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136 Bogus clusters, syllabic consonants and vowel syncope. . .(27) PGCV|ÏC|mV|PC|pVCV|P«®lIn (27) the lateral [l] appears before a final empty nucleus, hence itis governed but unlicensed and this, according to the Coda Mirror, isa weak position. The sonorant spreads to the left and displaces the schwa.The nuclear position occupied by the sonorant is not empty, whichmeans that it can function as a governor and govern the precedingempty nuclear position. In consequence we arrive at the three-consonantcluster. Similar examples can be multiplied, e.g. napkin [ ® nÏpk ®n], twinkle[ ® twINk®l], falcon [ ® fOÉlk ®n], husband [ ® h¿zb ®nd] faculty [ ® fÏk®lti], etc. Asmentioned above, what syllabic consonants, vowels and final empty nucleihave in common is the ability to govern lexically empty nuclei. All threestructures, however, never govern vowels which are lexically present.This is clearly observable in the case of faculty [ ® fÏk®lti], arrogant [ ® Ïr«g ®nt],cavalry [ ® kÏv®lri]. Thus, in such forms a syllabic consonant is not ableto govern the preceding nuclear position simply because it is not empty.Furthermore, given the forms containing two sonorants in a row beforean empty nucleus, e.g. shrapnel, grapnel, we should wind up with twoconsecutive syllabic consonants. This is, however, not the case here asthe first sonorant is preceded by an empty position which is properly governedby the second sonorant which is syllabic, e.g. [ ® SrÏpn®l] and [ ® grÏpn®l]respectively. In other words, the nuclear position between [p] and [n]is lexically empty, which means that it can be properly governed. This canbe done by the nuclear position occupied by the syllabic consonant. Inconsequence, the nasal [n] appears in a strong position, i.e. it is licensedbut ungoverned, and does not have to spread to the left to survive. Note,however, that the solution offered here predicts two syllabic consonantsin a situation where both sonorants are preceded by the schwa, e.g. general[ ® dZen®r®l], marginal [ ® mAÉdZ ®n®l], personal [ ® päÉs ®n®l], national [ ® nÏS ®n®l], etc. 20Two syllabic consonants in one word do appear but in the vast majorityof cases they are separated by at least one obstruent. This is illustrated20We have managed to confirm the existence of personal [ ® päÉs ®n®l] only (Jones EnglishPronouncing Dictionary 12 th ed.). In Harris (1994:185) such forms are the representativesof a different phenomenon, that is, vowel syncope, hence they are represented as[ ® dZenr«l], [ ® mAÉdZn«l], [ ® päÉsn«l], [ ® nÏSn«l], respectively. We shall return to such forms in theimmediately following sub-section.