# Episode 160: Approximant-ly English

An episode of [The History of English Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/538608536), 15 Jul 2022, 1 h 20 min.

Audio: https://media.blubrry.com/historyofenglish/content.blubrry.com/historyofenglish/Ep160-Approximately-English.mp3

In this episode, we explore the sounds represented by the letters L and R. Linguists refer to these sounds as ‘approximants,’ and they are some of the most challenging sounds in the English language. They are consonants with vowel-like qualities. Over time, they have shown a tendency to disappear and reappear, and even switch places in words. They also have a history of altering the vowel sounds that appear before them. In this episode, we explore the evolution of the ‘L’ and ‘R’ sounds in the English language. TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 160

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