The Letter Y (The English Alphabet)
The Letter Y is the twenty-fourth Letter in The English Alphabet. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
As with every Letter in The English Alphabet, The Letter Y has two versions in the written form. These two versions are called: The Upper-Case and The Lower-Case.
The Upper-Case Y looks like this:
Y
The Lower-Case Y looks like this:
y
Notice that the main difference between The Upper-Case and The Lower-Case Y is the size. The Lower-Case Y is just a smaller version of The Upper-Case Y with a slight change in the angle of the lower arm. You will find that this is the same for quite a few letters in The Alphabet.
Pronunciation
As you learn The English Language, you will see that The Letter Y is very unique in The English Alphabet.
What Makes The Letter Y So Special?
The Letter Y can act as both a Vowel and a Consonant. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The Letter Y as a Vowel
As you know from studying The Vowels in The English Language, every word has to have at least one Vowel. These Vowels are The Letters A – E – I – O & U
But there are some words in The English Language that don’t contain any of the regular Vowels, but instead contain The Letter Y. In these cases, The Letter Y acts as a Vowel.
Examples
- Why
- Wry
- Spy
- Cry
- By
The Letter Y as a Consonant
In the cases that a word DOES contain another Vowel, then The Letter Y acts as a Consonant and usually comes at the end of the word.
Examples
- Silly
- Crazy
- Lazy
- Hazy
- Daisy
.
(Therefore, The Letter Y is both the nineteenth Consonant AND the sixth Vowel in The English Alphabet.)
What About At The Beginning of The Word?
In these cases The Letter Y is acting as a Consonant.
- Yo-yo
- Yacht
- Yard
- Yam
- Yuppy
Next Lesson – Letter Z
Following Lesson – The English Vowels
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