We were taught in first grade that the letters a, e, I o, u, and occasionally y are vowels. Most of us undoubtedly believed what we were told (it was just another “rule”) and never questioned why that last bit was true (there were other things to wonder about, like snack time). We also agreed that the remaining 20 letters in the English alphabet were all consonants. Those vowels and consonants were just letters to most people, but they were more than just lines on a page to that first grader who dreamed of being a linguist.
A consonant is a sound that is not a vowel in speech. It also refers to the letters of the alphabet that represent certain sounds: consonants include Z, B, T, G, and H.
All non-vowel sounds, or their equivalent letters, are consonants: A, E, I, O, U, and occasionally Y are not consonants. H and T are consonants in hat. A consonant can also be used as an adjective to indicate things that appear to be compatible, or things that are “agreeable.” You may remark that a country’s aid offer is in line with its treaties. Consonant sounds are pleasant to hear in music, as opposed to “dissonant” sounds, which are unpleasant.
Linguists have invented systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to assign a unique and unambiguous symbol to each confirmed consonant because the number of speech sounds in the world’s languages is significantly greater than the number of letters in any one alphabet. Because there are fewer consonant letters in the English alphabet than there are consonant sounds in the English language, digraphs like ch, sh, th, and ng are employed to extend the alphabet, however some letters and digraphs represent more than one consonant. For example, the sound spelt th in “this” is not the same as the sound spelled th in “thin.
Consider the sound.
When we think about how we make sounds, we shape our mouths and vocal tracts before exhaling air, and the sound of the vowels is usually produced by a somewhat open, unobstructed passage of air.
The vocal cords will vibrate, but there will be little to no audible friction if you try it while holding your fingers around your throat and under your chin. Little will alter in your mouth or throat, or even your lips, when you pronounce the vowels.
Conversely, the sounds we make for consonants necessitate at least a partial obstruction of the breath passage - try it and hold your throat again. Your tongue and lips will shape the sounds, as well as the movement in your mouth and throat.
The letter Y has brought you this day.
Our weird letter Y is employed to represent multiple sounds in different words, so it matches both of the aforementioned characteristics — intelligent and slightly perplexing.
It can also match either definition due to its capacity to fit both definitions.
It is apparent that the word ‘rhythm’ is assuming the sound and role of a vowel.
Consider the word ‘crayon,’ where the breath passage must be temporarily obstructed to make the sound between the ‘y’ and the ‘o.’ The letter ‘y’ is used as a consonant in this case.
The letter ‘Y’ is known as a ‘semivowel’ because of its propensity to swap roles.
To summarize, any debate over whether the letter ‘Y’ is a vowel or a consonant is largely pointless, and the answer is arbitrary. The letter is more commonly used as a vowel, however it may usually be replaced with the letter ‘I’, which is always a vowel (phew!).
To add to the confusion, the consonant sound is not consistently reproduced by any other letter when ‘Y’ is used, which is why ‘Y’ is commonly viewed as a consonant.
I hope that this look at the quirks of the letter ‘Y’ has been helpful, and in future blogs, we’ll look at a few more of the strange ways of the English language - there’s no way we’ll run out of things to talk about!
Y as a Vowel
The letter “y” is more commonly found as a vowel than as a consonant. When the letter “y” appears at the beginning of a word, it is usually a consonant, as in yes, you, yard, and young. When the letter “y” appears in the middle or at the end of a word, it is frequently considered as a vowel. There are always exceptions, such as lawyer, canyon, and beyond.
Y is considered a vowel, if
There is no other vowel in the word.
A letter at the end of the word or syllable.
A letter in the middle of a syllable.
In certain circumstances, the letter y is sounded as a long vowel e or a short or long I (typically as a long I at the end of a word)—and it is a vowel for all intents and purposes. When two vowel sounds are combined in a single syllable to make a single speech sound, such as “oy” in toy, “ay” in day, and “ey” in monkey, y is considered a vowel.
When y begins a word or syllable, it usually signifies a consonant, as in yard, lawyer, or beyond. This y sound is classified as a semivowel or glide, which is a less pronounced vowel speech sound that arises when two successive vowel sounds are unequal in prominence. When articulating the letter y in yes, for example, there is a very brief long e sound. The mouth is not expanded as fully as it is when articulating the vowel y in early (if it were, y would be a real consonant); yet, the air flow is not obstructed when sounding y. The outcome is a consonant that sounds like a vowel.
Examples: any early many ready
baby easy mommy really
bunny every only sandy
candy family pantry story
city funny penny study
copy happy pretty sunny
country heavy puppy usually
ally cry fly ply sky shy
apply defy fry pry sly spy
by dry my why
The letter y can also be pronounced as a short I as in the words mystic and rhythm. Furthermore, when a vowel precedes the letter “y,” the “y” is often rendered silent, as in day & key.
