Pronunciation question

[JFKvsNixon]

The word 'my' the 'y' has an 'eye' sound but in words like 'emmy' 'molly' etc the letter 'y' has a 'e' sound. How is this?

 

Our language is drawn from lot's of different influences, such as the French, the Saxons, the Angles, the Normans, the Vikings, the Celts and many more including our colonial history. So it draws upon many "rules", which leads to many inconsistencies. It's also the reason why we have lots of words that describe the same thing, like sick, ill, poorly etc.

 

I think this is a reason why it is a very descriptive language that lends itself well to literature and poetry.

[mjw47]

Our language is drawn from lot's of different influences, such as the French, the Saxons, the Angles, the Normans, the Vikings, the Celts and many more including our colonial history. So it draws upon many "rules", which leads to many inconsistencies. It's also the reason why we have lots of words that describe the same thing, like sick, ill, poorly etc.

 

I think this is a reason why it is a very descriptive language that lends itself well to literature and poetry.

 

Agree, the absorption of other languages into English makes it probably the most descriptive language in the world.

 

As an example the above sentence consists of agree= old French agreer.

 

Absorption = Latin absorbere

 

Language = Old French langage

 

World= Old English, marvellous! contributed one, Oh bugger, marvellous= old French merveille

 

It is almost impossible to speak or write English without using words that were originally foreign, this a great strength regarding the descriptive power of the language but makes it extremely difficult to learn because all of the rules have exceptions and you have to learn the exceptions.

 

i before e except after c. Weird Science.

 

My six year old grandson is learning to read and doing really well but is constantly arguing that it doesn't make sense how words are spelt the same but pronounced differently.

 

I sympathise entirely, and it doesn't help that spell check is telling me that I should have spelt it sympathize.

[aliceBB]

To return to OP's specific query, I think a useful rule of thumb is that when the letter 'y' is the last letter in the word (as in 'happy'), it is always pronounced like 'i' in 'bin'.

 

Other than that it is hard to come up with a rule, since even words containing the same Latin or Greek root (e.g. 'gyn' = female) are pronounced differently, e.g. misogynistic (y=i) and gynaecology (y = 'aye'). Perhaps it is that when the y has only one letter before it it it pronounced 'aye'. I shall investigate! I may be gone some time...

 

English spelling/pronunciation is a pig. There are 11 different ways of pronouncing 'ough', depending on the word it is found in.

Edited October 14, 2014 by aliceBB

[mjw47]

Reminds me of the Japanese student who spent years studying English and it's correct pronunciation in Tokyo.

 

Upon his first visit to England he found himself in the West End of London, and saw a billboard on a theatre which said 'Oklahoma, pronounced success'.

[DT Ralge]

The word 'my' the 'y' has an 'eye' sound but in words like 'emmy' 'molly' etc the letter 'y' has a 'e' sound. How is this?

 

Our language as has been said has developed from a multitude of influences.

 

My in modern German is mein, pronounced mine and there's a common root for both of these since, in French, "Le mien, la mienne" means the same.

 

A "y" on the end of an adjective probably mirrors the sound that the ending on many German adjectives gives (fatty = fettig).

 

A "y" on the end of a name probably mirrors the same name in French/Italian/Spanish albeit with variations of the ending/suffix: Emily, Mary - Maria, Marie, Emille, Emilia

 

Verbs like think, thought and how they change with different tenses mirror their German equivalents denken, gedacht. Other words with a similar spelling have different pronunciation because they are derived from different roots, word stems and suffixes ... And how the words are spelt now and in the past has changed lots of times, sometimes without a lot of explanation.

Edited October 14, 2014 by DT Ralge

[Maz3]

Trying to find any logic in this language is tough.

 

Will you think of the Chinese students in Sheffield, and how they must feel learning this (when it isn't even in the same written form as their own)

 

'ough'

 

tough

cough

though

thought

plough

 

 

 

Also 'through' - another different ending