But you insert a "y" of sorts when you say "cute", don't you?
My question is about whether the pronunciation of the name of the alphabet letter U contains a consonant sound.
That wasn't your original question. You didn't ask how
cute is pronounced. You asked how the word
you and the letter
U are pronounced.
The letter E at the end of a word is usually silent. It usually means that the vowel before it should be pronounced like the alphabet letter.
Cute follows that usual practice. It ends with a silent E, so it's pronounced
kyoot, voicing the full letter U.
It's called a long vowel.
Yes, the Y is used as a consonant in the word
you. But there is no Y in the letter U. It's spelled with just one letter: U, pronounced
yoo, just like the word
you.
So what? REMEMBER: In English, spelling and pronunciation are
two different things!
Remember also that there are no pure or impure vowels. There are just vowels. Even the letter Y either is or isn't a vowel, depending on the word it's in. It is
never partly vowel and partly consonant. In
myself, it's a vowel. In
Monday, it's a consonant. Purely!
Hope that helps.