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Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate
letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
of the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...
, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh if including W)
vowel letter A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
of the English alphabet. In the English writing system, it mostly represents a
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
and seldom a
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
, and in other
orthographies An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
it may represent a vowel or a consonant. Its name in English is ''wye'' (pronounced ), plural ''wyes''.


Name

In Latin, Y was named ''I graeca'' ("Greek I"), since the classical Greek sound , similar to modern German ''ü'' or French ''u'', was not a native sound for Latin speakers, and the letter was initially only used to spell foreign words. This history has led to the standard modern names of the letter in Romance languages – ''i grego'' in Galician, ''i grega'' in Catalan, ''i grec'' in French and Romanian, ''i greca'' in Italian – all meaning "Greek I". The names ''igrek'' in Polish and ' in Vietnamese are both phonetic borrowings of the French name. In Dutch, the letter is either only found in loanwords, or is practically equivalent to the digraph IJ. Hence, both ''Griekse ij'' and ''i-grec'' are used, as well as ''ypsilon''. In Spanish, Y is also called ''i griega''; however, in the twentieth century, the shorter name ''ye'' was proposed and was officially recognized as its name in 2010 by the
Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...
, although its original name is still accepted. The original Greek name υ ψιλόν (''
upsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etym ...
'') has also been adapted into several modern languages. For example, it is called ''Ypsilon'' in German, ''ypsilon'' in Dutch, '' i'' in Icelandic. Both names are used in Italian, ''ipsilon'' or ''i greca''; likewise in Portuguese, ''ípsilon'' or ''i grego''. In Faroese, the letter is simply called ''seinna i'' ("later i") because of its later place in the alphabet.
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
borrowed Latin Y to write the native Old English sound (previously written with the
rune Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...
yr ). The name of the letter may be related to 'ui' (or 'vi') in various medieval languages; in
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
it was 'wi' , which through the
Great Vowel Shift The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1400 and 1700, beginning in southern England and today having influenced effectively all dialects of English. Through ...
became the Modern English 'wy' .


History

The oldest direct ancestor of English letter Y was the Semitic letter ''
waw Waw or WAW may refer to: * Waw (letter), a letter in many Semitic abjads * Waw, the velomobile * Another spelling for the town Wau, South Sudan * Waw Township, Burma *Warsaw Chopin Airport, an international airport serving Warsaw, Poland (IATA ai ...
'' (pronounced as ), from which also come F, U, V, and W. See F for details. The Greek and Latin alphabets developed from the Phoenician form of this early alphabet. Since Late
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, the letter Y came to be used in a number of words where earlier Middle English spelling contained the letter ''
yogh The letter yogh (ȝogh) ( ; Scots Language, Scots: ; Middle English: ) was used in Middle English and Older Scots, representing ''y'' () and various velar consonant , velar phonemes. It was derived from the Insular G, Insular form of the letter ...
'' (Ȝȝ), which developed from the letter G, ultimately from Semitic ''
gimel Gimel is the third letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Gīml , Hebrew Gimel , Aramaic Gāmal , Syriac Gāmal , and Arabic (in alphabetical order; fifth in spelling order). Its sound value in the original Phoenician and in all d ...
'' – as described below (As a side note -
Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...
lowercase
gamma Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...
is somewhat similarly shaped to the lowercase letter ).


