Is y a consonant in the word you



Is the letter Y a vowel or a consonant?

Traditionally, A E I O and U are vowels and the rest of the letters are consonants.
See our lesson about the difference between a vowel and a consonant for more information.

However, sometimes the letter Y represents a vowel sound AND sometimes a consonant sound.

Y as a vowel

The letter Y is considered a vowel when:

there is no other vowel in the word:

• fry, sly, gym, myth

the Y is after a consonant at the end of a word:

• happy, early, company, baby, twenty (in these words the Y has a long E sound)
• July, cry, shy, sky, fly (in these words the Y has a long I sound)

the Y is after a vowel at the end of a word.
These two vowels create a diphthong.
(diphthong = a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable):

• play, day, chimney, monkey, boy, annoy

the Y is at the end of a syllable:

• cycle, pylon, tyrant, dynamite

the Y is in the middle of a syllable:

• system, typical, pyramid

Look at the word mystery.
The letter Y appears in the word mystery twice.

The first Y is a vowel because it is in the middle of the syllable MYS
The final Y is a vowel because it is at the end of word (before a consonant) and has the long E sound.

Some people will say the word mystery only has one vowel because it only has one E (which is one of the five traditional vowels). However, the word mystery has three vowels because the two Ys both make a vowel sound.

Y as a consonant

When the letter Y is at the start of word it produces a distinctive Y sound.

• Year, yellow, yes, young

When we pronounce this initial Y, we are not letting the air flow freely like a vowel.

When Y is at the start of syllable, it also has the distinctive Y sound:

• Beyond, lawyer

Since the Y sound (for example at the beginning of a word) is so distinctive and cannot be replaced by other letters, it is this reason the letter Y is considered more a consonant than a vowel.

However as you have seen, it is more common to find the letter Y used as vowel more than as a consonant.

Summary Chart

Practice Exercise

Does the letter Y have a vowel sound or a consonant sound in the word?

Happy
– The Y in happy has a vowel sound
Yellow
– The Y in yellow has a consonant sound
System
– The Y in system has a vowel sound
Fry
– The Y in fry has a vowel sound
Beyond
– The Y in beyond has a consonant sound
Yes
– The Y in yes has a consonant sound
Myth
– The Y in myth has a vowel sound
Bicycle
– The Y in bicycle has a vowel sound
Lawyer
– The Y in lawyer has a consonant sound
Yard
– The Y in yard has a consonant sound

By first grade, we were taught that the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y are vowels. Most of us probably accepted what we were told (it was just another «rule» we had to follow), and never questioned why that last part was true (there were other things to wonder about, like snack time). Additionally, we unconditionally accepted that the other 20 letters in the English alphabet were strictly consonants. To most, those vowels and consonants were just letters, but to that first grader who aspired to be a linguist, they were more than merely lines on a page.

Technically, the terms vowel and consonant (from Latin vocalis, meaning «vocal,» and Latin consonare, «to sound together») refer to particular speech sounds: a vowel is one made with your mouth open and your tongue in the middle of your mouth not touching your teeth, lips, etc. (in other words, there’s minimal manipulation of air flow while expelling a vowel sound); a consonant, on the other hand, is one (such as p, d, or s) that is made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air breathed out from the mouth with the tongue, teeth, lips, etc. What is special about the letter y is that it can represent both kinds of speech sounds—depending on its position and the letters surrounding it in a word.

Y is considered to be a vowel if…

The word has no other vowel: gym, my.

The letter is at the end of a word or syllable: candy, deny, bicycle, acrylic.

The letter is in the middle of a syllable: system, borborygmus.

In such cases, the letter y is pronounced as either the long vowel e or short or long i (usually as a long i when ending a word)—and, for all intents and purposes, it is a vowel. When y forms a diphthong—two vowel sounds joined in one syllable to form one speech sound, such as the «oy» in toy, «ay» in day, and «ey» in monkey—it is also regarded as a vowel.

Typically, y represents a consonant when it starts off a word or syllable, as in yard, lawyer, or beyond. Technically, this sound of y is considered a semivowel or glide, which is a less prominent vowel speech sound that occurs in the articulation of two consecutive vowel sounds unequal in prominence. For example, there’s a very brief long e sound when articulating y in yes. Air flow is not impeded in sounding y (if it was y would be a true consonant); however, the mouth is not opened as fully as in articulating the vowel y in early. The result is a vowel-like consonant.

