Lazarus wrote:

>>Here is a list of the vowels that could also be used as consonants in Old
>>Norse:
>>Á for both Y and itself
>>
>>Í for Y before A, E or O
>>
>>Ú for V or W before A or O
>>
>>Ó for both W and itself
>>
>>É for both Y and itself

Haukur replied:

>I have no idea what you are saying :-)
>Where can 'Á' stand for 'Y'?
>What sound do you mean with 'Y'?

Lazarus' answer to you confirms what I thought he meant, but I wasn't
sure before.

At least in America, English is not taught to natives with any basic
linguistic concepts - rather than being told that Y is a semi-vowel,
we're taught that the vowels are "A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y" -
and other concepts, such as the diphthong, are completely lacking.
So, rather than thinking of Y as a semi-vowel, really having the same
value as the Icelandic J, Americans usually think of Y as a consonant
which sometimes acts like a vowel, such as in the case of "rhythm".

I think Lazarus is trying to explain to other English-speakers, that
Á sounds like "YA" and É sounds like "YE", which in standard American
English would be considered to be a consonant and a vowel, not a
diphthong. However, to my understanding, this is not quite right - É
does sound like "YE" to us, but Á sounds more like "AW" - "ár"
doesn't sound how "yar" would be said in English, but how "awr" would
be said.

-Selv

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Selvårv Stigård
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