Vowel

The form of the modern letter Y is derived from the Greek letter ''
upsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etym ...
''. It dates back to the Latin of the first century BC, when upsilon was introduced a second time, this time with its "foot" to distinguish it. It was used to transcribe loanwords from the prestigious
Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
dialect of Greek, which had the non-Latin vowel sound (as found in modern French ''cru'' (raw), or German ''grün'' (green)) in words that had been pronounced with in earlier Greek. Because was not a native sound of Latin, Latin speakers had trouble pronouncing it, and it was usually pronounced . Some Latin words of Italic origin also came to be spelled with 'y': Latin ''silva'' ('forest') was commonly spelled ''sylva'', in analogy with the Greek cognate and synonym ''ὕλη''. The letter Y was used to represent the sound in the writing systems of some other languages that adopted the Latin alphabet. In
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
, there was a native sound, and so Latin U, Y and I were all used to represent distinct vowel sounds. But, by the time of
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, had lost its
roundedness In phonetics, vowel roundedness is the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. It is labialization of a vowel. When a ''rounded'' vowel is pronounced, the lips form a circular opening, and ''unrounded'' vowels are pron ...
and became identical to I ( and ). Therefore, many words that originally had I were spelled with Y, and vice versa. The distinction between and was also lost in later Icelandic and Faroese, making the distinction purely orthographic and historical, but not in the mainland
Scandinavian languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
, where the distinction is retained. It may be observed that a similar merger of into happened in Greek around the beginning of the 2nd millennium, making the distinction between iota (Ι, ι) and upsilon (Υ, υ) purely a matter of historical spelling there as well. In the
West Slavic languages The West Slavic languages are a subdivision of the Slavic language group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian. The languages have traditionally been spoken across a mostly continuous region encompass ...
, Y was adapted as a sign for the close central unrounded vowel ; later, merged with in Czech and Slovak, whereas Polish retains it with the pronunciation . Similarly, in
Middle Welsh Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...
, Y came to be used to designate the vowels and in a way predictable from the position of the vowel in the word. Since then, has merged with in Southern Welsh dialects, but is retained. In Modern English, Y can represent the same vowel sounds as the letter I. The use of the letter Y to represent a vowel is more restricted in Modern English than it was in Middle and early Modern English. It occurs mainly in the following three environments: for upsilon in Greek loan-words (''system'': Greek σύστημα), at the end of a word (''rye, city''; compare ''cities'', where S is final), and in place of I before the ending ''-ing'' (''dy-ing'', ''justify-ing'').


Consonant

As a consonant in English, Y normally represents a
palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic no ...
, (''year'', ''yore''). In this usage, the letter Y has replaced the
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
letter ''
yogh The letter yogh (ȝogh) ( ; Scots Language, Scots: ; Middle English: ) was used in Middle English and Older Scots, representing ''y'' () and various velar consonant , velar phonemes. It was derived from the Insular G, Insular form of the letter ...
'' (Ȝȝ), which could represent . (Yogh could also represent other sounds, such as , which came to be written '' gh'' in Middle English.)


Confusion in writing with the letter ''thorn''

When printing was introduced to Great Britain,
Caxton Caxton may refer to: Places * Caxton Street, Brisbane, Australia * Caxton, Cambridgeshire, a village in Cambridgeshire, UK ** Caxton Gibbet, a knoll near the village * Caxton Hall, a historic building in London, UK * Caxton Building, a historic ...
and other English printers used Y in place of Þ (
thorn Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...
: Modern English ''th''), which did not exist in continental
typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...
s. From this convention comes the spelling of ''the'' as ''ye'' in the mock archaism '' Ye Olde Shoppe''. But, in spite of the spelling, pronunciation was the same as for modern ''the'' (stressed , unstressed ). Pronouncing the article ''ye'' as ''yee'' () is purely a modern
spelling pronunciation A spelling pronunciation is the pronunciation of a word according to its spelling when this differs from a longstanding standard or traditional pronunciation. Words that are spelled with letters that were never pronounced or that were not pronounc ...
.