Linguistically, the «sometimes» part of the grade-school lesson doesn’t make sense, since the letter y is more commonly pronounced as a vowel. But its consonant sound is unique, and that seems to be why y is more often considered to be a consonant and only «sometimes» a vowel. In other words, we need y more as a consonant in the English language than a vowel.

English Phonetic Alphabet 

Here in this article, you find the basic knowledge of 26 letters of the English alphabet of four types and 44 different phonic sounds or phonetic alphabet developed by the International Phonetic Alphabet. 

The English word “alphabet” has been formed from the Latin word “alphabetum” which in turn originated from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, “alpha” and “beta”. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters and 44 different sounds.

Generally, we find four types of the alphabet used in the English Language.

They are: 

These letters of the alphabet in English are divided into

Vowels: (5 letters)

A E I O U

Consonants: (19 letters)

B C D F G H J K L M N P Q R S T V X Z

Semi-vowels: (2 letters)

W Y (These two letters can be used as vowels and consonants)

W is used as a vowel in the words like –  saw, raw, row, crow etc.,

W is  used as a consonant in the words like – was, who, when, what, whether etc.,

Y is used as a vowel in the words like – sky, why, fly, my cry etc.,

Y is used as a consonant in the words like – yarn, yearning, yoke, you  etc.,

A more detailed chart is provided below wherein you find capital letters, small letters with their phonetic symbols, and how to pronounce them.

The English alphabet contains 26 letters which individually and in combination represent 44 different phonic sounds.

These 44 phonetic sounds in English which are also called phonemes or phonetic symbols mentioned here are in line with the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Since English is not a phonetic language, these IPA symbols are really helpful for the learners of the language.

The English language seems to be very complicated because of its spelling rules and silent letters. So, the IPA helps to learn the correct sounds, word stress and pronunciation. 

These 44 phonetic symbols can be divided into two major categories – they are 

Vowel Sounds:

There are five letters of vowels used to make 20 different phonemes or phonetic symbols in the English language.

And these vowel sounds have been divided into three categories for the sake of easy understanding.

They are:

 7 short vowels:

Short vowel symbols in the IPA are /ɪ/-pit, /e/-pet, /æ/-pat, /ʌ/-cut, /ʊ/-put, /ɒ/-dog, /ə/-about.

5 long vowels:

Long vowel symbols in the IPA are /i:/-week, /ɑ:/-hard,/ɔ:/-fork,/ɜ:/-heard, /u:/-boot.

and 8 Diphthongs (two short vowels joined together):

Diphthong vowel symbols in the IPA are /eɪ/-place, /oʊ/-home, /aʊ/-mouse, /ɪə/-clear, /eə/-care, /ɔɪ/-boy, /aɪ/-find, /ʊə/-tour.

Short Vowels

(IPA Symbol)	Common spelling	Word examples
/æ/	a – cat	Cat, hand, nap, flat, have
/ə/	a – again	Alive, mother, attack, maker, doctor
/e/	e – egg	Went, intend, send, letter, head, get, said
/i/	i – igloo	sit, him, film, women, busy, build, hymn,
/ɒ/	o – orange	Rob, top, watch, squat, sausage, not, jog, hop
/ʌ/	u – mug	Fun, love, money, one, London, come. cup, double, monk
/u/	oo – book	Put, look, should, cook, book, look, good, should, wood

Long Vowels

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples
/ɑ:/	ɑɑ – car	Fast, hard, bath, car, art, hard
/i:/	ee – sheep	Need, beat, team, sea, me, free
/ɜ:/	ii – bird	Nurse, heard, third, turn.
/ɔ:/	oo – door	Talk, law, yawn, jaw, saw, score, four
/u:/	uu – shoot	Few, boot, lose, gloomy, fruit, chew.

