When does Y behave like a vowel?

Answer 1

Y is a consonant for its general pronunciation and in the phonetic alphabets. Y is a consonant when it begins a word like yellow, yell, year, yearn, yes, yarn, yard, etc. or if it begins a syllable like mayor, layer, kayak, etc. However, although Y is generally a consonant, it can sometimes behave like a vowel, so Y can be considered as a semi-vowel, but not a real vowel. The real vowel includes, A, E, I, O and U. If the Y ends a word like cry, try, fly, hay, pay, day, may etc., it's through a syllable like byte, hymn, Lyn, lynx, type, krypton, dye, symptom, etc., if it ends a syllable like Tyler, Taylor, hyper, dynamic, python, maybe, tyrant, hybrid, hypothesis, pylon, etc., or if it begins a word or a syllable but the following letter is a consonant like yttrium, ytterbium, etc. then the Y behaves like a vowel.