Pronunciation — Combinations of vowel plus y and w — Part 2:   combinations that English treats as single units

Starts with: a e i o u  Ends with:     –y ay ey iy y oy uy  –w aw       ow uw

ey iy ow uw

Combinations that include y or w automatically as part of the English vowel — we perceive these as single units in English

These combinations can be tricky, since English trains us to hear them as a single unit: traditionally called "long A," "long E," "long O" and "long U."
With ey, for example, speakers of English tend to hear the "long A" of English words like "day" and "date" rather than the sequence e + y — unless you know to listen for it.
There is a difference between these Samala words with e with and without the y at the end.
	he	"yes"
	wey	"to wane, disappear"
	swey ha away	"the moon is waning"
	pepe	"older sibling"
	spey	"flower"			spey

Listen to the difference in the sounds at the end of these pairs of words. They contrast the vowels  e, i, o and u with and without  y or w at the end.
The  y and w at the end have a slightly whispered quality — at least if no vowel follows — that makes them easier to hear.
	he and wey	"yes" "to wane, disappear"	mimi	piliy
	mimi and piliy	"finger" "to be sticky"
	nono and ow	"grandfather on mother's side" and "tobacco"	nono
	ku and uw	"person" "to eat, consume"
				ku	uw

Examples

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Here are more words with these combinations of  e, i, o and u plus  y or w.
ey	pey	"to stick to"
	wey	"to wane, disappear"
	ipxey	"to add to, put in with, mix in with"
iy	miy	"to twist string, cord"		pey
	piliy	"to be sticky"			piliy
ow	mow	"carrizo cane sugar"
	ow	"tobacco"
	owow	"to be white"		owow
uw	uw	"to eat"			uw
	muhuw	"beach"
	s-ulkuw	"it's nighttime"
				muhuw	sulkuw

Here are these same combinations with the y or w glottalized. The whispered quality is more noticeable after the glottal stop — at least when no vowel follows.
ey	spey	"flower, blossom"
	mutey	"near, close by"	kiy
iy	kiy	"hook"
ow	tow	"smoke"		spey	tow
	slow	"eagle"
uw	kuyuw	"right hand, right"
	kuw	"live oak"
				slow	kuyuw

Pronunciation tip for vowels with y and w

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These combinations of vowel plus y and w ordinarily occur only at the ends of words.
Sometimes it's easier to learn to pronounce these combinations when they're followed by another word starting with a vowel:
This happens when the next word is the article ha with the h deleted, and of course the h of ha drops out in normal speech unless it comes after a vowel
So take the sequence ey in
	swey ha away	"the moon is waning"
When the h of ha drops out — because it comes after the consonant  y in swey — you actually hear:
	swe   ya   a   way
It's the same with
	s–uw ha ma	s–u   wa   ma	"the rabbit is eating"
	s–owow ha spey	so  wo  was  pey	"the flower is white"

Pitfalls for vowels with y and w

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It's important to be aware of three combinations where English sometimes uses the same letters with a different pronunciation. English spelling is inconsistent here:

ay is not English "day"		"day" is Samala  ey
ey is not English "key" or "Meyer"		"key" is Samala  iy
ow is not English "cow"		"Meyer" is Samala  ay
		"cow" is Samala  aw
Just to keep you on your toes, English spelling sometimes matches:
"they" is Samala  ey
"show" is Samala  ow

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