Y facts for kids

The letter Y in cursive.

An early Semitic version of the letter waw.

The Phoenician letter waw.

Y is the twenty-fifth letter in the English alphabet. It can act as both a consonant and a vowel. For example, in words like year, yell, and yes, the Y acts like a consonant. But in words like cry, fly, and sky, the Y is a vowel.

Where Did the Letter Y Come From?

Ancient Roots: Semitic, Phoenician, Greek, and Latin

The letter "Y" has a long history. It first appeared as the Semitic letter "waw." Other letters like F, U, V, and W also came from this ancient Semitic alphabet. Later, the Phoenician, Greek, and Latin alphabets used forms of this early letter. You might even see similarities to the old English letter yogh (Ȝȝ). The table below shows how the letter "Y" changed over time.

How the English letter "Y" developed

Phoenician	Greek	Latin	English (around these times)
			Old	Middle	Now
		→	U →	/U/UU →	/U/
		→	(vowel /y/) →	(vowel /i/) →	(vowels)
		C →
		G →	Ȝ →	G →
				consonantal /j/ →	(consonant)
			Þ →	/th/	-

Images for kids

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  Maryland license plate. The letter Y looks like a Cyrillic У.

See also

In Spanish: Y para niños