There are other letters that have an ambivalent nature, such as the letter W, but we don't assign it a vowel status.
Note that vowels are pronounced with free-flowing breath: Aaaaaaaa; Eeeeeeee; Ooooooo; Iiiiiiiiiiiii and Uuuuuuu. Consonants, on the other hand, have a distinct beginning or end. They are sharply begun or sharply finished. For Example: B, D, K, P, S, T, X, and so on.
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There is a distinction in consonants, a harder edge than the soft and flowing vowels.
The vowels reveal the tender you, your love, caring, and vulnerability. Consonants reveal certain of your characteristics that, among other things, shield your more vulnerable side.
Your public personality, which is revealed by the consonants, is a fundamental aspect of who you are, but these characteristics tend to be those aspects that you willingly show the world.
The vowels are A, E, I, O, and U.
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Numerology considers all other letters to be consonants, except the letter Y.
When determining if the Y is a vowel or a consonant in your numerology chart, the basic rule is this:
When the letter serves as a vowel, and in fact sounds like one, it is a vowel. The same is true when the Y serves as the only vowel in the syllable.
Examples of both of these cases are such names as Lynn, Yvonne, Mary, Betty, Elly, and Bryan.
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However, if the Y does not provide a separate vowel sound, as when it is coupled with another vowel, it is considered a consonant.
In names such as Maloney or Murray, the Y is a consonant, because the vowel sound depends upon the long E in Maloney and the long A in Murray.
In general, the Y is a consonant when the syllable already has a vowel. Also, the Y is considered a consonant when it is used in place of the soft J sound, such as in the name Yolanda or Yoda.
In the names Bryan and Wyatt, the Y is a vowel, because it provides the only vowel sound for the first syllable of both names. For both of these names, the letter A is part of the second syllable, and therefore does not influence the nature of the Y.
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Here are the rules broken down more specifically:
- If the Y is the first letter of a name and it is followed by a consonant, it is vowel. (Yvonne, Ylsa, Yvette)
- If the Y is the last letter of a name and it comes after a consonant, it is vowel. (Barry, Tommy, Jimmy, etc.)
- If the Y is the first letter of a name and it is followed by another vowel, it is a consonant. (Yolanda, Yammy)
- If the Y is the last letter of a name and it comes after a vowel, it is a consonant. (Mulrooney, Mickey)
- If the Y is found between two consonants, it’s a vowel (Kyle, Tyson)
- If the Y is found between two vowels, it’s a consonant (Eyarta)
- If the Y is found between a consonant and a vowel, the default should be a vowel, but there are exceptions***
- If the Y is found between a vowel and a consonant, the default should be a consonant, but there are exceptions***
***There are exceptions but the above rules cover 99%.
More examples:
In Sydney, the first Y is a vowel, the second Y is a consonant.
In Billy, Sylvia, Missy, Kyle, Blythe, Sylvester, and Katy, the Y is a vowel
In Kay, Yeltsin, May, and Kuykendahl, the Y is a consonant.
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From Numerology Questions - a Dear Hans column:
Iama has a question about the letter Y and whether it makes a difference in vowel-consonant status based on how it's pronounced.
Dear Hans,
I had a name advisor reading done and read the part about the vibration of the vowels. Since the name might have a different pronunciation than it would appear in print, I wondered if that would make the reading less precise.
For example if the letter "I" is pronounced like a long "E," or if the "A" was pronounced long a or short. Or the "U" as long or short sound. I didn't know if you were only going by the letter or if the sound mattered.
My name is Iama .... Iama is pronounced ee' ah mah and ... is pronounced goo' nay.
Thank you for clarifying this for me.
Iama
Hello Iama,
Your question about vowels reveals some gray areas within the science of numerology as well as linguistics. (Keep in mind that in numerology, the designation of vowel or consonant is at times handled somewhat differently than when viewed from a linguistic angle.)
A letter is labeled a vowel for two possible reasons: 1) The letter is spoken without any restriction of the vocal cord, or 2) the letter produces the "peak" sound of a syllable. Some letters can be a vowel in one word or name, and a consonant in another.
For example, the letter "y" can be a vowel, because it fills both requirements; the peak sound in the syllable and its pronounced without any vocal restriction, such as in the word "syllable," (pun intended) making it a vowel, while other times, such as is the case with the word "yes," the letter "y" should be considered a consonant.
Similarly, there are consonants that when found in certain words sound like vowels but are considered consonants, such as the "w" in "weather" or "warm." In both cases, the pronunciation of the "w" does not cause any restriction of the vocal cord, and should therefore be judged a vowel, yet is not. All in all, especially when we include the phonetic versus phonological vowel sound, it can get pretty confusing.
In numerology, there are a few letters than can be either a vowel or a consonant, like the "y" and on rare occasions, the "w," although few numerologists consider the "w" a vowel under any circumstances. (Our Numerology Software has an option under Preferences that gives you the choice of designating a "y" or a "w" to be either a vowel or a consonant, or let the software decide based on certain long-accepted parameters.)
Which brings me to your name, Iama, where the first letter may seem to be more of a consonant than a vowel. However, that is not the case. In fact, both factors that determine a letter to be a vowel are in place. It has the typical vowel sound, because there is no restriction of the vocal cord, and it is also the peak sound of the syllable, as your first name is pronounced in two syllables, the first one consisting only of the letter "i."
Therefore, the Name Advisor came to the correct conclusion; the letter "i" in your name is a vowel.
There are occasions when arguments for both, vowel or consonant, apply, depending whether you look at it from a linguistic or numerology perspective. Like in the name Yolanda, where the first letter is pronounced without restricting the vocal cord (although it does not create a peak sound in the syllable, the letter "o" is responsible for that), making it a vowel. The most important factor to consider is whether or not it produces the peak sound. In fact, one of the rules is that if a "y" is found to be next to a vowel and that vowel is part of the same syllable, the letter "y" should be designated a consonant.
In yummy, one "y" is a vowel, the other a consonant. Can you tell which is which?
Hans Decoz
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See also:
Special Letters in Numerology
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