"Y" and "W" as a Consonant and a Vowel
The letter "y" sometimes substitutes for "i" and is a vowel when it does so. Likewise, the vowel "w" sometimes substitutes for "u" and is considered a vowel when it does so. However, "y" sometimes appears as the only vowel in a syllable, such as in gym and why, whereas "w" never appears all by itself. When "w" acts as a vowel, it always follows "a" (as in paw), "e" (as in new), or "o" (as in grow). Sometimes at the end of a word the letter "w" is silent such as cow. Here the "o" sounds /aʊ/.
"Y" as a consonant and a vowel
Sometimes, the letter "y" is a consonant, and other times it is a vowel. The rule for telling the two apart is simple: The letter "y" is a consonant when it is the first letter of a syllable that has more than one letter. If "y" is anywhere else in the syllable, it is a vowel.
2. /ɪ/ English
Group 1: y+consonant+(consonant) gym, symbol
Group 2: y (final) lady
/j/
Group 1: (Consonant) vine•yard
/i/
Group 1: (Vowel) ba•by
/ɪ/
Group 1: (Vowel) gym
/aɪ/
Group 1: Diphthong sound(Vowel) sky
"W" as a consonant and a vowel
Sometimes, the letter "w" is a consonant, and other times it is a vowel. The rule for telling the two apart is simple: The letter "w" is vowel when it's part of the second vowel in a double vowel.
/w/ wet
Group 1: (Consonant) wet
/u:/
Group 1: (Vowel) news
/Ø/ (Silent Vowel)
Group 1: (Silent Vowel) saw
Review of Vowel Sounds spelled with "w" and "y"
Generally speaking, the letters "w" and "y" will represent a /w/ sound or /j/ sound when they are:
(a) at the beginning of a word (will, you)
(b) the first letter of part of a compound word (homework, backyard)
(c) the first letter after a prefix (rewind, beyond )
Additionally, the letter "w" usually represents a consonant sound when it follows another consonant, such as in the word sweet.
In other positions within a word, the letters "w" and "y" are usually associated with the spelling of a vowel sound. When the letters "w" and "y" are used in vowel spellings, they are representing the vowel sound, and not a /w/ sound or /j/ sound.
Vowel sounds spelled with a "w":
aw /ɑ:/ (complex sound aw) saw
ew /u:/ (complex sound oo) new
ew /ju:/ (long u) few
ow /oʊ/ (long o) snow
ow /aʊ/ (complex sound) cow
Vowel sounds spelled with a "y":
y /i/ (long e) happy
y /aɪ/ (long i) by
y /ɪ/ (short i) mystic
oy /oɪ/ (complex sound oi) toy
ay /eɪ/ (long a) day
A two-sound vowel is a vowel sound that includes a w sound or a y sound in the pronunciation. Often, the w sound or y sound is only a minor part of the sound, but must be included for the sound to be pronounced fully. Two-sound vowels are known linguistically as diphthongs.
The long a, long i, long o, long u, ow complex sound and oi complex sound are two-sound vowels.
Linking vowels with semi-vowels
A slight /w/ sound or /y/ sound may be added into or between words when there would otherwise be two adjacent vowel sounds. The addition of the semi-vowel sound helps the speaker clearly articulate both vowel sounds. If the first vowel is a two-sound vowel that already ends in a slight /w/ sound or /j/ sound, the semi-vowel will be made more significant. Although native speakers regularly and naturally add these sounds to their speech, dictionaries do not include the added sound in their transcriptions.
Adding a /w/ sound Between Vowels:
Within words:
heroic /hɪˈrowɪk/
intuition /ˌɪntuˈwɪʃən/
fluent /ˈflu:wənt/
doing /ˈdu:wɪŋ/
Between words:
who asked /ˌhu:ˈwæskt/
go away /ˈgoʊwəˌweɪ//
do it /ˈdu:ˌwɪt/
Adding a /j/ sound Between Vowels
Within words:
idea /aɪˈdi:jə/
science /ˈsajəns/
react /riˈjækt/
Between words:
day_y_after /ˈdeɪˌjæftɚ/
say_y_it /ˈseɪˌjɪt/
dry_y_off /ˈdraɪˌjɑ:f/
Semi-vowel: w sound /w/
How to pronounce the w sound:
The w sound is created with the jaw mostly closed and the lips formed in a small, tight circle. The sound is voiced, so the vocal cords must vibrate during the production of the sound.
The w sound is very similar to the vowel oo sound. The only difference is that the lips are slightly more closed when making the w sound, and the w sound cannot create a syllable as a vowel sound can.
Common w sound spellings:
[1] w spelling
Examples:
win, sweet, rewind
[2] wr spelling
When the w is followed by an r (as in the words write, wrap, and wrist) the w+r combination is more likely to be pronounced as an r sound, not a w sound.
[3] wh spelling:
Examples:
when, why, while
The letters wh are more likely to be pronounced as an h sound when they are followed by the oo sound (such as the word who) or the long o sound (such as the word whole).
[4] qu spelling:
Examples:
quit, quiet, queen
The qu spelling is not strictly a w sound, but is rather a w sound preceded by a k sound.
Non-phonetic w sound words
The w sound is underlined in the following words:
one, choir, memoir
NOTE: The words one and won are homonyms and are pronounced the same.
Semi-vowel: y sound /j/
How to pronounce the y sound:
The tongue is extended forward, with the body of the tongue very near the tooth ridge and hard palate. Because the tongue is so high, the jaw is kept relatively closed during the formation of this sound. The sides of the tongue touch the top, side teeth during the sound. The lips are held mostly closed, and they are neither made tense nor into a circular shape.
NOTE: This sound is similar to a long e in both sound and formation. However, the tongue is held closer to the tooth ridge during the y sound than during the long e sound.
Common y sound spellings:
Examples:
yes, you, beyond
NOTE: The letter "y" is often a part of the "oi" sound when it is spelled "oy", as in the word toy, or part of the long a sound when it is spelled "ay", as in the word day. When it is part of a vowel spelling, the "y" sound merges with the vowel sound and is no longer considered a distinct "y" sound. Instead, it is a portion of the two-sound vowel.
Compare y sound and long e
A good way to practice hearing and saying the y sound is to compare it using minimal pairs that do not contain that sound. Notice that the following words are identical, except that the word on (a) begins with an "y" sound and the word on (b) does not.
(a) y sound
Examples:
year, yeast, yearn
(b) no y sound
ear, east, earn
5 comments:
Wow, great, thanks! Very useful article
Great! This answered my question.
good
Y and W are always vowels. In none of the examples you gave of them as consonants could they not be re-spelt using vowels to replace the Y or W sounds.
For example, "vineyard" could be re-spelt "vinieard".
"Wet" can be re-spelt "ooet".
These two letters are convenience methods to avoid long clusters of vowels (or should I say "vaooels"?).
Further, in the case of W, it's literally a dipthong of two Us together. It's a double-U. It's right there in the name. It's "uu", though that's more easily written as "oo" in English where we don't have a "uu" spelling, *because it has literally been superceded by w in all cases*.
Agreed that Y and W, for the exact same reasons as above (as well as the origins of the letters themselves) are always vowels. Very well said!
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