pronounced in a number of ways. For example:
diagonal - /daiaeganal/ or /daiaeganl/ or /daiaegnal/ or /daiaegnl/
When -ing is added to a verb ending with a syllabic consonant (e.g. handling, troubling, happening, gardening) the consonant + -ing is usually said as one syllable. The syllabic consonant is the first consonant of the last syllable:
handle /haendl/       -     handling /haendlin,/ happen /hajp'n/       -      happening /haepnirj/
Notice that it is also possible to say the syllabic consonant with a vowel (/a/): /haendalig/, /haepamrj/
English Pronunciation in Use (Advanced)
Zoof : b f