It depends on what author you believe. I like how Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich describe the /h/ as a voiceless vowel. This is due to the fact that even if it is a fricative, the place of articulation will vary depending on the vowel after it. For example, the production of the /h/ will be different in the words 'heel' and 'hot'... the place of articulation varies, though the manner of articulation doesn't (like in vowels). I hope this helps.
I'm using the adaptation of the IPA that Peter Avery uses in his book "Teaching American English Pronunciation". I find it a lot easier for students to understand, as /j/ might be confused for /dʒ/ at the beginning by some students who aren't familiar with the IPA. Avery's adaptation of the IPA also changes some symbols in the vowels, which seem to help first time students in the matter.
these are my answers for the dictation part: year j ??? thing 0 interdental fricative patch p bilabial stop fake f labiodental fricative nose n alveolar nasal year r palatal liquid thing ng velar nasal patch tʃ palatal affricate thick k velar stop nose z alveolar fricative
The video utilizes an adaptation of the IPA, suggested by Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich in their book "Teaching American English Pronunciation". This adaptation is very similar to the one Marianne Celce-Muria uses in one of her books as well. The idea of using an adaptation is to make it easier or more understandable for students of the subject. So, in the adapted IPA, the initial sound for year would be /y/, whereas in the traditional IPA the intial symbol for year would be /j/.