Pronunciation and use


English

As : * at the beginning of a word as in ''yes'' * at the beginning of a syllable before a vowel as in ''beyond, lawyer, canyon'' As : * under stress in an open syllable as in ''my'', ''type'', ''rye'', ''lying'', ''pyre'', ''tyre'', ''typhoon'' * in a stressed open syllable as in ''hyphen'', ''cycle'', ''cylon'' * in a pretonic open syllable as in ''hypothesis'', ''psychology'' * word-finally after a consonant, as in ''ally'', ''unify'' As : * without stress at the end of multi-syllable word, as in ''happy, baby, lucky, accuracy'' * used as a
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
in combination with ''e'' at the end of some words, as in ''money'', ''key'', ''valley'' As non-syllabic : * in
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
s at the end of words, as in ''play'', ''grey'', ''boy'' As : * in a closed syllable without stress and with stress as in ''myth'', ''system'', ''gymnastics'' * in a closed syllable under stress as in ''typical'', ''lyric'' * in an open syllable without stress as in ''physique'', ''pyjamas'' Other: * combining with as under stress (like in ''bird''), as in ''myrtle'', ''myrrh'' * as (
schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
) in words like ''martyr'' In
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
, ''-y'' is an adjectival suffix. Y is the ninth least frequently used letter in the English language (after P, B, V, K, J, X, Q, and Z), with a frequency of about 2% in words.


