Y

See also: y, Ɏ, ¥, 丫, ㄚ, and Appendix:Variations of "y"

Y U+0059, Y LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y ← X [U+0058] Basic Latin Z → [U+005A]

Ｙ U+FF39, Ｙ FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Y ← Ｘ [U+FF38] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms Ｚ → [U+FF3A]

Translingual

Etymology

A late borrowing from the Ancient Greek letter Υ (U, “ypsilon”), first used to write Greek loanwords in Latin, derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (w, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏲.

Letter

Y (lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter Y):  Ýý  Ỳỳ  Ŷŷ  ẙ  Ÿÿ  Ỹỹ  Ẏẏ  Ȳȳ  Ỷỷ  Ỵỵ  Ɏɏ  Ƴƴ  ʏ  Ｙｙ  Ꝡꝡ

Symbol

Y

1. (chemistry) Symbol for yttrium
2. (metrology) Symbol for prefix yotta-
3. (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for any pyrimidine
4. (biochemistry) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for tyrosine
5. (travel, aviation) The reservation booking designator for the highest level of economy air fare.
6. (mathematics, computer science) A Fixed-point combinator; especially Haskell Curry's combinator defined as λ f.(λ x.f (x x)) (λx.f (x x))

Gallery

• Letter styles
• 
  Capital and lowercase versions of Y, in normal and italic type
• 
  Uppercase and lowercase Y in Fraktur

See also

Other representations of Y:

NATO phonetic: Yankee Morse code: –·–– Braille: ⠽ ASL Manual: Y

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

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English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waɪ/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: wye, why (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y, plural Ys or Y's)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wye and written in the Latin script.
2. Used for the Greek letter Υ (Y, “upsilon”).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letter; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

Y (plural Ys)

1. A figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y.
2. A Y-shaped object, such as a railroad fork or a support for a telescope; a wye, a bifurcation.
3. (lepidopterology) A moth of the genus Plusia, having markings resembling the letter Y.

Etymology 2

Abbreviation by shortening.

Interjection

Y

1. Abbreviation of yes.

Noun

Y (plural Ys)

1. Abbreviation of year. (In some contexts as YY or YYYY to indicate only the last 2-digits or all 4-digits.)

Proper noun

the Y

1. (Canada, US) Short for the YMCA or YWCA.
   • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections

     He had sat next to Cindy returning from the Y and smelled the chlorine on her. A sodden Band-Aid had clung by a few lingering bits of stickum to her knee.

Noun

Y (plural Ys)

1. (Canada, US, informal) A particular facility run by the YMCA/YWCA.
   • a. 1969, John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, Penguin, published 1981, →ISBN:

     Of course, the audience up here at the Bronx “Y” will probably be a little parochial, but if I make good in the lecture, I might one day end up speaking down at the Lex. Ave. “Y” where great thinkers like Norman Mailer and Seymour Krim are always airing their views.

   • 2021 May 17, Jane E. Brody, “A Birthday Milestone: Turning 80!”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     When a 50ish woman at my Y learned that I was about to turn 80, she exclaimed, “80 is the new 60, and you set a great example for the rest of us!”

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Afar

Letter

Y

1. The twenty-second and final letter in the Afar alphabet.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, T t, S s, E e, C c, K k, X x, I i, D d, Q q, R r, F f, G g, O o, L l, M m, N n, U u, W w, H h, Y y

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Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /əɪ̯/

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Noun

Y (plural Y's, diminutive Y'tjie)

1. Y

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Azerbaijani

Letter

Y upper case (lower case y)

1. The thirty-first letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) hərf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, X x, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, Q q, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i ɡreko/, [i ɣ̞re̞.ko̞]

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Basque alphabet, called i greko and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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Chinese

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wài (wai⁴)

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄞˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wai¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): u-ai

  (Teochew, Peng'im): uai⁵

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹ua-i

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wài
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wài
    • Wade–Giles: wai⁴
    • Yale: wài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: way
    • Palladius: вай (vaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /waɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wai¹
    • Yale: wāi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: wei¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɐi̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: u-ai
    • Tâi-lô: u-ai
    • Phofsit Daibuun: u'ay
    • IPA (Xiamen): /u⁴⁴⁻²² ai⁴⁴/

Note: Often realised as one syllable.

