How is syllabicity indicated in IPA?

• A. The nasal tilde [˜] above a consonant
• B. The diacritic [ˈ] for primary stress
• C. The tilde [~] over a vowel
• D. The syllabic diacritic [̩], placed under or after a consonant

Answer: (D)

Syllabicity is shown in IPA when a consonant itself serves as the nucleus of a syllable. This is marked with the syllabic diacritic [̩] attached to the consonant, exactly as [n̩], [l̩], or [m̩]. The diacritic can be placed under the consonant or immediately after it, indicating that no separate vowel is needed to form the syllable. For example, in languages or pronunciations where a consonant carries the syllable’s core, you’ll see something like [n̩].

Other marks in the options don’t indicate a syllabic consonant. A nasal tilde above a consonant is not the standard symbol for syllabicity, and nasalization is typically applied to vowels. The primary-stress mark [ˈ] signals which syllable is stressed, not whether a consonant is syllabic. A tilde over a vowel indicates nasalization of that vowel, not syllabicity.