The Letter “Y” As a Vowel

The letter y is included in the list of Spanish consonants, but sometimes it’s pronounced as a vowel. Vowel sounds are made with your mouth open and not blocked by your tongue in any way.

How to Pronounce "Y" As a Vowel in Spanish

The letter y can represent the Spanish vowel sound, or phoneme, /i/.

To properly pronounce y as a vowel in Spanish, you should have your lips barely open, and the front part of your tongue should be close to your hard palate. Check it out in these words: y(and), hoy(today), Uruguay(Uruguay).

How Do I Know It’s a Vowel?

Y is a vowel:

• if it’s a word on its own. The conjunction y (and) is pronounced as a vowel.
• if it’s placed at the end of a word (normally preceded by vowels). The y in carey(tortoiseshell) or buey(ox) is pronounced as a vowel.

The Letter “Y” As a Consonant

The letter y is included in the list of Spanish consonants, even if sometimes it’s pronounced as a vowel. When a consonant sound is uttered, the flow of air out of the mouth is partially or completely blocked at some point.

How to Pronounce "Y" As a Consonant in Spanish

The letter y can represent the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /ʝ/.

The consonant y is palatal, palatalin Spanish, which means it is pronounced with the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth so that the air is uninterruptedly expelled through a small gap. To describe this constant flow of air in a consonant, linguists use the term fricative, or fricativain Spanish.

Additionally, the vocal cords vibrate when uttering the consonant y, so linguists classify it as voiced, or sonorain Spanish. Check out how it is pronounced in these words: yema(yolk), yo(I), leyenda(legend), mayo(May), proyecto(project), and adyacente(adjacent).

How Do I Know It’s a Consonant?

Y is a consonant:

• if it’s placed at the beginning of a word. The y in yeso(plaster) is pronounced as a consonant.
• if it’s placed inside a word. The y in disyuntiva(dilemma) or mayonesa(mayonnaise) is pronounced as a consonant.

Is the Spanish "Y" Similar to the English "Y"?

The consonant sound of y is similar to the English y in yellow or yesterday, but there are some variations. If you want to find out more about the sound of the consonant y, click here.

What’s the Letter “Y” Called?

In Spanish, y has been traditionally called i griegain order to distinguish it from the vowel i, which is called i latina. Many native speakers learned those two names at school and use them regularly, but yeis an alternative for y that is more in line with the rest of the letter names, like beor pe. Ye has been the official name of this letter since the Real Academia Españolaintroduced its latest round of changes to the alphabet in 2010. Having said that, you can use either of the two names and you should be understood everywhere.

Examples

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the letter y, both as a vowel and a consonant, in different word positions and letter combinations.