The Pronunciation Studio Pogcast

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/.

The English plosive consonants /p,t,k,b,d,g/ are made by fully blocking air as it leaves the body. Although they have strong spelling to sound relationships, they are a little bit tricky in pronunciation with processes including aspiration, affrication, glottalisation and many assimilations. In this episode I explore these sounds and processes, and answer a question about the ending of the word ORANGE.

Fricatives /f,v,θ,ð,s,z,ʃ,ʒ,h/ constitute the biggest group of consonants in English pronunciation. And they are the weirdest looking group, with nearly half of the symbols additional to the alphabet. In this episode we get to grips with the pronunciation of these sounds, and some of the peculiarities found in both their spellings, and the way the join together.

We shift focus to the 24 consonant sounds of GB English and discover how to categorise them using voicing, place and manner.

A monophthong is a vowel sound with one position of the mouth. A diphthong is a vowel sound that moves from one position to another. This episode is about the latter group. I also discuss swimwear and answer a question about the term GB.

A look at how English vowel length is affected by surrounding sounds and intonation.

The vowel sounds /ɪ,ʊ,ɛ,ɒ,ʌ,a/ form a neat group of short sounds. Or do they? SPOILER: There is a traitor in the midst. In today's episode I also try to answer a question regarding why the /t/ in THEATRE is pronounced /s/ in GB English.

The schwa /ə/ is possibly the most misunderstood of all English vowel sounds. Inspiring fear and awe in roughly equal amounts, this week's pog tries to get to the bottom of this elusive sound by comparing it to an apex predator fish. It's probably not the best metaphor, but it's still worth a listen, especially if you ever bought a "I wanna be a schwa, it's never stressed" mug. You'll never drink from it in the same way again!

In this week's episode I talk about student reactions to seeing the IPA chart for the first time, and how to break the vowel section into manageable chunks. The contradictions inherent in teaching IPA become clear when I class /ɪə/ and /ʊə/ as diphthongs, and then unscrupulously bury them. There are no easy answers, but hopefully the questions raised will make it all worthwhile.

A quick introduction to the new pog.