| This is a great idea for a quiz ... but it's been done before ... twice, in fact. I'm glad that the quiz maker left off (most) cases in which 'y' functions as a vowel. My guess is that Egypt was a slip-up and will be removed once the quiz maker notices these comments (right penguinman95??). I think Seychelles should be taken off too, but it's a close call. The "ey" acts like a diphthong, which means the "y" acts like a vowel. Myanmar has two common (western) pronunciations: one where the "y" sounds like the "y" in "youth" (the 2-syllable Myanmar) and one where the "y" sounds like the "ee" in "meet" (the 3-syllable Myanmar). In the latter case, it's definitely a vowel; in the former, not so much. Interestingly, the "w" in Rwanda has a similar double role. In one pronunciation (ruh-WAHN-duh) the "w" is consonant-like; in the other (roo-AHN-duh) the "w" is more vowel-like. I imagine a professional linguist could give a more definitive answer. |
U.S. States 
Countries of Africa 
Countries of Asia
