r precede a consonant and are always followed by a genuine vocalic sound .. [w] is a labio-velar, rounded sound. At the beginning, its articulation is similar to that of the vowel [u], but then the speech organs shift to a different position to utter a different vocalic sound. The distribution of the sound includes syllable-initial position before almost any English vowel (eg win [w 4n], weed [wi: d], wet [wet], wag [w? G], work [wf: k], won [won], woo [wu:], wood [w? d], walk, [w]: k] wander [w] nd c],) or a diphthong (eg way). Before [r], (eg write) the sound is no longer pronounced. [W] can also occur after a plosive (eg twin, queen) or a fricative consonant (eg swine). It can be rendered graphically either by the letter w (the most common case) (eg sweet) or by u (eg quite) .. [j] is an unrounded palatal semivowel. The initial stage of its pronunciation is quite similar to that of the short vowel [w], but then the sound glides to a different vocalic value. Like [w], [j] cannot occur in final position (as a quite similar palatal sound very often does in Turkish), is never followed by a consonant and occurs in front of back, central and front vowels. (E.g. yes, young, youth). It can be preceded by a plosive (eg tune) or a fricative (eg fume). The sound may be spelt y (as in year) while in words spelt with u, ue, ui, ew, eu and eau read as the long vowel [u:] the palatal sound is often inserted. The insertion is obligatory if the preceding consonant is: an oral plosive (p, b, t, d, k, g), a nasal stop (m, n), a labio-dental fricative (f, v) or a glottal one (h). A word like beauty can only be read [bju: tw] and not [bu: tw]. Cf. also: pure, bureau, tulip, deuce, queue, argue, mule, neutral, furious, revue, huge. The palatal sound is not inserted after affricates or after [r] or [l] preceded by a consonant: chew, June, rude, clue. When [l] is not preceded by a consonant or when the sound preceding [u:] is an alveolar fricative [s, z] or a dental one, the usage varies: cf. suit [sju: t], but also [su: t]. In words like unite, unique, university, etc, where u forms the syllable alone the vowel is always preceded by the semivowel: [ju: na? t].
. The Liquids. These are approximant sounds, produced in the alveolar and postalveolar region and include several variants of the lateral [l] and of the rhotic [r] .. The lateral [l]. The main variants of [l] are a so-called clear [l] and a dark [l]. The clear [l] is distributed in prevocalic positions. When this sound is articulated, the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and the air is released either unilaterally or on both sides of the active articulator. The front part of the tongue also raises towards the hard palate. Words like lake [le? k], look [luk], flute [flu: t], lurid [ljur? d] delight [d? la? t] illustrate the distribution of the consonant in syllable-initial position or after a plosive plot [pl] t], Blake [ble? k], clean [kli: n], glue [glu:] or a fricative slot [sl] t], fly [fla? ] And in front of a vowel or the glide [j] The dark [? ] Is distributed in word-final position or before a consonant. As in the case o the clear [l] the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge and the air is released laterally, but now it is the body of the tongue that raises against the soft palate, modifying the resonance of the sound and giving it a more stifled character. Words like kill [ki? ], Rule [ru:? ], Belfry [be? fr...
