Y Y, y, the 25th letter of the English al- phabet, in modern English, both a con- sonant and a vowel. It is taken from the Latin, into which language it was adopted from the Greek (v) or upsilon. It sometimes represents an Anglo-Saxon character which is supposed to have a sound resembling that of the French u or German ii. At the beginning of syllables, and when followed by a vowel y is a palatal consonant, being formed by bringing the middle of the tongue in contact with the palate, nearly in the position to which the g hard brings it. Hence, the Anglo-Saxon hard g has often been soft- ened to y, as in day = Anglo-Saxon dagt may=Anglo-Saxon mag, etc. In words of Romance origin y frequently repre- sents : (1) French -ie= Latin -ia, as in bar- ony, company, copy, jolly, family, mem- ory, victory, etc. (2) Latin -ium, as augury, horology, remedy, study, etc. (3) Latin -atus, as attorney, deputy, ally, quarry. (4) French -if; Latin -ivus, as hasty, ( = 01d French Imstif), jolly ( = Middle English jolif; Old French joli, fem. jolive), testy, etc. (5) Many words ending in y have come through Latin nouns in -ia (^French -ie), from Greek -ia, -eia, as analogy, apology, blasphemy, philosophy, etc. (6) As an adjective termination, y gen-^ erally represents the Anglo-Saxon -ig, as in stony=Anglo-Saxon stdnig, hungry = Anglo-Saxon hungrig. So also in some nouns it represents Anglo-Saxon -ig, as in honey=Anglo-Saxon hunig. In the suffix, -ly,_it is both an adjectival and an adverbial suffix, and represents the Anglo-Saxon -ic, -ice, or -iche, as godly= Anglo-Saxon godlic, friendly = Anglo- Saxon freondlic, hardly = Anglo-Saxon heardlice. In nouns ending in -ty, this ending represents the French -te, Latin rrtatem (nominative- tas), as in vanity ( = French vanite, Latin vanitatem, accus. of vanitatus), calamity, etc. In the middle, and at the end of words, y is a vowel, and is precisely the same as i. When accented it is pronounced as i long, as in de-fy, dy'ing, etc., and when unaccented as i short, as in glory, jol-ly, cit-y, etc. Y is sometimes called the Pythagorean letter, from its Greek orig- inal in its form of three limbs repre- senting the sacred triad formed by the duad proceeding from the monad. In chemistry, Y is the symbol of yttrium. As a numeral, it stands for 150, and with a dash over it for 150,000. Y- is a common prefix in Middle English words, and represents the Anglo-Saxon -e or ge-, as in yclept, yclad. It is the same as ge-. YACHT (yat), a decked pleasure ves- sel; a light and elegantly fitted-up ves- sel, used either for racing or for pleas- ure trips, or as an official or state vessel to convey royal personages or government officials from place to place. The rigs are various, and many pleasure yachts now have steam power as an accessory, or for use during calms. Rac- ing yachts are built with very fine lines, enormous spars and sails, and have the hull deeply ballasted, thus sacrificing everything to speed. Yachts appear to have been used by the Dutch in the 16th century, and the English probably bor- rowed the idea from that nation. ^ In 1604 such a vessel was built for Prince Henry of Whales and in 1660 and sub- sequently several were built for Charles II. The use of steam has been a great factor in the increase of interest in pri- vate yachts. The first recorded yacht race was one in which a vessel of Charles II. defeated a Dutch racer and one belonging to the Duke of York. The course was from Greenwich to Gravesend and back, and the stake 100 guineas ($500). The oldest British yacht club was formed at Cork, Ireland, and dates back at least to 1720. In 1812 the Royal Yacht Club of Eng- 466
