In most cases, yeah. In Treacy it is.
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In most cases, yeah. In Treacy it is.
depends on it's placement in the word.
Pub quiz question - name four words where "y" is the vowel (no googling)
A bit like apostrophes.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
exactly like apostrophe's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Are there only four? I assume words like 'hymn', 'myth' and 'scythe' are examples. What about a word like 'berry'? Or do you mean words where it is the only vowel?Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
So, if 'y' is a vowel in those words, when is it a consonant? In words like 'yellow', 'yoke' and 'yonder', is it?
Edit: Does 'by' count as a word?
A far as I know, Y is a vowel when it's not at the beginning or end of a word. Myth, hymn and scythe all count. There's loads more, but the four I'm thinking of have no other vowels. Hymn and myth are two.
Yes. It's any sound where you constrict your throat to say it, so yellow, yoke, beyond, yank, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
It's a vowel in by, spry, hymn, myth, rhythm, etc.
It's a semivowel.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/semivowel
rhythm is another. just one left. Fairly common word actually.
Wymyn.
'Gypsy'?
Wy Wylly Fryzyr
very good, it's not the one I'm thinking of, but we're done now - myth, rhythm, hymn, and gypsyQuote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
it was gym
I watch Countdown and y is not a vowel in that show.
I refuse to accept that it's a vowel of any type and I don't care what t'internet says.
That new chick that replaced Carol Vorderman: whoar.
New? Riley?Essex? She has been there ages. BUt yes stutts, brains and beauty, and maths brains, what more do you need? Grande Tetas, well ye got that too Stutts.
new = since I stopped watching regularly around 1991
Transpires there are quite a few: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English..._vowels#With_yQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
'Syzygy' is a splendid word. 'Cyst' and 'glyph' are other relatively common examples not mentioned above.Quote:
In English, the letter 〈y〉 can represent either a vowel or consonant sound, and a large number of Modern English words spell the /ɪ/ and /aɪ/ sounds with 〈y〉, such as sky, spy, shy, fry, fly, why, dry, try, tryst, gym, hymn, lynx, lynch, myth, wyrm, myrrh, rhythm, pygmy, gypsy, flyby, crypt, nymph, and syzygy which are vowels in this case. The longest dictionary words (base forms excluding plurals) are rhythm, spryly, sylphy and syzygy. The longest such word in common use is rhythms, and the longest such word in Modern English is the obsolete 17th-century word symphysy. If archaic words and spellings are considered, there are many more, the longest perhaps being twyndyllyngs, the plural of twyndyllyng meaning "twin".
Twyndyllyngs is a fantastic word.
the Arsenal goalkeeper?Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible