There are plenty of words in this week's OVI extracts that make me think about the use of "i" and "y" in English. The first thing is that this difference is only
significant in writing, so it's purely a spelling issue, not in the sense of "hláskovanie" but of "pravopis".
In spoken English both "i" and "y" are usually pronounced short, like /i/ in million, injury, safety, Tin Mill, risk, industry - but sometimes they are both pronounced
long, like /áj/ in prototype /tájp/, tidiness /tájdines/, Vice /vájs/, idea /ájdyje/, hydraulic /hájdrolik/, compliance /kmplájens/. You have to learn pronunciation from listening, but spelling
from reading. Then you see that words normally ending with "y" change to "i" when they get longer: easy changes to easier, activity to activities, tidy to tidiness, comply to compliance. The
pronunciation doesn't change, only the written form, the spelling.
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