Sounds of letters I and Y
Let's see what sounds we can get from the vowels I and Y in a stressed syllable. Don't forget to listen to the examples.
1) /ɪ/
The short i is characteristic for one-syllable words that end with a consonant (like "bit"). However, there are other words with i and y that have the same pronunciation.
begin, dinner, listen, big, fifty, picture, sit, wing, think
crystal, lynx, physics, syllable, system, typical
2) /aɪ/
This long sound almost always occurs in the pattern I(Y)_consonant_E and in also in igh.
drive, fine, life, price, smile, write, style, type, Skype
bright, fight, light, sigh, thigh
die, lie, tie, dye, child, find, pint, wild
by, cry, my, try, why
3) /ɜː/
The pattern I_R_consonant is the hint to use this long sound.
bird, birth, circle, dirt, girl, shirt, third, thirsty, virtue
4) /ɪː/
Ie always has a long, not a short ɪ sound, so do some other words with stressed i.
kilo, pizza, machine, suite, magazine, police, ski, kiwi
achieve, believe, chief, field, piece