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English Pronunciation: Y Sounds Within Words
| The Y is a tricky letter in
American English. We learn the Y as a letter with 3 sounds: "yuh" as in
"yes," "ee" as in "happy" and "i" as in "cry." However, there is a Y sound that sometimes happens before an R sound, a long U sound (especially tied to the letters C, M and F) and near a long I sound. Not only that, this little "yuh" sound can be traded for the I in the suffixes "ion" and "ian"--both can sound like "yun." Remember that "tion" will sound like "shun." Though it seems a small matter, this little sound can really change a word. For instance, with "music," we say "myoo-zic," not "moo-zic." This word is so popular that if it is mis-pronounced, people really may not interpret what you are saying (or it may take a while). Notice that "popular" also has the Y--say "POP-yoo-lur." Study the list below to learn some common words that include this Y sound, though it is not in the spelling. |
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|
| Y
with R |
Y
with C |
Y
with M |
Y
with F |
Y
with Endings |
Y
with I |
Y & Others |
| secure
= SEK-yur |
cute
= KYOOT |
music
= MYOO-zic |
fuel
= FYOOL |
million
= MIL-yun |
iron
= I-yurn |
popular
= POP-yoo-lur |
| figure
= FIG-yur |
particular
= par-TI-kyoo-lur |
mule
= MYOOL |
fuse
= FYOOZ |
billion
= BIL-yun |
hire
= HI-yur |
value
= VAL-yoo |
| pure
= PYUR |
excuse = ex-KYOOZ |
mute
= MYOOT |
fusion
= FYOO-zhun |
trillion
= TRIL-yun |
higher
= HI-yur |
volume
= VOL-yoom |
| cure
= CYUR |
vacuum
= VA-kyoom |
amuse
= u-MYOOZ |
refuse
= ree-FYOOZ |
civilian
= si-VIL-yun |
fire
= FI-yur |
few
= FYOO |
| accurate
= AK-yur-it |
accuse
= u-KYOOZ |
mutant
= MYOO-tunt |
refute
= ree-FYOOT |
William
= WIL-yum |
tire
= TI-yur |
huge
= HYOOJ |
| accumulate
= u-KYOO-myoo-late |
fume
= FYOOM |
Houston
= HYOO-stun |
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