Approximants
Aug 11, 2025•11 min•Season 1Ep. 9
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Episode description
Approximants are sounds that sit somewhere in between vowels and consonants. They are widely referred to as "semi-vowels" or "semi-consonants", and they are strange in many ways.
In this episode I explore 10 weird things about approximants with an actual list:
1) The name APPROXIMANT
2) Double articulations of /r/ and /w/
3) Silent letters
4) J ≠ /j/
5) Rhoticity
6) Intrusive /r/
7) Dark l
8) Diphthongs
9) Devoicing
10) Tapped /r/
I also answer a question about cockney /r/.
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