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Y Sounds: Word Lists and Pronunciations

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y sounds

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The letter Y is used as an ending, and it's most common sound is the Long E. In standard American English, this is a true Long E sound. In British English, a final Y can reduce to a schwa sound. In American English, it does not.

In all of the examples below, the stressed syllables are in bold print.

Y as a Long E Sound: diversity, generosity, nonconformity, personality, probability, properly, veracity, victory, vocabulary, voluntary, technology, humanity, security, industry, duty, quarterly, boundary, integrity

The second most common sound for the letter Y is the Long I sound. This occurs in many words as a last letter (though much fewer than those that have the Long E). It is also a middle letter in a few words.

I Sound: nullify, apply, buy, qualify, quantify, rely, reply, try, identify, hype, hybrid, cycle

When Y is the first letter, it has the yuh sound which the tongue is a little tense. There are not too many words with Y as a first letter.

Y as First Letter: yes, yeah, yet, year, yacht, yay

In just a few, rare cases, Y sounds lke a short I.

Y as a Short I: cylinder, cyclical








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