what is the rule for words that end in "y"?

Question

there are two sounds for the ending "y". one sounds like "e" like january, penny, baby. and some sound like "i" like july, fry, sly, cry. does anybody know the rule for these sounds?

Answer 1

The main key is where the word is ACCENTED.

With VERY few exceptions, if the Y comes after a consonant [Y after a vowel combines to form a "diphthong", e.g., -ay, -ey, -oy]

a) If the Y is ACCENTED, the sound is that of 'long i' (e.g. sky, july, supply)
exceptions:
* agly (pronounced "a-GLEE") - from Scottish

b) If the Y is NOT accented, it almost alway makes the "ee" sound, unless the Y is part of the suffix "-ify". (The overwhelming majority of these cases are words which add the suffix -y, e.g., to turn a noun into an adjective)

words ending with -ify - unify, justify, mortify, mollify, exemplify + about 165 others

exceptions:
* lullaby (because from lulla + by)
* "ally" when used as a noun (verb DOES accent the vowel, and many pronounce the noun the same way)

I believe I have included ALL the exceptions for the 1000+ words of five letters of less that end in Y. If we make "-fy" words part of the RULE, there are only TWO exceptions.. plus "lullaby"!

Answer 2

Okay. What is the Golden Rule? I'm assuming it wasn't a tool used by the Roman or Greek Gods to measure us mortals.

Answer 3

If Y is the only vowel in the word it sounds like a long i as in "my". If Y is at the end of the word and there are other vowels as in "baby" it make the long E sound. The Y in "baby" is also acting like a silent E making the A long.

Answer 4

What about words like lullaby?

Answer 5

Bert has it right

Lullaby is a combined word. lull a bye.

Answer 6

There is no rule. That's just the way it is.
.

Answer 7

there is no rule lol? its just what it is.

Answer 8

"y" do you want to know?

hahaha come on, thats clever.