Other languages

represents the sounds or (sometimes long) in the
Scandinavian language The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
s. It can never be a consonant (except for
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
s). In
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
, appears only in
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
s and
proper name A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', '' Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
s. In Dutch, it usually represents . It may sometimes be left out of the
Dutch alphabet Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...
and replaced with the digraph. In addition, and are occasionally used instead of Dutch and , albeit very rarely. In
German orthography German orthography is the orthography used in writing the German language, which is largely phonemic. However, it shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of alm ...
, the pronunciation has taken hold since the 19th century in classical loanwords – for instance in words like ''typisch'' 'typical', ''Hyäne, Hysterie, mysteriös, Syndrom, System, Typ''. It is also used for the sound in loanwords, such as ''Yacht (variation spelling: Jacht), Yak, Yeti''; however, e.g. yo-yo is spelled "''Jo-Jo''" in German, and yoghurt/yogurt/yoghourt "''Jog(h)urt''" ostly spelled with h. The letter is also used in many geographical names, e.g. ''Bayern'' Bavaria, ''Ägypten'' Egypt, ''Libyen'' Libya, ''Paraguay'', ''Syrien'' Syria, ''Uruguay'', ''Zypern'' Cyprus (but: ''Jemen'' Yemen, ''Jugoslawien'' Yugoslavia). Especially in German names, the pronunciations or occur as well – for instance in the name ''
Meyer Meyer may refer to: People *Meyer (surname), listing people so named * Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Companies * Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company * Meyer Corporation * Meyer Sound Labo ...
'', where it serves as a variant of , cf. ''
Meier Meier may refer to: People * Meier, Annemarie Sylvia, German chess master * Meier, Armin, Swiss cyclist * Meier, Armin (actor), German actor * Meier, Barbara, German model, most known for winning the third cycle of ''Germany's Next Topmodel' ...
'', another common spelling of the name. In German the y is preserved in the plural form of some loanwords such as ''Babys'' babies and ''Partys'' parties, celebrations. A that derives from the ligature occurs in the
Afrikaans language Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...
, a descendant of Dutch, and in
Alemannic German Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alamanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approxim ...
names. In Afrikaans, it denotes the diphthong . In Alemannic German names, it denotes long , for instance in ''
Schnyder Schnyder () is used in Switzerland as an alternative form of the more common German surname Schneider (tailor). Immigrants to North America often spelled their name as Snyder. * Daniel Schnyder (born 1961), Swiss jazz musician and composer * Fabia ...
'' or ''
Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the '' ...
'' – the cognate non-Alemannic German names ''
Schneider Schneider may refer to: Hospital * Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel People * Schneider (surname) Companies and organizations * G. Schneider & Sohn, a Bavarian brewery company * Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, the former owner of th ...
'' or ''
Schweiz ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
'' have the diphthong that developed from long . In
Hungarian orthography Hungarian orthography ( hu, helyesírás, lit=correct writing, link=no) consists of rules defining the standard written form of the Hungarian language. It includes the spelling of lexical words, proper nouns and foreign words (loanwords) in themse ...
, y is only used in the digraphs "gy," "ly," "ny," "ty," in some surnames (e. g. ''Bátory''), and in foreign words. In Icelandic writing system, due to the loss of the Old Norse rounding of the vowel , the letters and are now pronounced identically to the letters and , namely as and respectively. The difference in spelling is thus purely etymological. In Faroese, too, the contrast has been lost, and is always pronounced , whereas the accented versions and designate the same diphthong (shortened to in some environments). In both languages, it can also form part of diphthongs such as (in both languages), pronounced , and , pronounced (Faroese only). In
French orthography French orthography encompasses the spelling and punctuation of the French language. It is based on a combination of phoneme, phonemic and historical principles. The spelling of words is largely based on the pronunciation of Old French c. 1100–1 ...
, is pronounced as when a vowel (as in the words ''cycle'', ''y'') and as as a consonant (as in ''yeux'', ''voyez''). It alternates orthographically with in the conjugations of some verbs, indicating a sound. In most cases when follows a vowel, it modifies the pronunciation of the vowel: , , . The letter has double function (modifying the vowel as well as being pronounced as or ) in the words ''payer'', ''balayer'', ''moyen'', ''essuyer'', ''pays'', etc., but in some words it has only a single function: in ''bayer'', ''mayonnaise'', ''coyote''; modifying the vowel at the end of proper names like ''Chardonnay'' and ''Fourcroy''. In French can have a diaeresis (''tréma'') as in Moÿ-de-l'Aisne. In
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, was used as a word-initial form of that was more visible. (German has used in a similar way.) Hence, ''el yugo y las flechas'' was a symbol sharing the initials of
Isabella I of Castille Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...
(''Ysabel'') and
Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...
. This spelling was reformed by the
Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...
and currently is only found in proper names spelled archaically, such as Ybarra or
CYII Canal de Isabel II (CYII) is the only company that manages the water supplies for Madrid, Spain. It is owned by the Autonomous Community of Madrid. History The '' Y'' in the abbreviated form of the company's name is from the old spelling ''Ysabel ...
, the symbol of the
Canal de Isabel II Canal de Isabel II (CYII) is the only company that manages the water supplies for Madrid, Spain. It is owned by the Autonomous Community of Madrid. History The '' Y'' in the abbreviated form of the company's name is from the old spelling ''Ysabel'' ...
. Appearing alone as a word, the letter is a
grammatical conjunction In grammar, a conjunction (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of s ...
with the meaning "
and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boole ...
" in
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
and is pronounced . As a consonant, represents in Spanish. The letter is called ''i/y griega'', literally meaning "Greek I", after the Greek letter
ypsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etym ...
, or ''ye''. In
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
