Why isn't Y a vowel?

Question

there's A, E, I, O, and U. Y is often used where a vowel will look unsophisticated in - like xylophone, or sly. So why isn't it a vowel?

Answer 1

The answer: more often than not, it IS a vowel!

It's the fact, that it is not ALWAYS a vowel that has confused people.

Actually, the reason many folks SAY that only a, e, i, o and u are vowels and the rest are consonants is probably mainly because they are repeating some rule-of-thumb they learned in grade school but never really understood. (Those whose rule added "and sometimes y" or even "and sometimes y and w" are rather better off, though they still may not know when or why that "sometimes" happens.)

Part of the problem is that people do not understand what "consonant" and "vowel" MEAN, esp. that they are FIRST-of-all descriptions of types of SOUNDS, and only secondarily of which LETTERS we use to indicate those sounds.

So, looking at the sounds first:

1) "CONSONANTS" are sounds made by severly restricting or stopping the flow of air. Note that is not JUST those that stop the flow -- these sounds (like b,p, t,d, k,g), fittingly called "STOPS" [another useful term] are only ONE type of consonant. A great many consonants do not stop the flow, but they DO restrict it.

A way to remember this 'CONSonants CONStrict the air flow'.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consonant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant

2) "VOWELS" on the other hand, 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. This is why they are so important to carrying speech and enabling us to open up our mouths and sing. Note that vowels almost always are "voiced" (sounded with the vocal chords); in many (most?) languages (English included) ALL vowels are voiced. A great many consonants --including those that don't stop the air flow-- are not voiced. This characteristic use of the voice (compare "vocal") is the origin of the term "vowel" itself.
http://www.webster.com/dictionary/vowel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel

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So much for vowel and consonant SOUNDS. The other source of confusion has to do with LETTERS.

Notice that the letters are one step removed from speech. For the most part our "consonant"-letters match up with consonant-SOUNDS and "vowel"-letters with vowel-sounds. What causes confusion is:

1) Spoken language and written language don't always change together... so that a letter may be written that no longer matches the sound made. For example, silent letters (mostly consonants) -- lamb, knight, soften.

Most people understand this, so the real issue is. . .
2) There is a set of sounds called "semi-vowels" on the "borderline" between consonants and vowels. Based on how they combine with surrounding sounds they may become one or the other. This accounts for the letter "y" being for a consonant-sound in "yell" but for a vowel-sound in "shy" --and actually, the "y" originally marked a VOWEL sound, and still is used in English for vowel sounds much MORE often than for consonants. Similar is the letter "w" which at the beginning of a syllable marks a consonant-sound ("well"), but latter in a syllable marks a vowel. (In modern English this only happens in the vowel-combinations ['dipthongs'] "aw", "ew", "ow", though in words from Welsh it can stand alone [like cwm, pronounced "coom"])

SUMMARY:
A more complete, if less catchy, statement of the rule would be something like this --
"In English, except when a letter is silent:
a) a, e, i, o and u are used as vowels [that is, to indicate vowel sounds];
b) y and w are consonants [=indicate consonant sounds] when they are used at the BEGINNING of a word or syllable, elsewhere they are vowels [=indicate vowel sounds];
c) all the other letters are consonants."

Answer 2

Well the rule is that sometimes Y is a vowel, depending on what sound it makes. In sly, it is a vowel because every word must have a vowel. It is making a sound like an i. However sometimes Y makes a non vowel like sound, like in Yellow.

Answer 3

You have to undestand what a vowel is.
Say
aaaaaaa-eeeeeee-b.
Do you hear how the air flows without a stop for aaaa and eeee but the b has a hard stop where you bring your lips together.
Well, that is what makes a's and e's vowels while B is a consonant. Consonants restrict the flow of air in some way either with your tongue or your mouth or your throat. So, sometimes Y's and W's let the air flow free and are vowels, and sometimes they restrict it, and they are consonants.

Answer 4

Actually, I was taught that Y is sometimes a vowel. But not when it is at the beginning of a word. So, in the word yarn, it acts as a consonant, but in a word like especially, it acts as a vowel. But I guess people are taught different things.

Answer 5

It is a vowel. But we teach it to students that it is sometimes used and sometimes not. Remember the song, A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y!

Answer 6

y is sometimes a vowel, but not always

Answer 7

its only a vowel when it is needed

Answer 8

It is a "sometimes vowel."

Answer 9

Vowels are, strictly conversing, sounds, no longer letters of the alphabet. The letters of the alphabet used to symbolize vowel sounds are a, e, i, o, u, w, and y. The sound of "w" in "water" and of "y" in "confident" are observed as semi-vowels or glides; although, those flow sounds are no longer the only sounds which "w" and "y" symbolize. they are able to symbolize finished vowels besides, as in "crwth" and "cyst" and "sky". besides, "w" is linked with "u" and "y" is linked with "i", so as that "u" and "i" additionally symbolize the flow sounds in "water" and "confident", as in "particularly" and "onion". Had historical past long previous somewhat in yet in a distinctive way, we would now be spelling those final 2 as "qwite" and "onyon"! So the little clause "and in specific circumstances 'y'" is definitely a deceptive little clause. It presupposes that the flow sound in "confident" is to be seen a consonant. in any different case, the "y" would be seen a vowel comparable to "a, e, i, o, u", i.e., continuously a vowel. And if "y" isn't a vowel whilst a flow, then neither is "i", and there could be yet another clause asserting that "i" is "purely in specific circumstances a vowel", it no longer being so whilst it represents a flow (as in "onion"). In precis, "i", "u", "y", and "w" are all used to symbolize the two glides (semi-vowels) and finished vowels. Vowels are A, E, I, O, U, and in specific circumstances Y. Y is a vowel in the words rhythm, device, sky, undercover agent, cry, my, why, and shy.

Answer 10

It's a consonant sometimes; like in the words "yes" or "yeti" or "yesterday."