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'''Y''', or '''y''', is the twenty-fifth and penultimate [[Letter (alphabet)|letter]] of the [[Latin alphabet]], used in the [[English alphabet|modern English alphabet]], the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh if including [[W]]) [[vowel#Written vowels|vowel letter]] of the English alphabet.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Truth About 'Y': It's Mostly a Vowel |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-y-is-sometimes-a-vowel-usage |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-date=14 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714185532/https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-y-is-sometimes-a-vowel-usage |url-status=live }}</ref> Its name in English is [[English alphabet#Letter names|''wye'']]<ref>Also spelled ''wy'', and the plural is ''wyes''.</ref> (pronounced {{IPAc-en|'|w|aɪ}}), plural ''wyes''.<ref>"Y", ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' 2nd edition (1989); ''Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1993); "wy", ''op. cit''.</ref>

In Latin, Y was named ''I graeca'' ("Greek I"), since the classical Greek sound {{IPA|/y/}}, similar to modern German ''ü'' or French ''u'', was not a native sound for Latin speakers, and the letter was initially only used to spell foreign words. This history has led to the standard modern names of the letter in Romance languages – ''i grego'' in Galician, ''i grega'' in Catalan, ''i grec'' in French and Romanian, and ''i greca'' in Italian – all meaning "Greek I". The names ''igrek'' in Polish and ''{{lang|vi|i gờ-rét}}'' in Vietnamese are both phonetic borrowings of the French name. In Dutch, the letter is either only found in loanwords, or is practically equivalent to the digraph [[IJ (digraph)|IJ]]. Hence, both ''Griekse ij'' and ''i-grec'' are used, as well as ''ypsilon''. In Spanish, Y is also called ''i griega''; however, in the twentieth century, the shorter name ''ye'' was proposed and was officially recognized as its name in 2010 by the [[Real Academia Española]], although its original name is still accepted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rae.es/rae/gestores/gespub000018.nsf/(voAnexos)/arch8100821B76809110C12571B80038BA4A/$File/CuestionesparaelFAQdeconsultas.htm#novOrto2|title=Propuesta de un solo nombre para cada una de las letras del abecedario|year=2010|editor=Real Academia Española|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230134236/http://www.rae.es/rae/gestores/gespub000018.nsf/(voAnexos)/arch8100821B76809110C12571B80038BA4A/$File/CuestionesparaelFAQdeconsultas.htm#novOrto2|archive-date=2010-12-30}}</ref>

The original Greek name, υ ψιλόν (''[[upsilon]]''), has also been adapted into several modern languages. For example, it is called ''Ypsilon'' in German, ''ypsilon'' in Dutch, and ''{{lang|is|ufsilon}} i'' in Icelandic. Both names are used in Italian, ''ipsilon'' or ''i greca''; likewise in Portuguese, ''ípsilon'' or ''i grego''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/portuguese.htm|title=Portuguese (Português)|website=Omniglot|access-date=May 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909165840/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/portuguese.htm|archive-date=September 9, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Faroese, the letter is simply called ''seinna i'' ("later i") because of its later place in the alphabet. France has a commune called [[Y, Somme|Y]], pronounced {{IPA|/i/|audio=LL-Q150 (fra)-Jules78120-i.wav}}, whose inhabitants goesgo by the demonym ''upsilonienne''/''upsilonien'' in feminine and masculine form respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=Bienvenue à Y, le village au nom le plus court de France |url=https://www.tf1info.fr/societe/video-insolite-bienvenue-a-y-le-village-au-nom-le-plus-court-de-france-2170878.html |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=TF1 INFO |language=fr}}</ref>

The form of the modern letter Y is derived from the Greek letter ''[[upsilon]]''. It dates back to the Latin of the first century BC, when upsilon was introduced a second time, this time with its "foot" to distinguish it. It was used to transcribe loanwords from the prestigious [[Attic Greek|Attic]] dialect of Greek, which had the non-Latin vowel sound {{IPA|/y/}} (as found in modern French ''cru'' (raw), or German ''grün'' (green)) in words that had been pronounced with {{IPA|/u/}} in earlier Greek.