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: uai⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: uâi
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /uai⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹ua-i
    • MiniDict: ua^平 i
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹ua-i
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ua⁵⁵ i²¹/

Note:

• Often realised as one syllable;
• 1ua often pronounced as 1hhua.

Letter

Y

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Latin alphabet.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛɪ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

Y (capital, lowercase y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See also

• Previous letter: X
• Next letter: Z

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Finnish

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fourth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called yy and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

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German

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈʏpsilɔn/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (phoneme)
  • In Greek words generally /ʏ/, /yː/, but in unstressed syllables alternatively /i/ (e.g. in poly-).
  • In other borrowings, e.g. from English, /j/, /ɪ/, /iː/, /aɪ̯/, etc.
  • Natively only in proper nouns, mostly in -ay-, -ey-, both pronounced /aɪ̯/.

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the German alphabet.

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Hungarian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈi]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈipsilon]

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. A letter of the extended Hungarian alphabet, called ipszilon and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	Y	Y-ok
accusative	Y-t	Y-okat
dative	Y-nak	Y-oknak
instrumental	Y-nal	Y-okkal
causal-final	Y-ért	Y-okért
translative	Y-ná	Y-okká
terminative	Y-ig	Y-okig
essive-formal	Y-ként	Y-okként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Y-ban	Y-okban
superessive	Y-on	Y-okon
adessive	Y-nál	Y-oknál
illative	Y-ba	Y-okba
sublative	Y-ra	Y-okra
allative	Y-hoz	Y-okhoz
elative	Y-ból	Y-okból
delative	Y-ról	Y-okról
ablative	Y-tól	Y-októl
non-attributive possessive - singular	Y-é	Y-oké
non-attributive possessive - plural	Y-éi	Y-okéi

Possessive forms of Y
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Y-om	Y-aim, Y-jaim
2nd person sing.	Y-od	Y-aid, Y-jaid
3rd person sing.	Y-a, Y-ja	Y-ai, Y-jai
1st person plural	Y-unk	Y-aink, Y-jaink
2nd person plural	Y-otok	Y-aitok, Y-jaitok
3rd person plural	Y-uk, Y-juk	Y-aik, Y-jaik

Derived terms

• Y-kromoszóma

See also

• (Latin-script letters) betű; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Cs cs, D d, Dz dz, Dzs dzs, E e, É é, F f, G g, Gy gy, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, Ly ly, M m, N n, Ny ny, O o, Ó ó, Ö ö, Ő ő, P p, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, Z z, Zs zs. Only in the extended alphabet: Q q W w X x Y y. Commonly used: ch. Also defined: à ë. In surnames (selection): ä aa cz ds eé eö ew oe oó th ts ÿ.

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Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

Y (lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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Italian

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /i‿ɡˈɡrɛ.ka/, /i‿ɡˈɡrɛ.ko/, /ˈi.psi.lon/
  • Rhymes: -ipsilon
• (phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /j/, /i/ (varies depending on the loanword)

Letter

Y f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case y)

1. the twenty-fifth letter of the Latin alphabet, called ipsilon, i greco or i greca in Italian

Usage notes

• The letter Y is not considered part of the Italian alphabet. It is found mainly in loanwords.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z
• Italian alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [wai̯]
• IPA^(key): [j]

Letter

Y

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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Nupe

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) banki; A a (Á á, À à), B b, C c, D d, Dz dz, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì), J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, Ts ts, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

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Polish

Pronunciation

• Template:pl-IPA

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Polish alphabet, called y or igrek and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, Ę ę, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ó ó, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u (V v), W w (X x), Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

Further reading

• Y in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Y in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à,  â, àã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

Y m (plural Ys)

1. fork (area where something forks)

   Synonyms: forquilha, bifurcação, ramificação

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Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j/, /i/

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The thirtieth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called igrec or i grec and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ă ă,  â, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Πî, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Ș ș, T t, Ț ț, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

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Saanich

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j/, /jʼ/

Letter

Y

1. The thirty-seventh letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A, Á, Ⱥ, B, C, Ć, Ȼ, D, E, H, I, Í, J, K, Ꝁ, Ꝃ, ₭, Ḵ, Ḱ, L, Ƚ, M, N, Ṉ, O, P, Q, S, Ś, T, Ⱦ, Ṯ, Ŧ, U, W, W̱, X, X̱, Y, Z, s, ¸

