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.