, (called ''ípsilon'' in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and either ''ípsilon'' or ''i grego'' in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
) was, together with and , recently reintroduced as the 25th letter, and 19th consonant, of the
Portuguese alphabet Portuguese orthography is based on the Latin alphabet and makes use of the acute accent, the circumflex accent, the grave accent, the tilde, and the cedilla to denote stress, vowel height, nasalization, and other sound changes. The diaeresis was ...
, in consequence of the
Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 The Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 ( pt, Acordo Ortográfico da Língua Portuguesa de 1990) is an international treaty whose purpose is to create a unified orthography for the Portuguese language, to be used by all the countrie ...
. It is mostly used in loanwords from English,
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
and Spanish. Loanwords in general, primarily
gallicism A Gallicism can be: * a mode of speech peculiar to the French; * a French idiom; * in general, a French mode or custom. * a loanword, word or phrase borrowed from French. See also * Francization * Franglais * Gallic (disambiguation) * Gallican ...
s in both varieties, are more common in
Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (' ), also Portuguese of Brazil (', ) or South American Portuguese (') is the set of varieties of the Portuguese language native to Brazil and the most influential form of Portuguese worldwide. It is spoken by almost all of ...
than in
European Portuguese European Portuguese ( pt, português europeu, ), also known as Portuguese of Portugal (Portuguese: português de Portugal), Iberian Portuguese (Portuguese: português ibérico), and Peninsular Portuguese (Portuguese: português peninsular), refer ...
. It was always common for Brazilians to stylize Tupi-influenced names of their children with the letter (which is present in most Romanizations of
Old Tupi Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (also spelled as Tupí) is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the aboriginal Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. It belongs to the ...
) e.g. Guaracy, Jandyra, Mayara – though placenames and loanwords derived from indigenous origins had the letter substituted for over time e.g. Nictheroy became
Niterói Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...
. Usual pronunciations are , , and (the two latter ones are inexistent in European and Brazilian Portuguese varieties respectively, being both substituted by in other dialects). The letters and are regarded as phonemically not dissimilar, though the first corresponds to a vowel and the latter to a consonant, and both can correspond to a
semivowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the ...
depending on its place in a word.
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, too, has (''ipsilon'') in a small number of loanwords. The letter is also common in some surnames native to the German-speaking province of Bolzano, such as Mayer or Mayr. In
Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...
, it represents the vowel . In
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
, it represents the vowel (or, according to some descriptions, ), which is clearly different from , e.g. ''my'' (we) and ''mi'' (me). No native Polish word begins with ; very few foreign words keep at the beginning, e.g. ''yeti'' (pronounced ). In
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...
and Slovak, the distinction between the vowels expressed by and , as well as by and has been lost (similarly to Icelandic and Faroese), but the consonants ''d, t, n'' (also ''l'' in Slovak) before orthographic (and historical) are not palatalized, whereas they are before . can never begin any word, while can never begin a native word. In
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, it is usually pronounced in non-final syllables and or (depending on the accent) in final syllables. In the
Standard Written Form The Standard Written Form or SWF ( kw, Furv Skrifys Savonek) of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthograph ...
of the
Cornish Language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...
, it represents the and of
Revived Middle Cornish Revive or Revived may refer to: * Revival, especially bringing back to life * Revive (video gaming), resurrecting a defeated character. Music * Revive (band), a Christian rock band * ''Revive'', classical album by Elīna Garanča 2016 * ''Revive ...
and the and of
Revived Late Cornish Modern Cornish (''Kernuack Nowedga'') is a variety of the revived Cornish language. It is sometimes called Revived Late Cornish (RLC) or ''Kernuack Dewethas'', to distinguish it from other forms of contemporary revived Cornish. When Unified Co ...
. It can also represent Tudor and Revived Late Cornish and and consequently be replaced in writing with . It is also used in forming a number of
diphthongs A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
. As a consonant it represents . In
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
,
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...
,
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
,
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
, Karelian and
Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
, is always pronounced . In
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
, is used in foreign proper names and is pronounced as in the source language. It is also unofficially used as a substitute for and is pronounced the same as in
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
. In
Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
, is the 15th letter (following and preceding in the alphabet) and is a vowel. It is called ''the long i'' and is pronounced , like in English ''see''. When used as a vowel in
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
, the letter represents the sound ; when it is a monophthong, it is functionally equivalent to the Vietnamese letter . There have been efforts to replace all such uses with altogether, but they have been largely unsuccessful. As a consonant, it represents the
palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic no ...
. The capital letter is also used in Vietnamese as a
given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
. In
Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
,
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
/
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
,
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
,
Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...
and the
romanization of Japanese The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Ch ...
, ⟨y⟩ is always a
palatal consonant Palatals are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex. Characteristic ...
, denoting , as in English. In Malagasy, the letter represents the final variation of . In
Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...
, represents . In Washo, lower-case represents a typical wye sound, while upper-case represents a
voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
wye sound, a bit like the consonant in English ''hue''.