Diphthong Vowels

IPA Symbol	Word examples
/ɪə/	Near, ear, clear, tear, beer, fear
/eə/	Hair, there, care, stairs, pear
/eɪ/	Face, space, rain, case, eight
/ɔɪ/	Joy, employ, toy, coil, oyster
/aɪ/	My, sight, pride, kind, flight
/əʊ/	No, don’t, stones, alone, hole
/aʊ/	Mouth, house, brown, cow, out
/ʊə/	Tourist, tour, pure

Consonant Sounds:

There are 21 consonants in English which represent 24 different consonant phonic sounds.  Like vowels, the consonant sounds have also been divided into several categories like

Plosives,

Fricatives,

Affricates,

Nasals,

Approximants and 

Lateral.

Plosives: These are consonant sounds that are made by stopping air flowing out of the mouth, and then suddenly releasing it.

Voiced: /p/, /t/, /k/     

Voiceless: /b/, /d/, /g/

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/p/	p – pig	Pin, cap, purpose, pause, pen, pencil	Bilabial
/b/	b – ball	Bag, bubble, build, robe.	Bilabial
/t/	t – tap	Time, train, tow, late.	Alveolar
/d/	d – dog	Door, day, drive, down, feed.	Alveolar
/k/	k – kite	Cash, quick, cricket, sock.	Velar
/g/	g – grapes	Girl, green, grass, flag.	Velar

Fricatives: These are consonants produced when air passes through a narrow channel between two articulators.

Voiced: /v/,/ð//z/, /ʒ/, /h/

Voiceless: /f/, /θ//s/,/ʃ/

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/f/	f – fan	Full, Friday, fish, knife.	Labiodental
/v/	v – van	Vest, village, view, cave.	Labiodental
/θ/	th – thin	Thought, think, bath.	Dental
/ð/	th – then	There, those, brothers, others.	Dental
/s/	s – sea	Seal, missing, face	Alveolar
/z/	z – zebra	Zoo, crazy, lazy, zigzag, nose.	Alveolar
/ʃ/	sh – shark	Shirt, rush, shop, cash.	Palatal
/ʒ/	s – vision	Television, delusion, casual	Palato-alveolar
/h/	h – hat	High, help, hello.	Glottal

Affricates: These are also called semi plosives.  These consonant sounds begin as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and conclude with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). 

Voiced: /dʒ/

Voiceless: /ʈʃ/

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/ʈʃ/	ch – catch	Choose, cheese, church, watch.	Palatal
/dʒ/	j – joke	Joy, juggle, juice, stage.	Palato-alveolar

Nasals: These are consonant sounds in which the escaping air passes through the nasal cavity.

Voiced:  /m/, /n/, /ŋ

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/m/	m – moon	Room, mother, mad, more.	Bilabial
/n/	n – noon	Now, nobody, knew, turn.	Alveolar
/ŋ/	ng – sing	King, thing, song, swimming.	Velar

Approximants: These speech sounds are formed by the passage of air between two articulators (such as the lips or tongue) which are close but not touching.

Voiced: /r/, /j/,/w/,

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/r/	r – real	Road, roses, river, ring, ride.	Alveolar-retroflex
/j/	y – you	Yellow, usual, tune, yesterday, yard.	Palatal
/w/	w -web	Wall, walk, wine, world.	Labial-velar

Lateral: This consonant sound occurs when the tongue blocks the middle of your mouth so that air has to pass around the sides

Voiced: /l/

IPA Symbol	Common spelling	Word examples	Place of articulation
/l/	l – love	Law, lots, leap, long, pill, cold, chill, melt	Alveolar-lateral

Note:

The following 3 consonant letters have not been mentioned in the above list because they don’t have their own unique sound.

c borrows the sounds of /k/ and /s/
q is the combination of /kw/
x is the combination of /ks/ (box) or /gz/ (exist)

The names for the main places of articulation are shown in the diagram and the table below to understand the phonetic transcription in an easy manner.

image source: internet

Place	Description
Bilabial	both lips
Labiodental	lower lip against upper teeth
Dental	tongue tip against upper teeth
Alveolar	tongue tip against teeth ridge
Alveolar-lateral	tongue tip against teeth ridge but with sides lowered
Alveolar-retroflex	tongue tip curled back near teeth ridge
Palato-alveolar	tongue tip slightly retracted from teeth ridge
Palatal	tongue blade against the hard palate
Velar	back of the tongue against the soft palate
Glottal	vocal fold closure in the larynx

Recommended readings:

BASICS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

TONGUE TWISTERS IN ENGLISH

PHONETIC ALPHABET

WHAT IS AN ADJECTIVE

The English alphabet is unique. It contains many letters and sounds. As a matter of fact, it contains far more sounds than letters. There are two types of letters in the English alphabet—consonants and vowels. Vowels are a, e, i, o, and u, while the consonants are all the other letters, except y. Y as a consonant is not so straightforward.

