Keith Treacy

[Charlie Darwin]

In most cases, yeah. In Treacy it is.

[tetsujin1979]

depends on it's placement in the word.
Pub quiz question - name four words where "y" is the vowel (no googling)

[Stuttgart88]

depends on it's placement in the word.

A bit like apostrophes.

[tetsujin1979]

A bit like apostrophes.

exactly like apostrophe's.

[DannyInvincible]

depends on it's placement in the word.
Pub quiz question - name four words where "y" is the vowel (no googling)

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?

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?

[tetsujin1979]

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.

[Charlie Darwin]

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?

So, if 'y' is a vowel in those words, when is it a consonant? In words like 'yellow', 'yoke' and 'yonder', is it?

Yes. It's any sound where you constrict your throat to say it, so yellow, yoke, beyond, yank, etc.

It's a vowel in by, spry, hymn, myth, rhythm, etc.

[Eminence Grise]

It's a semivowel.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/semivowel

[tetsujin1979]

rhythm is another. just one left. Fairly common word actually.

[Charlie Darwin]

Wymyn.

[DannyInvincible]

'Gypsy'?

[Charlie Darwin]

Wy Wylly Fryzyr

[tetsujin1979]

'Gypsy'?

very good, it's not the one I'm thinking of, but we're done now - myth, rhythm, hymn, and gypsy

it was gym

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I watch Countdown and y is not a vowel in that show.

[Stuttgart88]

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.

[paul_oshea]

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.

[Stuttgart88]

new = since I stopped watching regularly around 1991

[DannyInvincible]

very good, it's not the one I'm thinking of, but we're done now - myth, rhythm, hymn, and gypsy

it was gym

Transpires there are quite a few: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English..._vowels#With_y

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".

'Syzygy' is a splendid word. 'Cyst' and 'glyph' are other relatively common examples not mentioned above.

[Charlie Darwin]

Twyndyllyngs is a fantastic word.

[Stuttgart88]

'Syzygy' is a splendid word.

the Arsenal goalkeeper?