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Somali

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʝ/, /ɪ̯/, /i̯/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ʝæ/

Letter

Y upper case (lower case y)

1. The twenty-second letter of the Somali alphabet, called ya and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

1. The twenty-second letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by H and followed by A.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) ʼ, B b, T t, J j, X x, Kh kh, D d, R r, S s, Sh sh, Dh dh, C c, G g, F f, Q q, K k, L l, M m, N n, W w, H h, Y y, A a, E e, I i, O o, U u

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Spanish

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. the 26th letter of the Spanish alphabet

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Turkish

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ye and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) harf; A a ( â), B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, I ı, İ i (Πî), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u (Û û), Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔi˧˧ zaːj˨˩], [ʔi˧˧ ɣəː˨˩ zɛt̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧ jaːj˦˩], [ʔɪj˧˧ ɣəː˦˩ ʐɛt̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧ jaːj˨˩], [ʔɪj˧˧ ɣəː˨˩ ɹɛk̚˦˥]
• Phonetic spelling: i dài, i gờ rét

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called i dài or i gờ-rét and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, àã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ),  â (Ầ ầ, Ẩ ẩ, Ẫ ẫ, Ấ ấ, Ậ ậ), B b, C c (Ch ch), D d, Đ đ, E e (È è, Ẻ ẻ, Ẽ ẽ, É é, Ẹ ẹ), Ê ê (Ề ề, Ể ể, Ễ ễ, Ế ế, Ệ ệ), G g (Gh gh, Gi gi), H h, I i (Ì ì, Ỉ ỉ, Ĩ ĩ, Í í, Ị ị), K k (Kh kh), L l, M m, N n (Ng ng, Ngh ngh, Nh nh), O o (Ò ò, Ỏ ỏ, Õ õ, Ó ó, Ọ ọ), Ô ô (Ồ ồ, Ổ ổ, Ỗ ỗ, Ố ố, Ộ ộ), Ơ ơ (Ờ ờ, Ở ở, Ỡ ỡ, Ớ ớ, Ợ ợ), P p (Ph ph), Q q (Qu qu), R r, S s, T t (Th th, Tr tr), U u (Ù ù, Ủ ủ, Ũ ũ, Ú ú, Ụ ụ), Ư ư (Ừ ừ, Ử ử, Ữ ữ, Ứ ứ, Ự ự), V v, X x, Y y (Ỳ ỳ, Ỷ ỷ, Ỹ ỹ, Ý ý, Ỵ ỵ)

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/, /əː/

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called e and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by W.

Mutation

• Y cannot be mutated but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word ysgol (“school; ladder”):

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ysgol	unchanged	unchanged	hysgol
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) llythyren; A a (Á á, À à,  â, Ä ä), B b, C c, Ch ch, D d, Dd dd, E e (É é, È è, Ê ê, Ë ë), F f, Ff ff, G g, Ng ng, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, Ï ï), J j, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ô ô, Ö ö), P p, Ph ph, R r, Rh rh, S s, T t, Th th, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, Ü ü), W w (Ẃ ẃ, Ẁ ẁ, Ŵ ŵ, Ẅ ẅ), Y y (Ý ý, Ỳ ỳ, Ŷ ŷ, Ÿ ÿ)

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “Y”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

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Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jí/

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called yí and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lẹ́tà; A a (Á á, À à, Ā ā), B b, D d, E e (É é, È è, Ē ē), Ẹ ẹ (Ẹ́ ẹ́, Ẹ̀ ẹ̀, Ẹ̄ ẹ̄), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Ī ī), J j, K k, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ō ō), Ọ ọ (Ọ́ ọ́, Ọ̀ ọ̀, Ọ̄ ọ̄), P p, R r, S s, Ṣ ṣ, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Ū ū), W w, Y y
• (Benin) (Latin-script letters) lɛ́tà; A a, B b, D d, E e, Ɛ ɛ, F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ɔ ɔ, P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, U u, W w, Y y

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Zulu

Letter

Y (upper case, lower case y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z