Y is the twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet. It is a vowel in some cases and a consonant in others. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seventh if including W) vowel letter of the English alphabet. In the English writing system, it mostly represents a vowel and seldom a consonant, and in other orthographies, it may represent a vowel or a consonant. The letter Y has four sounds: /j/, /i/, /aɪ/, and /ɪ/ .