If you ask an elementary school child who speaks English to tell you the vowels they will likely say “a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.”  This is what I was taught about vowels as a child, it is what I have taught my ESL students, and it is still what children who are learning English as their native language are taught in school.  But how can ‘y’ sometimes be a vowel and sometimes not?

The simplest explanation I can give to this question requires an understanding of the difference between a consonant and a vowel.  First of all, vowels are produced from the vocal cords (in the throat) with minimal shaping of the air in the mouth while it is expelled with a breath.  Thus making a vowel requires shaping air into sound.  Consonant sounds are created through the obstruction or channeling of the air by the lips, teeth, tongue, throat, or nasal passage as it is expelled in a breath.  Thus making a consonant requires stopping air in some way as it moves out of the mouth.

The single letter ‘y’ represents many different sounds (like many letters in English) and therefore sometimes it represents a sound that is a vowel sound (unobstructed air) and sometimes it represents a sound that is a consonant (obstructed air).  That is why the letter ‘y’ sometimes acts as a vowel and sometimes acts as a consonant.  Technically it is not a vowel, there are only five vowels in English, but like I said, sometimes the letter “acts like” a vowel. The vowels we have already reviewed in this series (a, e, i, o, u) are exclusively and only vowels and never make consonant sounds, but the letter ‘y’ is different, which is why we are looking at it here today.

Here are some examples to help clarify what I explained above.

the letter ‘y’ when it makes a vowel sound
myth (short i sound)
hymn (short i sound)
rhythm (short i sound)
mystery (short i then long e sound)
my (long i sound)
cycle (long i sound)
baby (long e sound)
hairy (long e sound)
sky (long i sound)

the letter ‘y’ when it makes a consonant sound (this occurs only when ‘y’ appears at the start of a syllable where there is another vowel)
yam
yet
yellow
yes
yell
yellow
yogurt

Special notes:
•    The letter ‘y’ is more often used as a vowel than a consonant
•    When the letter ‘y’ is used as a vowel it is often interchangeable with the various sounds of the letters ‘i’ and ‘e’

To conclude this look at the vowel sounds in English, here is link to a webpage where you can hear the short and long vowels sounds for the letters a, e, i, o, u.
Link:  http://rbeaudoin333.homestead.com/files/short_vowels/vowelsounds_1.html