Ý

In Icelandic, Ý is the 29th letter of the alphabet, between Y and Þ. It is read as /i/ (short) or /iː/ (long).^[1]

In Turkmen, Ý represents the consonant /j/, as opposed to Y, which represents the vowel sound /ɯ/.^[2]

In Kazakh, Ý was suggested as a letter for the voiced labio-velar approximant [w] (as well as the diphthongs /ʊw/ and /ʉw/); the corresponding Cyrillic letter is У. The 2021 revision proposed the letter U, with the letter U with a macron (Ū) for the U sound in Kazakh.

In the Czech and Slovak languages it represents a long form of the vowel y and cannot occur in initial position. It is pronounced /iː/, the same as Í; ý used to represent a distinct sound until it merged with the sound of í by the 15th century. Today it is used to distinguish homophones, such as vít (to weave) and výt (to howl) in Czech.^[3][4]

In the Portuguese Language, the letter was used until 1911 in Portugal and 1947 in Brazil. Ý was used in words like: Proparoxýtona, Caýdos and Fýgo. Ý was later substituted by Í or Ì. Ý was used in words originating from the Greek Language.

In romanizations of the Russian language, Ý is used for Ы́, the letter Ы with a diacritic marking stress.

In Vietnamese, Ý means "Italy". The word is a shortened form of Ý Đại Lợi, which comes from Chinese 義大利 (Yìdàlì in Mandarin, a phonetic rendering of the country's name).

Ý does not exist in Modern Spanish, but the letter has persisted in proper names like Aýna, a municipality in Albacete, Spain, and Baý, a municipality in Laguna, Philippines, where it is pronounced as [i].^[5] Ý was used in Early Modern Spanish, and it can be observed by some archaic spellings such as the name Ýñigo^[5] for Inigo or by the former spelling ýbamos for "íbamos" in older 16th–18th century Spanish writings.