a not forming a syllable or the nucleus of a syllable; consisting of a consonant sound accompanied in the same syllable by a vowel sound or consisting of a vowel sound dominated by other vowel sounds in a syllable (as the second vowel in a falling diphthong)
the nonsyllabic `n' in `botany' when it is pronounced `botny' the nonsyllabic `i' in `oi'
a (of speech sounds) not forming or capable of forming the nucleus of a syllable
initial 'l' in 'little' is nonsyllabic