Why Y Is a Vowel According to Physics (and so is W)

Human language is an incredible thing: a combination of mouth sounds that we combine into words, sentences, poems, and constitutions. They carry meaning, emotion, and power. But underneath it all, language is really just physics. In this episode, we explore how physics is at the core of every syllable, starting with the first word most of us ever speak.

0:00 Your voice is just physics
1:16 Some basics of linguistics
2:27 There are more than 5 vowels?
4:49 The physics of the vocal tract
7:04 Resonance and sound filters
8:47 How vowels are an acoustic illusion
11:25 Finding vowels in surprising places
13:09 A touching moment
13:45 The extra bits