How to pronounce the letter 'y'

Yes, you do

Not me. I pronounce it like the vowel sound in "neat."

I guess that's the difference between regional/varieties of English accents...

Hi Tam Sadek and Grammar Geek,

As far as I know, Grammar Geek's pronunciation is by far the most common one. Tam Sadek's pronunciation is typical of URP.

Englishuser

A very short "i" sound is unusual on the end of a word. On the other hand I think the long sound as in "neat" is a little too long for a final sound. Don't you think so, Barbara? You don't say "happee", do you?

Yeah, I do. Not happeeeeeee (like Whoopie!) where you really pull it out, but I don't wish people "Happih Birthday."

My daugther's name is Becky. When she was very tiny, she referred to herself as "key," taking the last part of her name the way she heard it said.

Remember, my pronunciation is American!

It's the same sound as the e in be

I think we're moving into the realm of allophones now, which isn't a bad place to go...

If we consider the word 'be', then there are at least two different pronunciations of 'be'.

The first being /bi/ as in "I'll be there at 8pm" versus the stronger form /bi?/ as in "The verb 'to be' which is much stronger when compared to the first one. However, if you were making a promise to

I think we probably all agreeeee about the final "y", it's just a question of interpretation.

I think the only word I know in AmE which has final lax i (as in bit) is Missouri, as pronounced by residents of that state.

CJ