You may have noticed that y wasn’t listed as either. That’s because it’s not strictly either one. Y is one of those letters that can only be classified by what it is doing. Sometimes, it behaves like a consonant, and other times, it behaves like a vowel.

Y can be a consonant predominantly when it is found at the beginning or onset of a word or syllable. Words such as /yes/, /yellow/, /lawyer/ and /kayak/, all have a semi vowel or hard /y/ sound. In other medial or ending word positions it is likely to make a long or short vowel sound as in /cry/ or /bicycle/.

The Sound of Y

The easiest way to tell if /y/ is a consonant or vowel is to test its behavior. When a /y/ is behaving like a consonant, then it will be a consonant, but when it is behaving as a vowel, it will be a vowel. Though there is a little more to it than that.

You may be wondering how it can behave like a consonant or vowel. It is one letter. How can it be both? You can download free /y/ worksheets here.

Consonant Y

When y is a consonant, it sounds like /yuh/ as in yellow. This is called having a hard /y/ sound or a semi vowel. It is not a true consonant, neither is it a true vowel. Words like yep, yellow, yarn, yard, yak, your, and yoga all have that semi vowel /y/sound.

Typically, the hard /y/ sound comes at the beginning of a word or syllable, though there may be exceptions. /Y/ starting words or syllables are more commonly consonant /ys/.

Vowel Y

The other way you can use a /y/ as a vowel. In this case, the /y/ often sounds like a vowel. Sometimes, it sounds like an ee sound like in misty. However, it can also make a short i sound such as hymnal or a long i sound such as in guy or pigsty.

if you are looking for how to teach Y as a vowel you can check this post and the included free resources.

Finally, it can be used with another letter to emphasize that letter sound. In this case, it is a digraph. Common digraphs are ay and ey. Ay digraphs may be found in words like stay or day, and the ey might be found in lovey or honey.

There are many more ways that the y might be used as a vowel, but these are the most common. One signal that the /y/ is behaving as a vowel is if there are no other vowels in the word. In the English language, a word typically requires at least one vowel.

Take the word rhythm. The /y/ is behaving as a short i. Likewise, if it is in the middle or end of a syllable, it is nearly always a vowel.

It Isn’t the ONLY One

While y is the only letter that behaves as both a vowel and a consonant, it is not the only letter that serves multiple purposes or has multiple sounds. You may recall that vowels always have multiple sounds.

Vowels

Long vowels

Long vowels tend to say their names. If you hear a sound that mimics the name of that letter, it is a long vowel sound—the a in later, or first e in even.

We have a long and short vowel workbook here with over 50 activities, inluding /y/ sounds.

Short Vowels

When the vowel sound isn’t the name of the letter, it is sometimes called a short vowel. However, these are specific sounds. The a in apple, e in ever, i in hit, o in often, and u in umpire are all short sounds. However, there are other vowel sounds besides long and short. If you want a great free Short vowel worksheet check here.

Other Vowels

These vowel sounds do not fit in the previous categories. Words like put, room, hog, coin, and crown all have vowel sounds that do not follow the long or short pattern. We call these vowel diagraphs or diphthongs. We have loads of resources in our 7 Workbook Bundles for all of these, including Y. You can also check out our free resources here as well.

Consonants

Copycat C

C is another unique letter. It has more than one sound, but no sound all its own. The c can make an s sound like in cereal or a k sound like in cookie. Words may also contain both a k and s sound, such as circle.

Some educators consider the c to also have a silent sound when used in words like sock or pick. However, this is also a digraph that combines to make the k sound.

D Doing Double Duty

Sometimes the d sound is distinct, like the two ds in this sentence. However, in words like soldier, it makes more of a j sound.

