A quick (bizarre) question

[pixie_on_acid]

Okay, if I remember correctly, the vowels are 'a','e','i','o','u', and sometimes 'y'. The question I have is why does 'y' sometimes have to be a vowel?

Because I believe that came about from the thought that every word in the English language has to have at least one vowel, and words like... well... why, have two clear consonants and the 'y',

Comments

[thekatebeyond]

I've never heard that rationale. To my knowledge, Y is a vowel because its sound meets the definition of a vowel.

From wikipedia: In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, which are characterized by a constriction or closure at one or more points along the vocal tract.

[rabbit_the_wise]

HA! my first thought reading this is "kate will know why it is a vowel"! : )

kate-the-great...for a reason!

[thekatebeyond]

*bows*

Thank you, thank you.

[vflick]

Well, and also phonetically "y" and "w" are part of vowels in English. We English speakers tend to slide vowels on the ends, unlike languages like French, Spanish, Japanese who have more clear vowels.

For "why" we say [wai] and certain glides of sounds like [ai] are often written as "y" at the end of a word. In the middle they're offen "ee" - although trying to make generalizations about English spelling is pretty dangerous.

"Kaylee" [keyliy]
"Pixie" [pIksiy]

[bets_cyn]

You're showing your librarian roots again!
ha ha!

As for why 'y' is a vowel and sometime not... that is easy: it has multiple personality disorder. Some times it likes to be a vowel and some times it doesn't want to be.
ha ha!

For reality... I side with just about anyone else's comments!
-bets