English: How to Pronounce the Y [j] consonant: American Accent

The Y consonant sound. To make this sound, the mid/front part of the tongue raises and

presses against the roof of the mouth about here. The tip of the tongue comes down and

lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth, yy, yy, while the throat closes off to give

the Y sound that yy, yy quality. Here's a photo of the Y consonant sound on the right

compared with the mouth at rest. And here parts of the mouth are drawn in. The soft

palate is raised on this sound. The tongue stretches towards the roof of the mouth. Here

it is not shown touching the roof of the mouth because there is a passage down the middle

of the tongue that does not touch the roof of the mouth. This is where the sound travels.

The sides of the top of the tongue do press against the roof of the mouth. Sample words:

yeah, yard, yield, yogurt. Sample sentence: Did you buy the yellow kayak yesterday? Now

you will see this sentence up close and in slow motion, both straight on and from an

angle, so you can really study how the mouth moves when making this sound. Did, the tongue

tip up and the teeth closed for the D. And now the tongue goes straight into the Y here,

so the tongue is pressed against the roof of the mouth, 'oo' as in 'boo' sound, did

you. Lips together for the B, buy, with the 'ai' as in 'buy' diphthong. The, tongue through

the teeth. Yellow, mid-front part of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth. Tongue through

the teeth for the L. Kayak, now it's spelled with a Y, but it's actually the 'ai' as in

'buy' diphthong, so the tongue doesn't raise quite high enough to press the roof of the

mouth. Yesterday, teeth together to make the S, the R consonant sound, day. Did. Tongue

tip up to the roof of the mouth and the teeth closed for the D sound. You, now here the

tongue is pressing the roof of the mouth and the lips are making the 'oo' as in 'boo'.

Lips together for the B, buy, with the 'ai' as in 'buy' diphthong. The, tongue tip through

the teeth, Yellow, tongue front-mid pressing against the roof of the mouth and the tongue

tip through for the L. Kayak, spelled with a Y but it is the 'ai' as in 'buy' diphthong,

-yak, and the tongue raises for the Y in yesterday. Lips form the R shape, yester-day. Tongue

tip up for the D and back down for the 'ay' as in 'say' diphthong. That's it, and thanks

so much for using Rachel's English.