Good ol’ G.

The letter g is both a copycat and has its own sound. Green, grass, and grow all have a similar g sound. However, giraffe, general, and gender all sound like they might start with j.

Polite P

P and other unvoiced letters often have a hard or soft sound. The soft unvoiced p sounds like a puff of air. However, in hop and pop, the p tends to pop a little more. While it isn’t a true second sound, it does require careful pronunciation and listening.

Sly S

The s sound is often mentally connected with snake or soap. We sometimes forget that the s can also have a z sound, such as in fries or exercise.

Xtra X

X is an interesting letter. Like y, it often needs something else to create the proper sound. Few words start with x, but when they do, they often have a z sound like in xylophone. More commonly, it is found in words beginning with a vowel, such as extra or ax. In extra, you hear the x letter for the sound, but in ax, it sounds more like ks.

Why Do Double Duty?

Why do these letters pull double or triple duty when making sounds? Most of this is related to the origin of words. English, though it takes much of its words from Latin or Greek origins, often borrows from other languages. Sometimes those languages have different rules for different letters.

Similarly, some English words and phrases are very old. While some spellings or usages changed, some words retain their original spelling. An extension of that is that American English spellings and British English spellings are often different.

When they are, it often utilizes the different sounds a word might make. Realize and realize are two spellings for the same word. At some time, someone decided that writing it with an s or z made more sense. The other spelling was preserved. Generally, the American English spellings are altered from the original.

Shhhh Silent Letters

Just as letters have more than one sound, some letters hang out in words with no sound. A word ending in e often has a long vowel in the final syllable, but the e sound remains unheard. Knife, clay, and honor also have silent letters, one of which is our friend, the y.

Final Thoughts

Y has a critical job to do in the English language. Sometimes that means that it needs to be a consonant and bring a harder sound. Other times, it needs to go undercover as a vowel and make a vowel sound.

Who knows why exactly the y started this undercover work, but it can sometimes strengthen and emphasize a vowel sound in a word. Take the word ma, for example. Without a y, it is mah. However, by adding the y, we get a new word with a new meaning—may. It lengthens the sound of the a. E is often credited with doing this in words, but y can be just as important.

Teaching Y sounds and their rules are a more advanced aspect of phonics teaching, we have resources here that will help. It is easier to teach the rules when it is a vowel sounds and as mentioned above check this post on Y as a vowel to learn those rules as well.

by Ann McKenzie

In your language classes, you might have been taught about the difference between vowel and consonants on the basis of the beginning letters of any word. A letter would be called a consonant if it is not a vowel and vowel sound is anything that begins with the letters a, i, e, o, u. It is the statement of my eleven years old nephew which is dictated to me when I asked him to explain his understanding of a consonant.

So, if you are asked to identify whether the letter ‘y’ is a vowel or consonant in words yogurt (or yoghurt) and sky as per this definition, what would be your answer?

Tricky, isn’t it? You would say ‘y’ is a vowel in both words as the vowel sound of /i/ is produced when yogurt is pronounced and /ai/ when the word sky is pronounced. And, that is why the basic definition of a consonant is proved to be wrong in many cases. Well done if you guessed it right that y is a consonant in the word yogurt and a diphthong (a combination of two vowel sounds) in the sky! But if you guessed it wrong, then let us find out where you are mistaken!

Demystifying the Misconceptions of Consonants

What is a consonant?

A consonant is a speech sound produced through obstructions (either closure or narrowing of the vocal tract) in the air flow caused by articulators during the words articulation or sound production.

Whenever a speech sound is produced that is not a vowel, it is called a consonant sound. It is surprisingly believed that there are only 21 consonants in English language and thus, only 21 consonant sounds are there. Lesser people are aware that in spite of being only 21 consonant letters, 24 consonant sounds are produced based on the variants of articulators. (See Fig. 2)

What are articulators then?

In phonetics, the articulators are the physiological structures that play major roles in speech mechanism. There are two types of articulators whose interaction produces a consonant sound: the active articulators and passive articulators.

Active Articulators

The speech organs that can freely move as compared to the other parts of the vocal tract and are responsible for modulation during articulation. These include tongue, uvula, & glottis.

