Why is the letter y sometimes treated as a vowel and other times treated as a consonant?
In: Other
The word “vowel” doesn’t describe letters or other symbols, strictly speaking. It describes sounds, and the letter *y* happens to represent several sounds. The symbols *a*, *e*, *i*, *o*, and *u* do too, but all the sounds they represent by themselves are vowel sounds.
To be more specific, a vowel is a sound that is made without constricting air movement from your lungs. Try making the sound *ee* as in *beet* or the sound *oo* as in *oodles* and you’ll notice there’s no places where you feel significant air pressure in your throat, mouth, or nose. But then try making the *t* sound in *bat* or the *sh* sound in *shock* and you’ll feel pressure.
*Y* can represent the sound /j/ as in *year* (which constricts airflow and is therefore a consonant), but it can also represent sounds like /i/ in *city* (which don’t constrict airflow and are vowels).
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