Semi Vowels ‘Y’ and ‘W’ Words with Examples

In phonics, while working with the spellings we use vowels or blend of vowels to produce the sound. But Sometimes we make use of consonants to generate the sound while pronouncing the words. 

English is a language in which the 26 alphabets are divided into vowels and consonants. 

The vowels comprise of:

• A
• E
• I
• O
• U

but we make use to two extra letters as a vowels. Let’s look at which are those two letters.

What are Semi Vowels?

Semivowels are consonants that produce a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound. Examples of semivowels in English are the consonants y and w, in yell and well. 

Semivowels always function as the syllable boundary and are mostly used as the initial sounds (for ex. in yell and well) or the final sounds (for example in coy and cow).

The letters Y and W can be regarded as vowels and consonants both. Therefore we call them Semi-Vowels. The function of a vowel is to produce sound while pronouncing a word whereas a consonant is a basic speech sound when the breath is partly obstructed. 

Examples of Semi Vowels Words

Words with Letter ‘Y’ as a Vowel

You might find the alphabet ‘Y’ more commonly used as the vowel rather than a consonant. When Letter Y is used at the beginning of a word then it can sound as a vowel.

For instance, you can check the words:

• Yes
• You
• Yard
• Yoga
• Young
• Youth

Whenever the word is used in the beginning or end of the word then it is treated as a vowel. 

1. Y as a Vowel – Long E Sound

If you observe the examples given below, you can see that the letter ‘Y’ is placed at the end of the word. It is used with one or more syllable and it typically makes a long /e/ sound. 

2. Y as a Vowel – Long I Sound

As you have seen in the previous examples that the letter ‘Y’ is used in the end with one or more syllables. Here you would see that the letter ‘Y’ is used in the end and makes a long /i/ sound. 

Vowel sounds spelled with a “y”: 

• y /i/ happy
• y /a?/ by
• y /?/ mystic
• oy /o?/ toy
• ay /e?/ day

Let’s now look at how letter w is used as a vowel and what sounds it produce in English words.

Words with Letter ‘W’ as a Vowel

As you can see, the letter ‘W’ produces the sound and is considered as semi-vowel just like ‘Y’.  This sound can be created with a lot of restrictions in the vocal tract while producing the sound. ‘W’ can be used to spell the words. But they are not directly called as Vowels because they are not syllabic. But when they are used with other vowels produce a sound. Let’s explore the examples given below. Read the words loudly so that you would get to know the exact sound they generate. 

Vowel sounds spelled with a “w”:

• aw /?/ saw
• ew /u:/ new
• ew /ju:/ few
• ow /o?/ snow
• ow /a?/ cow

List of words where letter w is used as a vowel.

Conclusion:

So, it was really interesting to learn about the letter ‘Y’ & ‘W” which will help you to pronounce and make it look like a vowel. With the help of these words, you could know how the consonants can be used as vowels. You would be learning about other news things in the upcoming blogs. Till then stay tuned to Englishbix. A website that will help you to gain knowledge of grammar-related things.