Passive Articulators

The speech organs in the vocal tract that are immovable and thus becomes the place of articulation where the active articulators are presses against. These include upper teeth, hard palate, and velum.

Classification of Consonants through Means of Articulators

Hopfully you are now getting on the right track to understand what a consonant is. Now, let us begin with a few tricks that enable you classify the consonants correctly.

You only need to memorize the following formula for classification and labelling of a consonant.

Voicing + Place of Articulation + Manner of Articulation

Voicing

Whenever you say a word, if you can hear the humming sound originating from vibrating vocal chords, the sound produced is called voiced sound. If not, then the sound is voiceless.

For example, if you speak the word Jane, put fingers in your ears and hear the humming sound or feel the vibrating vocal chords. Can you see it? Good, that is because J makes a voiced consonant. Try the same while saying the word Peter. No humming sound, right? Then P makes a voiceless consonant.

However, this rule is not applicable in all conditions. When voiced consonants occur at the end of a word or syllable, its voiced sound seems similar to that of its voiceless letters. This process is called devoicing of consonants in English. For demonstrating, ‘P’ is unvoiced sound because it doesn’t come from vocal chords whereas ‘b’ is voiced as it comes from the vibration of vocal chords. So, if we take the word ‘stop’, the sound ends with p which is a voiceless consonant but when used in past tense such as ‘stopped’, ‘p’, a voiceless sound with the voice with suffix ‘ed’ sounds as ‘t’. Thus, it is called devoiced consonant. Also, it is to be kept in mind that whenever a word ends with unvoiced or voiced consonant sound, it would fairly affect the vowel sound preceding it. For example, if you closely look at ‘stop’, the duration of ‘o’ sound is short whereas in ‘sob’ the ‘o’ sound duration is fairly long. Can you see the difference?

Here comes another concept of aspirated sounds that would help you to understand the voicing of consonants better. Aspirated sounds are merely the sounds that are produced with a forceful release of air such as a hat, party, etc. All initial voiced sounds in English are unaspirated such as in ‘bin’; there is no puff of air released when pronounced the word ‘bin’. This is not the case with ‘pin’ as there is a slight puff released with ‘p’ sound. Hence, ‘p’ is unvoiced aspirated consonant in the word pin. However, if you see the word ‘spin’, you would find that p sound is unaspirated and that is because the word begins with ‘s’. Hence, here ‘p’ becomes an allophone. It’s hard to understand the difference as such because the languages differ, and hence the pronunciation differs. Refer to the table below, and you will find that different words can be pronounced differently in American or British English.

Fig. 2

Understanding the aspirated or unaspirated sounds is a challenging task which requires an in-depth study at a greater scale. The above table is drawn for the purpose of giving you a basic understanding of aspirated or unaspirated consonant sounds.

Place of articulation

It is where the active articulators such as tongue presses against a fixed passive articulator such as hard palate. Below are few of the consonants classified on the basis of their places of articulation:

1. Alveolar: When the blade or tip of the tongue presses against the front part of the alveolar ridge, it produces the alveolar consonants. E.g. /n/, /t/,
   /d/, /s/, /z/, /r/, /l/.
2. Labiodental: The labiodental consonant sound is produced when the lower lip is the active articulator, and upper teeth are the passive articulators. E.g. /f/, /v/.
3. Palatal: When the blade or tip of the tongue becomes the active articulator pressing against the hard palate which is a passive articulator. E.g. /j/ (as in yes).
4. Velar: When the back portion of the tongue presses against the soft palate or velum narrowing the vocal tract for creating an obstruction, the consonant sound produced is called velar. E.g. /ŋ/ (as in sing), /k/, /g/, /x/ (as in loch).

The manner of Articulation

The way you produce an oral or nasalized sound is called the manner of articulation. Below I have listed some of the basic consonants characterized on the basis of manner of their articulation:

1. Plosive: A plosive consonant is produced by the sudden release of air pressure built up through complete obstruction or blocking of the outgoing air flow by the active or passive articulators. E.g. /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.
2. Fricatives: Fricative consonant is produced with an audible friction when the vocal tract is narrowed down by getting articulators closely together. E.g. /f/, /v/, /θ/ (as in thin), /ð/ (as in the), /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ (as in sheep), /ʒ/ (as in azure).
3. Affricates: Affricates consonants are produced by blocking the airstream and releasing it slowly with audible friction. E.g. /t͡ʃ/ (as in cheap) /d͡ʒ/ (as in jeep).
4. Nasals: Nasal consonant sounds are same as plosives but with a slight difference in the manner of their articulation. Nasalised sounds are produced through the nasal passage, unlike plosive sounds that are produced through the oral passage. E.g. /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ (as in sing).

