Can anybody tell me the rule, please? Pronunciation of final

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ESL forum > Ask for help > Can anybody tell me the rule, please? Pronunciation of final

Can anybody tell me the rule, please? Pronunciation of final

juliag

Can anybody tell me the rule, please? Pronunciation of final

Hi,

Hope everyone is having a nice Friday and has a fun weekend lined up.

I would like to ask for your help. I an trying to make a printable about the pronunciation of final "y" (excluding "ay" "oy" ey") to help my students , but I can ï¿½t find a rule in any of my books, or what I would call an accurate one on the Internet.

As you are no doubt aware there are 2 pronunciations:

/I/ as in sky, fly try etc.

/E/ as in berry, happy, lazy etc.

The rule I did find says that:

you should use /I/ for:

1) all 2 and 3 letter words - this seems to be correct, I think

2) all verbs that end in a "y" that DOESN ï¿½T come after a double consonant - I don ï¿½t think this is correct because I can think of some exceptions. For example, "tidy" doesnÂ´t have a double consonant, but we donÂ´t pronounce the "y" as /I/

It goes on to say you should use /E/ for:

1) All nouns - well I can ï¿½t agree with this unless you specify nouns with 4 or more letters because, as we have already seen we have sky etc.
2) All adverbs - not 100% but this would seem to be correct
3) All adjectives - not 100% but this would also seem to be correct
4) All verbs where the y is preceded by a double consonant - again this doesn ï¿½t seem to be correct because, for example "study" doesn ï¿½t have a double consonant before the "y" but is still pronounced /E/.

I am feeling very confused and not sure how to explain to my students and so if any of you know a workable rule for this I would be so grateful if you could PM it to me. (Rather than posting it here as I ï¿½m off to bed in a few minutes). Of course I am planning to upload the printable I make when I can get the rules sorted out in my head.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

Hugs

Julia

15 Jan 2010

juliag

On second thoughts, you can always just post your replies here and then I check this thread tomorrow. That will probably be easier for you guys, and then you can also feed off each other ï¿½s ideas, too.

15 Jan 2010

Sonn

Julia, I usually explain it as follows:

If there is one syllable in the word, that is there are no other vowels in the word, you are to read it as [ai]:

fly

sky

dry

shy

If there are two syllables and more, and the letter y stands at the end of the word, you should read it as [i]

many

lazy

dictionary

Billy

happy

discovery

study etc

The letter y in the middle of the word is usually pronounced as [ai], but you ï¿½d better consult a dictionary when you see such word.

cyber

cyclone

hyper

but

physics

I hope it helps

Best wishes

15 Jan 2010

juliag

That ï¿½s very clear, thank you Sonn

Just there is one point I ï¿½m still unsure about.

Words like rely, July, and apply have 2 syllables but we pronounce the final y as [ai].

As these 3 examples I could think of all end in "ly" I wondered if this was the rule...

But then I thought of quickly, quietly etc, which end in "ly" but we pronounce [i].

How do you (or anyone else reading this) explain this?

Do you just give the students a list of exceptions?

Or is there a rule that accounts for this, too?

Sorry to be so mcuh trouble and thanks again.

15 Jan 2010

Sonn

In July, apply, reply, defy and deny the syllable is stressed. I think that is the reason.

But `occupy [ai] (the first syllable is stressed).

I ï¿½ll try to find a book on reading rules and then write here.

15 Jan 2010

Sonn

I think I ï¿½ve found something. If y is a suffix of a verb it should be pronounced as [ai] no matter where the stress is:

identify occupy ratify notify satisfy fortify deify

And in a noun ï¿½ally ï¿½ -y should be pronounced as [ai].

15 Jan 2010

puddyd

I think it ï¿½s also a good idea to stress the word ï¿½usually ï¿½ and not ï¿½always ï¿½, because we have so many exceptions to the rule. Very frustrating for us and them.

Have a good weekend

;o)

15 Jan 2010