Quad Letter Domains

A thread started at Namepros a few days ago certainly sparked up some controversy as to whether the letter ‘Y’ is actually a vowel. Its interesting to gain an insight into the variety of assumptions people have as this has the potential to affect the sale of any of your domain names that contain the letter especially if it is a CVCV combination.

I’ve always sat on the fence when it came to this question because I remember at school being taught that the only vowels in the English language are AEIO and U.

So many people have mixed opinions that its consistently clouded my judgement but over the years I have come to believe that ‘Y’ can be deemed a vowel under certain circumstances.

After reading through the various links posted in that thread its clear that ‘Y’ is in fact a vowel and a consonant. The Oxford dictionary states that:

“The letter ‘Y’ is a vowel or a consonant! The letter Y can be used to represent different sounds in different words, and can therefore fit either definition. In ‘myth’ or ‘hymn’ it is clearly a vowel but on the other hand, in a word like ‘beyond’ there is an obstacle to the breath which can be heard between two vowels.

Whether the letter ‘Y’ is a vowel or a consonant is therefore rather an arbitrary decision. The letter is probably more often used as a vowel, but in this role is often interchangeable with the letter ‘I’. However, the consonant sound is not consistently represented in English spelling by any other letter, and perhaps for this reason ‘Y’ tends to traditionally be counted among the consonants.”

So there you have it, undeniable evidence that ‘Y’ is both a consonant and a vowel. It is down to its placement in a particular word or combination of letters that affects its use.

It is important to understand how it should be used correctly before buying any four letter domain especially if you are not a native English speaker because it seems that people call it a vowel or a consonant not when it makes sense, but when it serves their purpose. Don’t forget that they want to make a sale and this is just another tactic to over inflate interest in, and the price of, a particular domain.

written by Richard \\ tags: aeiou, aeiouy, consonant, four letter domains, is y a vowel, namepros, vowel, vowels