Final answer:
Syllabic consonants are consonants that can form the nucleus of a syllable, allowing the consonant to carry a syllable without an accompanying vowel. Common examples include 'l' in 'bottle' and 'n' in 'button'. The answer to the multiple-choice question is B) Consonants that form syllables.
Step-by-step explanation:
Syllabic consonants are consonants that can form the nucleus of a syllable, effectively acting like a vowel in that position. This means in certain words, these consonants can carry the rhythm and can occur without a vowel to form a syllable. A common feature of syllabic consonants is that they often occur at the end of words
. An example of a syllabic consonant is the letter 'l' in the word 'bottle,' where the 'le' forms a syllable on its own without a vowel.
To directly address the original multiple-choice question, the correct answer is B) Consonants that form syllables. Syllabic consonants are not consonants without sound, not only fricative consonants, nor consonants that are never silent. Therefore, syllabic consonants can come from various consonant types, including liquids like /r/ and /l/, nasals like /m/ and /n/, and even the occasional fricative, such as in some dialects where the /s/ in 'island' may be a syllabic consonant.