So, now if you are asked to classify or label a consonant, I think you can do it now. For illustrating it, here I have classified two:

• Fine: Voiceless Labiodental Fricative — /f/
• Vine: Voiced Labiodental Fricative — /v/

You need to say the words loudly ‘fine’ and ‘vine’ twice or thrice and carefully notice which category does the sound produced falls under.

Congratulations for you have completed beginner’s guide to consonants!

About the writer

Ann McKenzie is the sub-editor at Regent Editing. She is a post-doc researcher and has Structural Linguistics as her area of expertise. She has also worked as a research writing assistant at writing centres of various universities in the UK such as University of Edinburgh and Nottingham.

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It’s both – that’s the boring but correct answer. It depends on the context, of course.

In a word like rhythm, for example, we can certainly say that Y functions as a vowel. Otherwise it’d be a word full of consonants, and that just doesn’t work in regular English words. We need at least one open vowel sound to link or end those closed consonant sounds, and in words like rhythm, myth, hymn, fly, and sky, Y performs that function.

If we use it at the beginning of a word or syllable, with the sound we commonly associate with the letter (e.g. young, yesterday), it’s a consonant.

Still, that answer’s not enough for most people. I discovered this recently while watching the episode of the great BBC quiz show Pointless the following clip comes from, in which contestants had to think of countries whose names end in two consonants:

You may have already seen it, as it went viral a while back when the episode aired, and I won’t dwell on Sarah’s answer, because I noticed that in comments on the video (not on Youtube, somewhere on Reddit I believe), people were trying to guess as many of the countries as they could (Pointless gave 18 official possible correct answers by the way: see how many you can guess). Many commenters were correcting people who named Germany and Italy, stating that they couldn’t be accepted because Y functions as a vowel in those two words. Which is kind of logical, except that both were listed among the possible correct answers.

The reason for this is pretty simple. To avoid confusion and controversy, whenever anything involving letters comes up on Pointless, Y is classified as a consonant. And this is also the case linguistically: whenever you see a list of the alphabet divided into vowels and consonants, Y is always with the consonants. The main justification for this is that its consonant sound can’t be replicated by another consonant, whereas its vowel sounds can be replicated by other vowels or diphthongs (hymn – himn, Germany – Germanie/Germanee). So if you really need it to be a consonant or a vowel, it’s a consonant.

Looking back now, the arguments were quite interesting, and revealing of how inflexible people can be about language. I understood the people who dismissed Germany and Italy as possible answers, but I also couldn’t comprehend their angry lack of understanding of why the answers were accepted. Yes, Y is functioning as a vowel in those names, but couldn’t they imagine the controversy and anger of contestants if the programme hadn’t accepted them, given Y is generally considered a consonant? I wonder if such people simply can’t put themselves in other people’s shoes, and imagine people having different levels of knowledge, or looking at that knowledge in a different way. Perhaps in real life they’re more reasonable, but the anonymity of the internet makes them more entrenched in their beliefs.

Interesting also were the armchair linguists who took a little language knowledge and ran away with it on incredible tangents. Like the person who insisted that the T in ballet is a vowel because it’s silent. Clearly the internet makes us more assertive in arguing, and makes us want to “win” arguments more than in real life, where dealing with someone face-to-face makes us more reasonable. Thankfully you all keep things nice and civil here in this little corner of the internet.

So what have we learned today?

• Y can be a consonant or a vowel, depending on how you use it, but if you insist on choosing, it’s a consonant
• It’s important to be civil online, and do some basic fact-checking before you make assertions about things that can be easily looked up
• Paris is not a country and it doesn’t end in two consonants. Poor Sarah
• Don’t get on Mariam’s bad side. Ever!