| @nickski: I did not decide what is a vowel and what is not. In 'Kyrgyzstan', 'y' is a vowel, most easily noted by the fact that it is the only possible vowel choice in both the first two syllables. It's not that anyone can choose whether to consider 'y' a vowel or not; it's just that 'y' serves sometimes as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant. In a word like 'Yemen,' 'e' is a vowel in the first syllable thus 'y' does not have to serve as one. I hope that helps clear things up! |