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I had to call to make an appointment with someone in southern Spain (Andalusia) and all was going pretty well (with my practiced script as back-up) until I had to spell out my email address — my last name — which is rather long and includes the letter Y. I tried to pronounce the Y as in “ye,” but she didn’t understand me so I tried “i griega”. Still, confusion. I ended up sending them an email for her to reply back to me.
What is the best way to pronounce Y when spelling, please? Also, it would be helpful to know of country/regional variations for me to keep in mind. TIA.
The short answer is: there is no single pronunciation for the letter y.
The longer one is, it varies regionally and by context.
It can be pronounced like a softer version of the "j" sound in "jet" in words like yegua, yoyo, and like the i sound in "bin" in words like hoy, maya.
Then, in some regions of South America (mainly Argentina), it is pronounced like a mixture of "j" and "sh".
In European Spanish the letter "y" is not pronounced like the english letter "j" , although with some Latin American accents it sounds more like the French pronunciation of "j" in "je suis". From my experience Spanish speakers from Spain find it very difficult to pronounce the "j" sound in the way English speakers do when saying jet, jeans or bridge.
The "y" sound is made as if you were pronouncing it in English (eg. in the word yurt), but you start with your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, a little behind your front teeth. Try saying "and you" quickly; the "dyuh" sound – with an almost silent "d" at the beginning – is what you're looking for.