In English the letter Y can be a vowel or a consonant.

The table below lists the IPA* symbol and the standard (Std) symbol used to describe the sounds of the letter Y. The phonetic transcription of each word is in parentheses.

Click on the sample words to listen to the sound files. Pay attention to the sound of the letters in bold.

The letter Y as a vowel has three sounds.

Name	IPA	Std	Examples
long e	i	ē	anyone (niwn)	quickly (kwIkli)
long i	aI	ī	flying (flaIŋ)	try (traI)
schwa			syringe (srIn)	vinyl (vaInl)

As a consonant, the Y has one sound which only occurs at the beginning of a word. In all other positions, the Y is silent.

Letter	IPA	Std	Examples
y
	j	y	yacht (jt)	yellow (jl)	you (ju)
	(silent)		say (saI)	mayor (maI)	key (ki)

*IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet. Learn more about phonetics and the IPA.

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