Consonant /j/ versus null, 105 pairs     [cuecoo.html]

The /j/ sound is spelled with <y> when it occurs initially and is heard sometimes in initial <u> or <ew>.

As /j/ is fairly rare, only occurring in 3518 words in the dictionary, this was an easy list to work out manually. /j/ only occurs initially or in intial consonant clusters. The pairs I have collected below apply to RP, and do not take account of the variation that affects some US accents in which /ju/ may be replaced by /u/, as in a word like tune. The contrast is a known source of difficulty for Japanese speakers.

The density value is 3%. The list makes 66 semantic distinctions, a loading of 63%.

 	
adieu ado  
beauty booty  
collier collar
cue coo
  cues coos
  cuing cooing
  cued cooed  
cute coot
dew do
due do
dune Doone
ewe ooh
ewes ooze	  
feud food
  feuds foods
fuel fool
  fuels fools
  fuelling fooling
  fuelled fooled      
hew who
hews whose  
hue who		 
hues whose
Hugh who      
knew gnu	
lute loot
mew moo
  mews moos
mule moule
  mules moules
muse moos
mute moot
  mutes moots      
new gnu
news gnus
overdue overdo 
pew pooh
  pews poohs
pewter Pooter
pule pool
  pules pools
  puling pooling
pure poor
  purely poorly
  purer poorer   
Q coo
  Q's coos
queue coo
  queues coos
  queuing cooing
  queued cooed  
sue Sue  
tutor tooter
U ooh		 
undue undo
U's ooze
use ooze
  used oozed
  using oozing
  uses oozes
yah are
yaks axe
yam am
yank ankh
  yanks ankhs
yapped apt
yaps apse
Yate ate
yaw awe
  yaws awes		  
  yawed awed
yaw or
yaw ore	 
  yaws ores
yawl awl
  yawls awls
yawning awning
yea A
year err
  years errs
yearn earn
  yearns earns    
  yearned earned
  yearning eraning  
yearn urn
  yearns urns      
yeast east
yell ell
  yells ells
yet ate
yield eeled
yew ooh
yews ooze
yoke oak
  yokes oaks   
  yoked oaked
  yoking oaking
yolk oak
  yolks oaks
you ooh
your awe
  yours awes
your or
your ore    
  yours ores     

John Higgins, Shaftesbury, December 2010
updated Chiang Mai, 2024