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Message board > consonant or vowel?
consonant or vowel?
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alien boy
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That�s an awkward situation. Because of a couple of biases (the way I learned the alphabet at school & the level of the students I teach) I refer to �y� as a consonant for simplicity. I deal with junior high school students, not university linguistics students, so I believe in keeping things as simple as possible. Sesame Street uses the vowels a, e, i, o, u - native English speakers learn the same when they start school. Yes, �y� (& �w�) are exceptions to the typical consonants because of the function of the letters & the varying sounds they represent (which should be explained to students during their course of study) but they are also different to vowels which is why they are classed separately in formal phonology & phonetics.
For beginners (particularly children or adolescents) my preference is to always use the 5 vowels with the other 21 letters being consonants & with an additional explanation for �y� when need arises.
I�d say you didn�t make a mistake either, as long as students had been taught your perspective on �y� and its place as a consonant or vowel in the varying circumstances. Remember, the students can only go by what they have been taught!
B-)
P.S. Zora - my name�s a little awkward according to the Prof�s breakdown... the second syllable begins with y & has two more letters, so the �y� in my case would be a consonant but it actually sounds like a vowel (Gaelic languages can obviously be a little difficult!) You�ll probably find Bryan & Ryan are names related to each other & are also from a Gaelic root. The �y� in both cases would be a vowel according to the examples given by The Prof.
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19 Dec 2008
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Zora
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Or maybe it�s just an alternative spelling. For example my real name is "Linda" but it can be spelled, "Lynda" too... also, now that I think of it "Bryan" can be spelled "Brian".. but Ryan can�t be spelled "Rian" (or at least I�ve never seen it written this way.)
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19 Dec 2008
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alien boy
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They could be alternate spelling if people have not seen/heard the names before. The actual Anglicised spelling of my name, for example, is Brice - which you sometimes see. These days the trend seems to be to spell it as Bryce due to social factors rather than linguistic/etymological reasons. You would probably find this to be the case for Bryan/Brian too (even though I know far more Brians). I have also come across a few Rians - Google Rian Hughes, for example), but not many!
Re syllabification - it could be argued that Bryce is one syllable (like �rice�) & in that case the �y� fulfills the vowel requirements in The Prof�s examples...
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19 Dec 2008
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Zora
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Okay, now to stir up the pot a bit with this "social factor" thing that seems to be quite popular lately... I have a friend who is called "Jody" but she insisted that�s the boy�s spelling and most girls spell it "Jodi". I sort of agree with her since I knew a "Jody"as a child and "he" was my one of my best friends back then.
Is it possible that this is happening too. Using the "i" to denote a girl�s name and a "y" to denote a boy�s name??
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19 Dec 2008
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alien boy
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Well, well, well! A stirrer!!!!!
I know both male and female �Jody�s and only female �Jodi�s. I�ve even known a Jodee or two (male & female) & not just from the US!
I don�t know that it�s a recent thing (the i/y thing) but names tend to become popular and then to fall out of fashion. It�s possible to do searches of many birth registries to get the most popular names over many years. You can see some interesting variations! Names originally associated with one gender canoften change over to the other because of social factors.
How about the great English name �Evelyn�? What are your thoughts?
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19 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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The name Terry uses that rule
Terry - male
Terri - female.
however with my name it is only female, Vicki - (me) Vicky (how everyone wants to spell it)
Shane - male. Shayne - female.... I think people just like adding y�s to names sometimes...
I didn�t know that Jody was a boys name as well. I have only ever met girls called and spelt Jody.
Cody (or Kody) male. Kodie - female?? I don�t think the i for girls and y for boys is a consistent rule.
Jamie - males. female?
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19 Dec 2008
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Zora
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I agree with you, names do come in and out of fashion. I�m sure that if we look at registries we will find a whole lot of "Johnny, Brad, and Angelina" in them..  since I find a lot of people tend to base the "niceness" of a name on who�s ever popular at the moment.
Okay... "Evelyn" is in my opinion (sorry to hurt any one�s feelings here... ) just an awful name. It ranks right up there with Hazel, Agatha and Roberta...
.... then there are the ever gender confusing names like: Lesley, Sidney, George, Sam, etc... it�s like, "okay... is the baby a boy or a girl?"
Okay, so there is a rule of sorts to that "i" "y" thing... Thanks Vickii...
btw - Jamie, I�m told is a girl�s name in Norway...
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19 Dec 2008
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alien boy
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Interesting. I have worked with two �Terry�s who were women! I know, however, that it is a diminutive of Theresa (or its variants). Did you know Terry originally derives from Theodoric via the Norman French Thierri?
It wouldn�t surprise me that the �i� variation was used to allude to a French/exotic feminine appeal to differentiate it from the masculine �Terry�.
I expect i/y variations are used by people (without etymological awareness) in an effort to be more exotic and appeal to the individuals� aesthetic values as well as an attempt to differentiate gender.
In Australia it�s very common to add �ie� or �y� to a name when forming a nickname. Sometimes this will lengthen a name rather than shortening it (no, I don�t like �Brycey� or �Brycie�, so please don�t start...)
With Vicki, is it short for Victoria/ I�ve known a couple of �Vic�s too - guys (Victor!) & gals.
Re Evelyn - one of my all time favourite authors is Evelyn Waugh - a bloke!
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19 Dec 2008
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Apryll12
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What a turn in the flow of thoughts!!!  I started with a completely different thing and now when I�ve come back to you, you�re discussing names! This is amazing when discussion goes on like this. I love it!
I think Jamie can be a nickname for James... but I�m not sure. And if you think of Jamie Lee Curtis (the actress), it�s clear that both sexes can use this name.
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19 Dec 2008
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... simple looking questions are, at times, not so simple!!