Syllabic consonants

In JamC, consonants normally occur only at the margins of the syllable, i.e. in the onset or in the coda. However, there are two consonants which appear as syllabic nuclei. They are both required to be preceded by an oral consonant. Syllabic consonants produce an alternative syllable structure as presented below.

(28) (C) C [Syllabic Nasal/Lateral] (C)

In relation to the syllabic nasals, the phonemic distinction between the nasal stops /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/  in the onset and the coda is not maintained when nasals occur in the nucleus. There is simply a single syllabic nasal, . This appears as the bilabial or the alveolar, depending on the place of articulation of the immediately preceding consonant. There seems to be a rule blocking the occurrence of a velar consonant before a syllabic nasal as can be seen by example c. below.

There seems to be an element of complementarity with the syllabic consonants. The other syllabic consonant,  , is restricted to occurring preceded by a velar consonant. Syllabic  appears phonetically as a velarized or dark phone,  . This has an impact on the selection of oral stops which may precede it. Oral alveolar and velar stops in syllable-initial position are normally contrastive. However, before a syllabic lateral, only velar consonants are allowed as in the examples below.