Did you notice the pronunciations of y and yeux? In other languages different rules apply. The letter 'Y' may not make many appearances in French words, but it's important to know. Hi, today I had an argument with some of my classmates whether or not "y" is a vowel. If that's confusing, don't worry. A letter used to indicate a sound of the voice produced by the vibration of the voice box modified by a more or less large opening of the mouth. /y/ to /u/ du chou, du bout, surtout, surcoût; 2. However, in French, it is not an option. When y forms a diphthong—two vowel sounds joined in one syllable to form one speech sound, such as the "oy" in toy, "ay" in day, and "ey" in monkey—it is also regarded as a vowel. You must learn to keep your lips, tongue and jaw stationary during the pronunciation of a French vowel, which will result in a pure sound. the old rule I learned in School,.... A E I O U.....and Sometimes Y...............Never could understand how it could be " Sometimes ". If you relax your mouth or jaw, you will produce diphthongized vowels that will give your French an American accent. Je vais à Paris = j’y vais 2. In french class we refer "y" as a "E - Greek". To avoid pronouncing two vowels, the e in le and the o in homme and hospital the e is replaced by an apostrophy. Je vais au Japon = j’y vais When you study this, the key is to know well the rules on prepositions of places in French. If I say COduh-VWAH, is that pronunciation close enough for "Cote d'Ivoire", and is nee-ZHAIRE correct for "Niger"? There are a few exceptions where the Y combines with an A for a È sound, and then still keep another I sound. ; ph is pronounced the same as in English. In English, "y" can be a consonant or a vowel. Canadian French (CF) differs from its European counterpart in that it also has three lax high vowels, [I Y U], which exist as allophonic variants of the tense vowels. Table of content. Notice the difference in this translation: in French, the question would not make sense without y. Discover grammar tips, writing help, and fun English language facts. Why are the English languages in the US and the UK slightly different from each other? vowel translation in English-French dictionary. The French vowels look the same as in English, but they are not always pronounced the same. vowels and consonants were assigned by the sound they make, when a letter is silent in a word it really doesn't matter anyway... since english is a language with more exceptions than rules, learning rules is more line guidelines than rules... y can be either a vowel or a consonant depending upon its pronunciation... the english language uses words from numerous origins, and that changes spelling and pronunciation... the same word in english can be pronounced differently to have a different meaning... just some examples: alternate, attribute, axes, bass, bow, close, combine, conduct, conflict, console, content, contest, contract, convert, convict, deliberate, desert, digest, dove, excuse, house, invalid, lead, minute, moderate, object, perfect, permit, present, produce, project, read, record, recreate, refuse, relay, resume, row, separate, sow, subject, tear, wind, wound. For minimal pairs, there is a series of videos on YouTube covering many, as … and French. In normal English "y" is both consonant (as in "you") and vowel (as in "sky"). In English, we can often skip the word "there" because it's implied. Can you decide which 'Y' sound to use in each? Vowel sounds. Both y and w are "sometimes vowels" and the rest of the time consonants. Phonetically equivalent to a pure vowel; Creates a diphthong with the vowel it precedes or follows; Native English speakers, could you please help me with these issues. They do not always make the same sound as in English. The 'Y' in French is quite simple and a quick lesson will clear everything up for you. Hi, today I had an argument with some of my classmates whether or not "y" is a vowel. In french it IS a vowel!) French Translation of “vowel” | The official Collins English-French Dictionary online. Is it true that English is one of the hardest languages to learn? In french class we refer "y" as a "E - Greek". The pronoun y uses the vowel pronunciation and the word yeux sounds almost identical to the consonant sound. It's actually more important than you may think. This tutorial presents an overview of the rules of European/metropolitan French pronunciation, focusing on the vowels, consonants, stress, and intonation patterns that are different from American English. Typically, y represents a consonant when it starts off a word or syllable, as in yard , lawyer , or beyond . Reason why I think that "y" is a vowel : Happ(y) pronunciation: Hap - (eeeee) regards Dehlen. French has three high vowel phonemes, /i y u/. The French ou vowel is produced with the tongue raised towards the back of the mouth, in a higher position to the close o sound, and with the lips rounded. The letter 'Y' may not make many appearances in French words, but it's important to know. To do this, try to say ‘eee’ and then keep that sound while rounding your lips. The distribution of tense and lax high vowel allophones in CF is regulated by several phonological processes (Walker, 1984), French vowels are here separated into single vowels (accented and unaccented), and vowel groups. It is pronounced with the mouth in an open position and the tongue quite far forward in the mouth, and with the lips unrounded. In English, vowels tend to be followed by a y sound (after a, e, or i) or a w sound (after o or u). Hi, today I had an argument with some of my classmates whether or not "y" is a vowel. /y/ is a rounded version of the I Vowel in French. For a more technical demonstration of the French vowels, this video from Gabriel Wyner really merits watching (you may need to watch it several times in order to follow it though). As French as croissants are the accents peppered over French vowels. Sometimes, in English, "Y" is a vowel. french has its own complications as nouns have gender and need matching gender words... there's y like funny and y like yellow, and y like cyst and crypt and y like cry and lye and y like mayor and inlay and y like yuan. Let's start with the basics. How to Practice French Vowels. In French, there are 4 nasal vowels: /ɛ̃/ /œ̃/ /ɔ̃/ /ɑ̃/ In most of the regions in France, /œ̃/ has disappeared, it’s pronounced /ɛ̃/ instead. Just as it is in English, the French 'Y' can be either a consonant or a vowel. This occurs when it is used as an adverbial pronoun to mean "there.". Is this why English is one of the hardest languages to learn? No. Keep this in mind and don't discount the 'Y' in your French studies. Y is sometimes a vowel. B, pronounced like “bay” without the y … English teachers, what's the difference between 'into' and 'in to'?