Because {{IPA|[y]}} was not a native sound of Latin, Latin speakers had trouble pronouncing it, and it was usually pronounced {{IPA|/i/}}.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} Some Latin words of [[Italic languages|Italic]] origin also came to be spelled with 'y': Latin ''silva'' ('forest') was commonly spelled ''sylva'', in analogy with the Greek cognate and synonym ''ὕλη''.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]] Second edition, 1989; online version June 2011, ''s.v.'' 'sylva'</ref>

|+ Pronunciation summaryof {{angbr|y}} by language

| {{IPAIPAslink|/əi/y}}

| {{IPAslink|yiː}}

! colspan="2" |[[Azerbaijani languagealphabet|Azerbaijani]]

| {{IPAslink|j}}

! colspan="2" |[[Chamorro languagealphabet|Chamorro]]

| {{IPAslink|d͡z}}

!'' {{nwr|[[MandarinStandard Chinese]]''}} ([[pinyin]])

! colspan="2" rowspan="3" |[[Cornish languageorthography|Cornish]]

| {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|ɪ}}, {{IPAslink|j}}

| {{IPA|/ɛi/}}, {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAslink|ɪ}}, {{IPAslink|j}}

! rowspan="4" |[[German languageorthography|German]]

| {{IPAslink|jɨ}}

| {{IPAslink|ɨiː}}

| {{IPAslink|ɪi}}

| {{IPAslink|ʔy}}, {{IPAslink|ʏ}}

| {{IPAslink|iːɨ}}

| {{IPAslink|i}}

| {{IPAslink|əʝ}}

| {{IPAslink|y}}, {{IPAslink|ʏ}}, {{IPAslink|j}}

| {{IPAslink|ɨɯ}}

|{{IPAslink|ɪ}}, {{IPAslink|iː}}, {{IPAslink|ə}}, {{IPAslink|əːi}}

* at the beginning of a word, as in ''yes''

* at the beginning of a syllable before a vowel, as in ''beyond'', ''lawyer'', ''canyon''

* under stress in an open syllable, as in ''my'', ''type'', ''rye'', ''lying'', ''pyre'', ''tyre'', ''typhoon''

* in a stressed open syllable, as in ''hyphen'', ''cycle'', ''cylon''

* in a pretonic open syllable, as in ''hypothesis'', ''psychologist''

* word-finally after a consonant in some words, assuch inas ''ally'', ''unify''

* without stress at the end of multi-syllable word, as in ''happy'', ''baby'', ''lucky'', ''accuracy''

* used as a part of the [[diphthongdigraph (orthography)|digraph]] in combination with ''e''{{angbr|ey}} at the end of some words, as in ''money'', ''key'', ''valley''

As non-syllabic {{IPA|[ɪ̯]}} (part of the [[diphthong]]s {{IPAc-en|eɪ}}, {{IPAc-en|ɔɪ}}):

* inafter [[diphthong]]svowels at the end of words, as in ''play'', ''grey'', ''boy''

[[File:2024-05 Uitrit vrijlaten Dutch sign ZvD.jpg|thumb|Dutch sign "uitritwritten vrijlaten"with ''UITRIT VRIJLATEN'', "keep exit clear". Y is traditionally used for IJ, because it looks similar in [[Cursive|cursive writing]].]]

* In Dutch, it usually represents {{IPA|/i/}}. It may sometimes be left out of the [[Dutch alphabet]] and replaced with the {{angbr|[[IJ (digraph)|ij]]}} digraph, representing the diphthong {{IPA |[ɛi]}}. In addition, {{angbr|y}} and {{angbr|ÿ}} are occasionally used instead of Dutch {{angbr|IJ}} and {{angbr|ij}}, albeitalthough this spelling veryis rarelyarchaic.

* In [[German orthography]], the pronunciation {{IPA|/yː/}} has taken hold since the 19th century in classical loanwords – for instance in words like ''typisch'' {{IPA|/ˈtyːpɪʃ/}} 'typical', ''Hyäne'', ''Hysterie'', ''mysteriös'', ''Syndrom'', ''System'', and ''Typ''. It is also used for the sound {{IPA|/j/}} in loanwords, such as ''Yacht'' (variation spelling: '''''J'''acht''), ''Yak'', and ''Yeti'';. howeverHowever, e.g. ''yo-yo'' is spelled "'''''J'''o-'''J'''o''" in German, and ''yoghurt''/''yogurt''/''yoghourt'' is "'''''J'''og(h)urtoghurt''" [mostly spelled with h<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Joghurt | title=Joghurt, Jogurt, der, die oder das | access-date=20 January 2021 | archive-date=18 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118163900/https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Joghurt | url-status=live }}</ref>]). The letter {{angbr|y}} is also used in many geographical names, e.g. ''Bayern'' Bavaria, ''Ägypten'' Egypt, ''Libyen'' Libya, ''Paraguay'', ''Syrien'' Syria, ''Uruguay'', and ''Zypern'' Cyprus (but: '''''J'''emen'' for ''Yemen,'' and '''''J'''ugoslawien'' for ''Yugoslavia''). Especially in German names, the pronunciations {{IPA|/iː/}} or {{IPA|/ɪ/}} occur as well –; for instance, in the name ''[[Meyer (surname)|Meyer]]'', where it serves as a variant of {{angbr|i}}, cf{{Cf. }}''[[Meier (surname)|Meier]]'', another common spelling of the name. In German, the y is preserved in the plural form of some loanwords such as ''Bab'''y'''s'', 'bab'''ie'''s' and ''Part'''y'''s'', 'part'''ie'''s, celebrations'.