Other systems

In the
International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
, corresponds to the
close front rounded vowel The close front rounded vowel, or high front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is /y/, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is y. Acr ...
, and the related character corresponds to the
near-close near-front rounded vowel The near-close front rounded vowel, or near-high front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol ...
. The
SI prefix The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...
for 1024 is
yotta A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The pre ...
, abbreviated by the letter Y.


Related characters


Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet

*Y with
diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
s: Ý ý Ỳ ỳ Ŷ ŷ Ÿ ÿ Ỹ ỹ Ẏ ẏ Ỵ ỵ
A ring diacritic may appear above or below letters. It may be combined with some letters of the extended Latin alphabets in various contexts. Rings Distinct letter The character Å (å) is derived from an A with a ring. It is a distinct let ...
Ỷ ỷ Ȳ ȳ Ɏ ɏ Ƴ ƴ * and are used in the
International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
(IPA) * IPA superscript letters: 𐞠 𐞲 𐞡 * 𝼆 : Small letter turned y with belt is an extension to IPA for disordered speech (extIPA) * is used in the
Teuthonista Teuthonista is a phonetic transcription system used predominantly for the transcription of (High) German dialects. It is very similar to other Central European transcription systems from the early 20th century. The base characters are mostly bas ...
phonetic transcription system * ʸ is used for phonetic transcription *Ỿ ỿ : Y with loop is used by some Welsh medievalists to indicate the schwa sound of


Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets

*𐤅: Semitic letter
Waw Waw or WAW may refer to: * Waw (letter), a letter in many Semitic abjads * Waw, the velomobile * Another spelling for the town Wau, South Sudan * Waw Township, Burma *Warsaw Chopin Airport, an international airport serving Warsaw, Poland (IATA ai ...
, from which the following symbols originally derive **Υ υ :
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
letter
Upsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; el, ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, grc, Υʹ, label=none has a value of 400. It is derived from the Phoenician waw . Etym ...
, from which Y derives *** :
Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...
letter epsilon/he (not to be confused with the unrelated Greek letter Ε ε called
epsilon Epsilon (, ; uppercase , lowercase or lunate ; el, έψιλον) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a mid front unrounded vowel or . In the system of Greek numerals it also has the value five. It was der ...
) ***𐌖 : Old Italic U/V, which is the ancestor of modern Latin V and U *** :
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
letter /, which is transliterated as w ***У у :
Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...
letter U, which derives from Greek upsilon via the digraph omicron-upsilon used to represent the sound /u/ ***Ѵ ѵ :
Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...
letter
izhitsa Izhitsa or Izhica (Ѵ, ѵ; italics: ; OCS: Ѷжица, Russian: Ижица, Ukrainian: Іжиця) is a letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet and several later alphabets, usually the last in the row. It originates from the Greek letter upsilon ...
, which derives from Greek upsilon and represents the sounds /i/ or /v/. This letter is archaic in the modern writing systems of the living
Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
, but it is still used in the writing system of the Slavic
liturgical language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacre ...
Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
. ***Ү ү : Cyrillic letter Ue (or ''straight U'') ***Ұ ұ :
Kazakh Short U Kazakh Short U (Ұ ұ; italics: ) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Unicode, this letter is called "Straight U with stroke". Its form is the Cyrillic letter Ue (Ү ү ) with a horizontal stroke through it. Kazakh Short U ...


Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations

* ¥ :
Yen sign The yen and yuan sign, ¥, is a currency sign used for the Japanese yen and the Renminbi, Chinese yuan currency, currencies when writing in Latin scripts. This monetary symbol resembles a Latin letter Y with a single or double horizontal stroke. ...
* ⓨ : In Japan, ⓨ is a symbol used for
resale price maintenance Resale price maintenance (RPM) or, occasionally, retail price maintenance is the practice whereby a manufacturer and its distributors agree that the distributors will sell the manufacturer's product at certain prices (resale price maintenance), a ...
.


Computing codes

On the standard US/UK keyboard Y is the sixth letter of the top row; On the
QWERTZ The QWERTZ or QWERTZU keyboard is a typewriter and keyboard layout widely used in Central Europe. The name comes from the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard: ( ). Overview The main difference between QWERTZ and QWERTY is tha ...
keyboard used in Central Europe it is replaced there by Z, and is itself positioned at the bottom left.


Other representations


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{Latin alphabet, Y} ISO basic Latin letters Vowel letters