EnglishPronunciation, Lesson 28
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The Y consonant soundcanbe difficult to learn for some English language learners. This isbecause the letter Ycan be pronounced as a vowelor a consonant in English. In this lesson, you willlearn about the Yconsonant sound and how it is different from the Y vowelsounds.
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The Yconsonant sound(IPAsymbol: j)can be found in AmericanEnglish words such as yes,you, yesterday, young, beyond, and kayak.
In English, the letter Y can be a consonant sound or a vowel sound.
Consonant: Theletter Y is a consonantsoundwhen it is at thebeginningof a word (yes)or is the firstletterin the syllable before a vowel (beyond = be/yond).
Vowel:
The letter Y is a vowelsoundwhen it is at the end of aword(happy) or anywhereelse in the syllable(gym, crying).Inthis lesson, we will practice the Yconsonant sound. But first, let'slook at the Y vowel sounds, so youknow the differences.
Y as a vowel sound
When the letter Y is used as a vowel, it makes other vowel sounds. Itcan also be part of a diphthong.A diphthong is a speech sound that begins with one vowel sound and endswith another vowel sound in the same syllable.
Here are some words where the letter Y makes a vowel sound:
- gym,myth = shortI sound
- dry,flying =long Isound
- happy,party = longE sound
- say,play = longA sound
- boy,toy = diphthong(long O sound followed by a long E sound)
You can practice these sounds with the lessons found here: AmericanEnglish Pronunciation.
Now, let's look at the Yconsonant sound.
How to pronounce theY consonant sound
To make the Y consonantsound, the middle part of your tongue comesforward and presses against the roof of your mouth near the top toothridge. The tip of the tongue will lightly touch your bottom teeth. Yourjaw will be almost closed when you make this sound. Your lips will beloose. The Y sound is a verbal sound, so your vocal cords vibrate and make thesound.
In this video, Rachel shows us how to make the Y consonant sound:
Practice the Y consonant sound
Remember, the letter Y is a consonant sound if it is at the beginningof a word or the first letter in a syllable. It is most commonly foundat the beginning of the word.
Practice the Y consonant sound bysaying these words out loud:
- year
- yes
- yard
- you
- young
- your
- yellow
- yell
- yogurt
- yawn
- beyond
- kayak
- canyon
Now say these sentences out loud. The Y consonant sound is in boldprint.
1) Did youpaint it yellow?
2) Youyawnwhenyouare tired.
3) Areyougoing to eat theyellowyogurt?
4) Youlookyoung.Whatyearwereyouborn?
5) Yes,you canyell in the canyon.
6) Your kayak floated beyond the canyon. Have you finished this lesson? Keep practicing the words and sentences to master this sound.
Let's move on...
List of Lessons
Lesson 01: International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Lesson 02: Word Stress and Syllables
Lesson 03: Long E sound (meet, see)
Lesson 04: Short I Sound(sit, hit)
Lesson 05: UH Sound (put, foot)
Lesson06: OO Sound (moon, blue)
Lesson 07: Short E sound (pen, bed)
Lesson 08: Schwa Sound (the, about)
Lesson 09: UR Sound (turn, learn)
Lesson 10: OH Sound (four, store)
Lesson 11: Short A Sound (cat, fat)
Lesson 12: UH Sound (but, luck)
Lesson 13: Soft A Sound (arm, father)
Lesson 14: Long O Sound (boat, know)
Lesson 15: Long A Sound (say, pain, make)
Lesson 16: Short O Sound (not, off, socks)
Lesson 17: Diphthong (a combination of two vowel sounds)
Lesson 18: P Sound (cup, punch, pull) and B sound (cub, bunch, bull)
Lesson 19: The Nasal Sounds (M, N, NG)
Lesson 20: F Sound (four, lift, graph, tough) and V Sound (love, knives, grave, vine)
Lesson 21: W Sound (wow, quit, where)
Lesson 22: R Sound (red, sorry, write)
Lesson 23: H Sound (he, behind, who)
Lesson 24: T Sound (top, it, later) and D Sound (do, had, made)
Lesson 25: S Sound (sit, box, cats) and Z Sound (zip, buzz, boys)
Lesson 26: K Sound (kid, talk, black) and G Sound (go, big, dog)
Lesson 28: Y Consonant Sound (yes, you, beyond)
Lesson 29: CH Sound (China, century, watch) and J Sound (Germany, educate , judge)
Lesson 30: TH Consonant Sounds – voiced TH sound (the, father, them) and voiceless (unvoiced) TH sound (think, birthday, south)
Lesson 31:SH (shop, chef, special) and ZH (usual, massage, Asia)
Lesson 32: T and TT Sounds (true T sound, D sound, stop sound, silent T)
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