This article fails to define what it means by a vowel. It is impossible to have syllables without vowels if you use the phonological definition of vowel. In D

This article fails to define what it means by a vowel. It is impossible to have syllables without vowels if you use the phonological definition of vowel. In Devanagari, an abugida that makes a clear distinction between vowels and consonants, there are r and l vowels. A continuant in a vocalic position in a syllable is a vowel. A continuant in a consonantal position is a consonant. We see this in the opposite direction in English with word-initial 'w' and 'y', both are continuants that make a sound that could, in a vocalic position, likely be represented by one or more of the aforementioned vowels of the Roman alphabet. Non-continuants cannot occupy vowel positions, and there are no examples of this in the article. Even where, orthographically, a syllable is represented by a grapheme typically considered to represent a stop consonant (e.g. k in Slovak), this will normally represent the consonant and an unwritten vowel (e.g. a following schwa).