Is "Y" a vowel?

Answer 1

You may have heard in school that the vowels are a,e,i,o and u.

That's an oversimplification for the sake of teaching children the basic idea.

In fact, the letters that serve as vowels in English are a,i,e.o,u, w and y. It's just that w and y can ALSO be used, in other contexts, to mark consonants, whereas a,e,i,o and u cannot.

How is that?

First, it's best to think of "consonant" and "vowel" as first of all labels for certain types of SOUNDS. Then, secondarily, you can apply the terms to the LETTERS that are used to indicate each type of sound.

Second, there are certain sounds called "semi-vowels" that sit on the fence betwen 'vowel' and 'consonant'. By a slight change in how they combine with the sounds around them these can switch from consonant to vowel (or vice versa). "w" "y" and "h" are the letters English generally uses for these semi-vowels. Note, for instance, that if you place "w" or "y" at the BEGINNING of a word (or syllable), it is pronounced as a consonant ("word", "yam"); in the middle or END of syllables they mark vowel-sounds ("how" [cfl the ou of house], "awl", "scythe", "happy").

Third, a language changes over time -- including changes in pronunciation-- the pronunciation of particular letters, and the use of letters may be changed.

In the case of "Y" -- the letter had long (since its roots in the Greek letter upsilon) been used to indicate a VOWEL sound, typically one very like the French u or German u-umlaut. It was originally a vowel in English as vowel, and to this day is most often used for a vowel sound ("myth", "happy", etc.) But it also began to be used in English to mark the consonant sound in "yes" -- a sound that formally was marked with the letter J (a consonant-variant of the vowel-letter "I").

Something along the same lines happened with "w". Though it is typically used to mark a consonant the letter itself was derived from the leter "u", and still is often used to mark the "u" sound -- not only in Welsh words like cwm (pronounced /coom/), but in English words in the combined vowel-sounds (or "diphthongs") "aw, ew, ow".


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Extra: definitions of 'consonant' and 'vowel' as SOUNDS:

1) "CONSONANTS" are sounds made by severly restricting or stopping the flow of air.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consonant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant

2) "VOWELS" are characterized by how they SHAPE the sound --esp by positioning of the tongue and shape of the mouth-- without severly constricting the air flow.
http://www.webster.com/dictionary/vowel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel

Answer 2

It is generally considered as a mixture of a consonant and a vowel. In Spanish, Y is called i griega, in Catalan i grega, in Polish igrek, in French i grec - all meaning "Greek i"; in most other European languages the Greek name is still used; in German and in Portuguese, for example, it's called ypsilon (although Portuguese also uses, as in Spanish, i grego). The letter Y was originally established as a vowel. In the standard English language, the letter Y is traditionally regarded as a consonant (as depicted in American game show Wheel of Fortune), but as a survey of almost any English text, Y more commonly functions as a vowel. In many cases, it is known as a semivowel.

Originally, Y was a vowel letter in Greek, representing [u] and later on, front rounded [y], becoming [i] in Modern Greek.

Answer 3

It absolutely is, sometimes...

In english you cannot have a word w/o a vowel-

in the word "rhythm" for example y is the vowel

Answer 4

Is Y A Vowel

Answer 5

It depends on if it is used in a vowel's place in the word - such as the word "by" versus "yes." Every word has to have a vowel - "y" is teh vowel in "by" and "e" is the vowel in "yes." "Y" is a vowel when it is used as one. Simple as that.

Answer 6

Y is a consonant but it can be used to sound like a vowel when used in a word as "i" just like century (pronounced as centuri)

Answer 7

It can be. When it sounds like an "i" or an "e", it is a vowel. Examples, tricky, system, analyze, etc. When it begins a word or make the sound it makes in "yes", it is a consonant.

Answer 8

Y tends to be counted among the consonants. However it can act as a vowel in certain words like myth, hymn and my. So it depends on how you use it as to how it's categorised.

Answer 9

Sometimes, as when it blends into another vowel sound , and does not stand on its own.

Answer 10

"W" is sometimes a vowel, too, but very rarely. It's used that way in the word "Cwm."