Hi! I just came across 両日 - both days. The listed pronunciation is りょうじつ. So far so good, I know both of those. But Wanikani also has the very helpful button you can click where you hear a fluent speaker pronounce the words. And he pronounces it ようじつ. No matter how many times I listen to it, I can’t hear any trace of the り. Is there some quirk of Japanese here where り is sometimes mute? I’m really just wondering if there is something I have failed to pick up on, because if I only learned りょうじつ and heard ようじつ in the wild, I wouldn’t immediately guess that they were the same word.
I can hear the slightest trace of an “r/l” sound in there, but it’s so faint it’s hard to tell whether it’s there or if it’s just my mind. I tried out other words starting with りょう、りょ、りゃ、etc. , and while some of them sounded slightly clearer, it’s still quite faint. My guess is that it’s just due to the two sounds being sounded out in quick succession.
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My suggestion is you create a couple of contrast / minimal pair decks in anki, where you can practice this sound. (You can have mine, I linked it below, but I suggest you make your own).
wkscripts.nfshost.com/d-r.apkg
The words I have used:
The sound of this guy on WK is actually quite clear! I can think of less clear examples. Try this one out for size: wkscripts.nfshost.com/15-ryaKUZI.ogg
To actually answer your question: The sound here is りょ, not り. The r articulation is accompanied by palatalization, that is, the back part of the tounge is in position to make the y sound while the tip makes the flap-r. It is not mute or whispered, but it can sound kind of slurred.
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This made me curious and I went to listen for myself, Personally I hear a very clear りょ at the beginning and not よ, no matter how many times I listen to it. I suggest maybe trying some listening practice because a lot of these sounds are so similar, its hard at first. While i’ve never tried the suggestion above, that may be a place to start!
While the R sound is “fainter” than the English R, I can tell it’s there.
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