Why "Y" is sometimes a vowel
TLDR: “Y” is a semivowel and its pronunciation changes depending on the word. Teachers always said to me in School that the vowels are “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y”, but they never explained why “Y”sometimes is/isn’t a vowel. I had a random thought and decided to answer it for myself and anyone reading. What is a vowel and consonant? The Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and the consonants are all the others except y. Y is a “Semi-vowel” and we’ll talk about later. The difference between the vowels and the consonants is that you can say all of the vowels perfectly without closing your mouth partially or fully, you can prove this to yourself by saying a-e-i-o-u out loud without closing your mouth. For consonants like the letter T, you have to close your mouth partially due to your tongue. Another example is B. Y as a vowel, sounds like a “long or short I”, or a “long E”. For example, say Bicycle. The “Y” makes a short I sound, so it is a vowel in that case. That's a representation of “Y”...