Words starting with vowel "Y"?

Question

Are there words starting with the letter "y" pronounced as a vowel sound and can be proceded with "an"?

I'm tempted to answer an ypsilon but in English it is upsilon so it would only work if quoting. — Chenmunka, Jan 24 '18 at 13:30
*ympt* - to graft. But it's a verb, so no *an ympt*. — FumbleFingers, Jan 24 '18 at 13:31
If proper nouns count, there’s “Ypres,” which is the English (from the French) name for the Belgian city known officially as “Ieper” in Flemish. Under the “Museums and Galleries” section, this WikiTravel entry for Ypres describes “Kattenstoet” (The Festival of the Cats) as a commemoration of “an Ypres tradition from the Middle Ages in which cats were thrown from the belfry tower of the Cloth Hall to the town square below.” (watch if you dare!) — Papa Poule, Jan 24 '18 at 15:57
yperite,ylem... Probably any word starting with y followed by a consonant. Most of them are archaic or obsolete. In modern English, they are usually technical words. — ermanen, Jan 24 '18 at 16:28

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 24 '18 at 14:21

3

Some, but it's very uncommon. The chemical elements Yttrium (IT-ree-əm) and Ytterbium (ih-TUR-bee-əm) come to mind as examples, in the sense of "an yttrium atom".

answered Jan 24 '18 at 14:21

Lemma

1,327

to be strict, though, one will hardly say "an Yttrium" ))) – shabunc Jan 24 '18 at 15:56
to be strict, though, that wasn't required by the question :) – Lemma Jan 24 '18 at 15:58
If I remember correctly, those names derive from "Ytterby" so there's another proper noun. – user888379 Jan 24 '18 at 16:06

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 24 '18 at 15:51

Middle English allows us "yghe" (eye) and "yren" (iron). The first can easily be found as "an yghe" in old books. The second is mostly used as an adjective (e.g. "an yren smith"), however, "an yren bounde cofre" (an iron bound coffer) can be found too, which I believe designates "yren" as a noun. The OP simply asked for can be proceded with "an" so the designation as a noun isn't strictly a requirement, but I felt strangely compelled to try to meet that criterion.

However there are two animals that start with "y". The "yllatron", another name for the "agouara" (crab-eating raccoon!) and the "ynambu", another name for the "tinamou" (a South American bird, similar to a partridge).

So there are geniune modern English usages of "an yllatron" and "an ynambu".

Hence the answer to the question is "Yes".

Words starting with vowel "Y"?

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