Well, I suppose to be more accurate, there are also other alveolar consonants yod-dropping can occur after (/r/, /l/, /s/, /z/); however, it’s the particular ones /t/, /d/, and /n/ that show the American-British distinction outlined above.
On occasion, I have done yod-dropping on the word “calculate” (or at least on similar words). It always confuses (confoozes?) me when it happens; it’s certainly not intentional.
Am I the only one who finds it weird that the OP offered “cal/que/late” as an option? Does anybody pronounce the word with a QUE (as in “request” or “quell”)?
I use the /j/ for the four words of the OP as well as mule, but not for news or tube. Raised in Philadelphia.
That was just a bad choice of spelling on my part. I should have used “cue” or “cyew” to show what I meant.
Me too.