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August 11, 2025 11 mins

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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