Why is the letter y sometimes classed as a vowel ?

**yesmeena** · 27-02-2010, 11:48 PM

I am searching about this question

A question

this is something ive never quite got my head around when i was at school we got taught that the vowels were a,e,i,o,u,y but we never actually got the reasoning behind it and i
would really like to know why

some answers that i found

The answer
Sorry for those who weren't taught this (or forgot it), but the "sometimes y" version of the rule is correct.

Just check the definition of "vowel" in a dictionary and you'll have the basic answer. For example:

1. A speech sound. .. created by the relatively free passage of breath through the larynx and oral cavity, usually forming the most prominent and central sound of a syllable.
2. A letter, such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in the English alphabet, that represents a vowel.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vowel
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Note those TWO uses of the word. "Vowel" refers, FIRST of all, to a type of SOUND --one in which there is minimal blockage of the airflow. With a "consonant", on the other hand, there is significant blockage (sometimes even stopping the airflow completely, as with "stops" -- b, p, t, d, k, g)

The usage of "vowel" for a LETTER is secondary, based on this first meaning. Things are simple for a,e,i,,o and u because they are ALWAYS used to indicate "vowel sounds".

But Y confuses people because in English it is sometimes used for vowel sounds, sometimes for consonant sounds.

In fact, when you start looking at it, you discover that it is much more often a vowel --- making the same sound indicated by "i" or "e" does elsewhere.

(If it helps -- our letter Y is originally borrowed from the Greek letter "upsilon" -- which is a VOWEL.)

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So WHEN is y a vowel, when a consonant?

The basic rule is this:

Y at the BEGINNING of a syllable marks a consonant sound (and so may be called a consonant) examples: yak, yellow,

Y elsewhere in a syllable (middle or end) represents a vowel sound (and so is called a vowel). examples -- the many words with a -y ending/suffix: happy, funny...
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This all may be easier to see if you put some words side-by-side with i-words in which it represents exactly the same sound:

cry - cries, sky - skies, fly - flies
rhyme - time
lay - lei
soy - soil

(Note that i is more often used in the middle of a syllable, y at the end. Consider all the words that change from y to i when adding an ending - fly > flies, happy > happier)

**yesmeena** · 27-02-2010, 11:49 PM

another answer

As far as I understand it, y is not a vowel but sometimes acts as one for the following reason.
No English word ends in "i". If a word we use ends in "i" it originates from another language and has not been assimilated into English. Obvious examples are "spaghetti" and "ravioli" which are Italian words.

English words that sound as if they end in "i" often end instead in "y". Examples are tidy, happy, berry, silly.
When the "i" sound is no longer at the end of the word, it reverts back to what it always wanted to be - an "i".
For example:
tidy - tidies; happy - happiness; berry - berries; silly - silliness.
Every word in the English language includes a vowel except where the vowel is replaced by a "y".
Examples include: dry, fry, my.
In these cases, "y" is acting like a vowel but giving the same sound as the vowel "I".
Source(s):

Own knowledge of the English language/spelling rules.

**yesmeena** · 27-02-2010, 11:51 PM

Taken directly from the website below:

The letter Y is inherently vacillating in its nature and usage, and consequently is sometimes a vowel, sometimes a consonant, depending upon how it is used in the name.

When determining if the Y is a vowel or a consonant, the basic rule is this:
When the letter serves as a vowel, and in fact sounds like one, it is a vowel. The same is true when the Y serves as the only vowel in the syllable. Examples of both of these cases are such names as Lynn, Yvonne, Mary, Betty, Elly, and Bryan.

However, if the Y does not provide a separate vowel sound, as when it is coupled with another vowel, it is considered a consonant.
In names such as Maloney or Murray, the Y is a consonant, because the vowel sound depends upon the long E in Maloney and the long A in Murray.

In general, the Y is a consonant when the syllable already has a vowel. Also, the Y is considered a consonant when it is used in place of the soft J sound, such as in the name Yolanda or Yoda.
In the names Bryan and Wyatt, the Y is a vowel, because it provides the only vowel sound for the first syllable of both names. For both of these names, the letter A is part of the second syllable, and therefore does not influence the nature of the Y.
Source(s):

http://www.decoz.com/Y_vowel-consonant.h…