Decoding the letter Y

The letter Y, lowercase y (pronounced /waɪ/) represents several sounds as a vowel and also the semivowel /j/.

As a semivowel
As a semivowel or consonant "y" represents IPA phoneme /j/. There are very few difficulties with this sound, except that the sequence /juː/ may be spelled with "u", "ue" or "ew", with no "y". See IPA phonetic sequence /juː/


 * yacht - yard - yawn - yeast - yellow - yes - yesterday - yet - yield - yob - yogurt - you - young - your - youth - yo-yo
 * beyond /bɪˈjɒnd/ or /biːˈɒnd/
 * canyon - Kenya
 * lawyer /ˈlɔːjər/ or /ˈlɔɪər/ - sawyer /ˈsɔːjər/ or /ˈsɔɪər/

As a single letter
The letter Y, as most vowel letters in English, has four basic pronunciations, identical to those of the letter I:
 * So-called “short i”, IPA phoneme /ɪ/, as in gym, hymn, system or lyrics
 * So-called “long i”, IPA phoneme /aɪ/, as in cry, cycle or pyromaniac
 * Long "yr" monophtong (short vowel spelling), IPA phoneme /ɜː/, as in myrrh
 * Long "yr" triphthong (long vowel spelling), IPA sequence /aɪə/, as in tyre (US tire) or lyre

At the end of a word

 * One syllable
 * /aɪ/: by - cry - dry - fly - fry - my - shy - sky - sty - try - why


 * Several syllables
 * /aɪ/: ally - apply - classify - July - multiply (verb) - prophesy - satisfy - verify
 * /iː/ or /ɪ/: any - astronomy - biology - bully - chemistry - city - company - country - early - easy - every - family - geology - geography - happy - heresy - many - pity - prophecy - robbery - study - very
 * Adverbs ending in -ly: actually - certainly - especially - finally - likely - only - particularly - probably - multiply - really - simply - usually

In the middle of the word

 * One syllable
 * /ɪ/: gym - hymn - lynx - myth - sync
 * Several syllables
 * /aɪ/: analyse/analyze - cycle - gynaecology/gynecology - hyphen - hypothesis - myopia - myself - psychologist - Wyoming
 * /ɪ/: crystal - cynic - homonym - physics - syllable - synthetic - sympathy - symptom - system - typical
 * /iː/ or /ɪ/: anyone, anything, anywhere, everyone, everything, everywhere, polygon
 * /ə/: analysis - Pennsylvania - pyjamas
 * As a gerund:
 * /aɪ/: die/dying - lie/lying

With magic e
Always as /aɪ/ or /aɪə/


 * dye - eye - rye
 * byte - hype - rhyme - style - thyme - type
 * analyse/analyze - breathalyse/breathalyze - catalyse/catalyze - paralyse/paralyze

For /aɪə/ see below.

ay

 * /eɪ/: away - clay - day - delay - display - essay - gay - gray - hay - holiday - lay - may - May - pay - play - repay - relay - say - stay - today - way
 * /eɪ/ or /ɪ/: Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday - yesterday

Very often we use "ai" in the middle of the word: raise - train - wait

ey

 * Unstressed final /iː/ or /ɪ/: alley - chimney - donkey - hockey - honey - jockey - journey - Mickey - money - monkey - turkey - valley - Wembley
 * /iː/: key
 * /eɪ/: grey - hey - survey - they

Very often we use "ei" in the middle of the word: eight - neighbor - neighbour

oy

 * /ɔɪ/: boy - employ - enjoy - joy - ploy - Roy - toy
 * coyote: /kaɪˈəʊtɪ/ or /kɔɪˈəʊtɪ/

Almost always we use "oi" in the middle of the word: choice - join - point

uy

 * /aɪ/: buy - guy

In combination with “r”
Main article: Decoding exercises: "yr"
 * /ɜː/: myrtle - myrrh
 * /ɪ/: lyrics - myriad - pyramid - syringe - syrup
 * /ə/: martyr
 * /aɪ/: thyroid
 * Sequence /aɪə/: tyre

Curiosities
Two different pronunciations in same word: gynaecology, psychology

Homophones
See main article Homophone.


 * bite - byte; by - buy; die - dye; hay - hey; time - thyme; way - weigh

Grammar
This section is about words ending in -y pronounced /iː/ or /ɪ/. See also Pronunciation exercises: /ɪ/ vs /iː/ § Unstressed syllable.

Many two-syllable adjectives end in -y:
 * dirty - early - happy - pretty - silly - ugly;

In some cases, that y is a suffix to nouns and verbs:
 * fog - foggy; fun - funny; grease - greasy; mess - messy; noise - noisy; run - runny; sand - sandy; smell - smelly; stick - sticky; sun - sunny; taste - tasty; wind - windy

and, as -ly, for adverbs:
 * firmly - loudly - noisily - quietly - yearly

Adverbs ending in -cally have a silent a.
 * automatically, basically, dramatically, specifically, typically

"Y" can also form a noun from an adjective:
 * honesty - jealousy - orthodoxy

Another typical use is as a noun in itself or as a diminutive or familiar name (the same words can often be spelt "-ie" (auntie/aunty)
 * Bobby - Bobbie; caddy - caddie; footie - footy (football); hippy - hippie; hoody - hoodie; Jimmie - Jimmy; Johnnie - Johnny; tummy (stomach);

As a shortening or clipping
 * Indy (Indianapolis); indie (independent); #indyref2 (independence referendum number 2); telly (television)