Y

The letter Y, lower case y (pronounced /waɪ/) represents several sounds as a vowel and also the semivowel /j/.

As a semivowel

Voiced palatal approximant As a semivowel or consonant "y" represents IPA phoneme /j/. There are very few difficulties with this sound, except that the sequence /juː/ may be spelled with "u", "ue" or "ew", with no "y". See IPA phonetic sequence /juː/

• yacht - yard - yawn - yeast - yellow - yes - yesterday - yet - yield - yob - yogurt - you - young - your - youth - yo-yo
• beyond /bɪˈjɒnd/ or /biːˈɒnd/^AmE
• canyon - Kenya
• lawyer /ˈlɔːjər/ or /ˈlɔɪər/ - sawyer /ˈsɔːjər/ or /ˈsɔɪər/

As a vowel

IPA phoneme /aɪ/ Open-mid central unrounded vowel IPA phoneme /aɪ/ Near-close near-front unrounded vowel

As a single letter

The letter Y, as most vowel letters in English, has four basic pronunciations, identical to those of the letter I:

• So-called “short i”, IPA phoneme /ɪ/, as in gym, hymn, system or lyrics
• So-called “long i”, IPA phoneme /aɪ/, as in cry, cycle or pyromaniac
• Long "yr" monophtong (short vowel spelling), IPA phoneme /ɜː/, as in myrrh
• Long "yr" triphthong (long vowel spelling), IPA sequence /aɪə/, as in tyre (US tire) or lyre

At the end of a word

One syllable

• /aɪ/: by - cry - dry - fly - fry - my - shy - sky - sty - try - why

Several syllables

• /aɪ/: ally - apply - classify - July - multiply (verb) - prophesy - satisfy - verify
• /iː/ or /ɪ/: any - astronomy - biology - bully - chemistry - city - company - country - early - easy - every - family - geology - geography - happy - heresy - many - pity - prophecy - robbery - study - very

Adverbs ending in -ly: actually - certainly - especially - finally - likely - only - particularly - probably - multiply - really - simply - usually

In the middle of the word

One syllable

• /ɪ/: gym - hymn - lynx - myth - sync

Several syllables

• /aɪ/: analyse^BrE/analyze^AmE - cycle - gynaecology/gynecology - hyphen - hypothesis - myopia - myself - psychologist - Wyoming
• /ɪ/: crystal - cynic - homonym - physics - syllable - synthetic - sympathy - symptom - system - typical
• /iː/ or /ɪ/: anyone, anything, anywhere, everyone, everything, everywhere, polygon
• /ə/: analysis - Pennsylvania - pyjamas

As a gerund

• /aɪ/: die/dying - lie/lying

Combined with a vowel

With magic e

Always as /aɪ/ or /aɪə/

• dye - eye - rye
• byte - hype - rhyme - style - thyme - type
• analyse^BrE/analyze^AmE - breathalyse^BrE/breathalyze^AmE - catalyse^BrE/catalyze^AmE - paralyse^BrE/paralyze^AmE

For /aɪə/ see #In combination with “r” below.

ay

• /eɪ/: away - clay - day - delay - display - essay - gay - gray^AmE - hay - holiday - lay - may - May - pay - play - repay - relay - say - stay - today - way
• /eɪ/ or /ɪ/: Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday - yesterday

Very often we use "ai" in the middle of the word: raise - train - wait

ey

• Unstressed final /iː/ or /ɪ/: alley - chimney - donkey - hockey - honey - jockey - journey - Mickey - money - monkey - turkey - valley - Wembley
• /iː/: key
• /eɪ/: grey^BrE - hey - survey - they

Very often we use "ei" in the middle of the word: eight - neighbor^AmE - neighbour^BrE

oy

• /ɔɪ/: boy - employ - enjoy - joy - ploy - Roy - toy
• coyote: /kaɪˈəʊtɪ/ or /kɔɪˈəʊtɪ/

Almost always we use "oi" in the middle of the word: choice - join - point

uy

• /aɪ/: buy - guy

In combination with “r”

Main article: Decoding exercises: "yr"

• /ɜː/: myrtle - myrrh
• /ɪ/: lyrics - myriad - pyramid - syringe - syrup
• /ə/: martyr
• /aɪ/: thyroid
• Sequence /aɪə/: tyre^BrE

Curiosities

Two different pronunciations in same word: gynaecology, psychology

Homophones

See main article Homophone.

• bite - byte; by - buy; die - dye; hay - hey; time - thyme; way - weigh

Grammar

This section is about words ending in -y pronounced /iː/ or /ɪ/. See also Pronunciation exercises: /ɪ/ vs /iː/ § Unstressed syllable.

Many two-syllable adjectives end in -y:

• dirty - early - happy - pretty - silly - ugly;

In some cases, that y is a suffix to nouns and verbs:

• fog - foggy; fun - funny; grease - greasy; mess - messy; noise - noisy; run - runny; sand - sandy; smell - smelly; stick - sticky; sun - sunny; taste - tasty; wind - windy

and, as -ly, for adverbs:

• firmly - loudly - noisily - quietly - yearly

Adverbs ending in -cally have a silent a.

• automatically, basically, dramatically, specifically, typically

"Y" can also form a noun from an adjective:

• honesty - jealousy - orthodoxy

Another typical use is as a noun in itself or as a diminutive or familiar name (the same words can often be spelt "-ie" (auntie/aunty)

• Bobby - Bobbie; caddy - caddie; footie^BrE - footy^BrE (football); hippy - hippie; hoody - hoodie; Jimmie - Jimmy; Johnnie - Johnny; tummy (stomach);

As a shortening or clipping

• Indy (Indianapolis); indie (independent); #indyref2 (independence referendum number 2); telly^BrE (television)

See also

• Decoding the letter I
• Decoding exercises: "ie"
• Decoding exercises: "ay"
• Decoding exercises: "ey"
• Decoding exercises: "oy"

References

• "Is the letter Y a vowel or a consonant?" Oxford Dictionaries