abysmal

abyss

acronym

alyssum

analytic

antonym

apocalypse

Benadryl

calypso

calyx

cataclysm

catalyst

crypt

cryptic

crystal

cygnet

cymbal

cynic

cyst

Dylan

dynasty

dyslexia

dyspeptic

Egypt

erythrocyte

Flynn

gym

gyp

gypsy (or gipsy)

krypton

larynx

lymph

Lyn

lynch

lynx

mystery

mystic

myth

pygmy

pyramid

Styx

sycamore

synchronise

Sydney

Syllable

symbol

symmetry

symptom

sync

syndrome

synod

synonym

synthetic

Syria

syringe

syrup

system

tryst

typical

9 responses to “y as in gym”

  1. Gayle says:

    Thank you. I needed these words in a hurry and this list was perfect!

  2. Doaa says:

    I know that middle y has 2 sounds:
    Y says short i in a closed syllable as in
    Mystery, gym, cylinder, syrup, gym,…
    Y says long i in an open syllable as in
    Cycle, python, rhyme, analyse
    But what about the word bicycle?
    Bi, Cy, cle here it has short i in an open syllable
    Are there other words with middle y in open syllable with a short i sound ?

    • Janine Galiyano says:

      My guess is that it is an irregular word which means does not follow the generalization y says long i in open syllable, therefore, it is irregular. If doing Ortin Gillingham program bicycle and cycle would be put on a RAN sheet for the student.

  3. Doaa says:

    Plz How to differentiat between writing the long i in pilot & python both are in open syllables?
    What about my previous question plz♥️♥️

  4. Linda says:

    DOAA, okay this is 2 years later but for the word bicycle.
    Say “cycle” and you clearly hear the long /i/ sound.
    When we add the prefix bi-, the ‘bi’ becomes the stressed (louder) syllable and the ‘cy’ becomes unstressed (not as loud) and therefore pronounced as a schwa. It is not irregular, the vowel is “schwaed” or pronounced lazily as happens to so many words when we add prefixes and suffixes.

    • alison says:

      That’s probably true in your accent, but I speak General Australian English, and the Macquarie Dictionary’s pronunciation of ‘bicycle’ is written in phonetic script as /ˈbaɪsɪkəl/, with the second vowel ‘short’ /i/ as in ‘hit’,and the word rhyming with ‘icicle’. ‘Tricycle’ is also pronounced /ˈtraɪsɪkəl/ in my accent, so I think of it as the kind of vowel change that often happens when base words get suffixes e.g. child-children, ride-ridden, volcano-volcanic, please-pleasant, sole-solitude, study-student, south-southern. The linguistics term for it is vowel laxing, I wish I had time to learn more about it. Hope that makes sense, all the best, Alison

  5. Sandie says:

    Re: bicycle …

    Syllables are primarily units of pronunciation (not print) and pronunciations vary.

    Dictionary.com lists these American English pronunciations:
    / ˈbaɪ sɪ kəl/
    / ˈbaɪ ˌsɪk əl/
    / ˈbaɪ ˌsaɪ kəl/
    …and this British English pronunciation: / ˈbaɪsɪkəl /

    The word bycycle is a good example of why the syllable types scheme is less helpful for multisyllable words.

    Cheers, Sandie

    • alison says:

      Hi Sandie, that’s right and I’m upfront about the fact that my lists are written in my accent, General Australian English. In the Macquarie Dictionary, which I use as a reference point for pronunciation for these lists, only a single pronunciation of ‘bicycle’ is given: /baɪsɪkəl/. I agree that syllable types (as per OG) are not helpful and I don’t teach them. All the best, Alison.

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