A {{angbr|y}} that derives from the {{angbr|ij}} ligature occurs in the [[Afrikaans language]], a descendant of Dutch, and in [[Alemannic German]] names. In Afrikaans, it denotes the diphthong {{IPA|[əi]}}. In Alemannic German names, it denotes long {{IPA|/iː/}}, for instance in ''[[Schnyder]]'' {{IPA-|de|ˈʃniːdər|}} or ''[[Schwyz]]'' {{IPA-|de|ˈʃʋiːts|}} – the cognate non-Alemannic German names ''[[Schneider (surname)|Schneider]]'' {{IPA-|de|ˈʃnaɪdər|}} or ''[[Schweiz]]'' {{IPA-|de|ʃʋaɪts|}} have the diphthong {{IPA|/aɪ/}} that developed from long {{IPA|/iː/}}.

In [[Hungarian orthography]], y is only used in the digraphs "gy,", "ly"," "ny"," "ty"," in some surnames (e. g. ''Bátory''), and in foreign words.

In [[French orthography]], {{angbr|y}} is pronounced as {{IPA|[i]}} when a vowel (as in the words ''cycle'', ''y'') and as {{IPA|[j]}} as a consonant (as in ''yeux'', ''voyez''). It alternates orthographically with {{angbr|i}} in the conjugations of some verbs, indicating a {{IPA|[j]}} sound. In most cases when {{angbr|y}} follows a vowel, it modifies the pronunciation of the vowel: {{angbr|ay}} {{IPA|[ɛ]}}, {{angbr|oy}} {{IPA|[wa]}}, {{angbr|uy}} {{IPA|[ɥi]}}. The letter {{angbr|y}} has double function (modifying the vowel as well as being pronounced as {{IPA|[j]}} or {{IPA|[i]}}) in the words ''payer'', ''balayer'', ''moyen'', ''essuyer'', ''pays'', etc., but in some words it has only a single function: {{IPA|[j]}} in ''bayer'', ''mayonnaise'', ''coyote''; modifying the vowel at the end of proper names like ''Chardonnay'' and ''Fourcroy''. In French, {{angbr|y}} can have a [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] (''tréma'') as in [[Moÿ-de-l'Aisne]].

In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], {{angbr|y}} (called ''ípsilon'' in [[Brazil]], and either ''ípsilon'' or ''i grego'' in [[Portugal]]) was, together with {{angbr|k}} and {{angbr|w}}, recently reintroduced as the 25th letter, and 19th consonant, of the [[Portuguese alphabet]], in consequence of the [[Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990]]. It is mostly used in loanwords from English, [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and Spanish. Loanwords in general, primarily [[gallicism]]s in both varieties, are more common in [[Brazilian Portuguese]] than in [[European Portuguese]]. It was always common for Brazilians to stylize [[Tupi language|Tupi]]-influenced names of their children with the letter (which is present in most Romanizations of [[Old Tupi]]) e.g. Guaracy, Jandyra, Mayara – though placenames and loanwords derived from indigenous origins had the letter substituted for {{angbr|[[i]]}} over time e.g. ''Nictheroy'' became ''[[Niterói]]''. Usual pronunciations are {{IPAslink|i}}, {{IPAblink|j}}, {{IPAblink|ɪ}} and {{IPAslink|ɯ|ɨ}} (the two latter ones are inexistent in European and Brazilian Portuguese varieties respectively, being both substituted by {{IPAslink|i}} in other dialects). The letters {{angbr|[[i]]}} and {{angbr|y}} are regarded as phonemically not dissimilar, though the first corresponds to a vowel and the latter to a consonant, and both can correspond to a [[semivowel]] depending on its place in a word.

In [[Czech language|Czech]] and [[Slovak language|Slovak]], the distinction between the vowels expressed by {{angbr|y}} and {{angbr|i}}, as well as by {{angbr|ý}} and {{angbr|í}} has been lost (similarly to Icelandic and Faroese), but the consonants ''d, t, n'' (also ''l'' in Slovak) before orthographic (and historical) {{angbr|y}} are not palatalized, whereas they are before {{angbr|i}}. Therefore, {{angbr|y}} is called ''tvrdé y'' (hard y), while {{angbr|i}} is ''měkké i'' (soft i). {{angbr|ý}} can never begin any word, while {{angbr|y}} can never begin a native word.

[[File:Station Rijssen.jpg|thumb|The Dutch [[IJ (digraph)|digraph IJ]] is sometimes written like a [[U (Cyrillic)|Cyrillic У]].]]

*𐤅: [[Phoenician alphabet|Semitic]] letter [[Waw (letter)|Waw]], from which the following symbols originally derive: