In these examples, exactly the same as 'ü'

that is Ü, a U with an umlaut

Is it different in other words?

Yes, it is. For example in hydro- (hydrodanamic, hydrochlorid, etc. = Wortelement mit der Bedeutung 'Wasser')Dann wird es wie 'ai' ausgesprochen. Ebenso hyper- (hypercorrect, hypercritical, etc.) = Wortelement mit der Bedeutung 'höher, größer, überdimensional. Aber z.B. hypnosis - wie bei physics mit 'i' ausgesprochen. (Sorry, aber nicht wie 'ü' - or am I mistaken?)

The question concerned the pronunciation of the German 'y', and that is 'ü', very similar for instance to the English pronunciation of 'hymn'.

Reinhard: yes, like ü (u-umlaut), but NOT like "hymn" which is pronounced identically to "him" in [US] English. I doubt the Brits would disagree here, as the sound of u-umlaut does not exist in English. = = = = = = The French -u- (rue) is very similar, and a French teacher once gave this explanation targeted for native English speakers: round your lips as if you were going to pronounce a long oo sound, as in 'moon'--and without changing the position of your lips, try to say a long ee, as in 'feet'. The sound that comes out is very close to u-umlaut.

Uli, Widerspruch, bitte:
Auch in hydro- hyper- hypo- hypno- krypto- klingt bei uns das 'y' wie 'ü'. Die Lautung 'ai' für 'y' höre ich nur dort, wo aus dem Englischen etwas zu uns kommt wie psychodelic, typewriter, hypertext

Hüpnose, Hüdraulik, Hüdrochlorid, hüperaktiv, so sagt man bei uns. Ich hab noch keinen Deutschen ein ai für ein y sprechen hören, außer in definitiv englischen Wörtern wie hype oder hypertext.
For the sound of an "ü", say "Grüß Gott" to any German you meet, preferably from the south of Germany (at this point it doesn't really matter whether you pronounce the ü right), and with a little bit of luck he will answer "Grüß Gott" as well and there you have it.

"Y" may, of course, be also used as a consonant (the same as in English) in words like Yacht or Yoga.

That's correct, I forgot about that. Y as consonant sounds like German "J". Compare Yacht spoken (and in the new form also written) like Jacht, but Yttrium spoken as Üttrium, depending on the usage of y.

Hah -- this is my favourite -- what about Libyien, pronounced "Lübien"?

I suppuse there is a difference in pronunciation
depending wheter Y is followed by a vocal or a
consonant: in the former case it sounds like 'ü',
in the latter like 'j'. It's similar in English,
too (AFAIK): 'yacht' is not pronounced 'aiacht'
as it would be if 'y' was generally pronounced
like in 'hydro-'...

... of course it's vice versa: sounds like 'ü'
in front of a consonant, and like 'j' in front of a
vocal...

@ Ghol: The country's name is Libyen (only one 'i'),
and its correct pronunciation is 'libjen'. As a matter
of fact, it is most commonly misspelled as 'lübien',
I don't know why. Maybe because most people always
forget where to put the 'y': if it was in place
of the first 'i' it was followed by a consonant which
would require an 'ü'.

Ok, the y in Libyen (without second i) is used as a consonant, you can see that because it's followed by a vocal and y is not used for "Doppellaute" such as ei,ie etc. . Therefore it's spelt as "j".
Why the i is spelt "ü" is above my head - perhaps we say Lübien for Libyen because Libjen sounds a bit stupid and our subconscious mind changes it to the better - where's Mr. Freud?

@ K.S.: Be careful with 'Grüss Gott'. If you encounter
a 'real' Bavarian, (s)he will answer something that
sounds like 'Grias God', and this will lead you somehwere else...
If this Bavarian is able to pronounce 'Hypothese'
correctly depends on his ability to speak correct
Hochdeutsch. If (s)he speaks more Bavarian, it will
sound like 'Hipotes'.

"Libyen" is commonly (mis-)pronounced as "Lübien" because there's also the adjective "lübisch" in German (from "Lübeck", of course).

I see. And this is leading us where?

As for the "real" Bavarian (I in this case didn't have in mind): To meet one of those inside Bavaria the chances are about 1:3. To meet one outside Bavaria or even outside Germany the chances are quite low compared to those meeting a common "Grüß Gott"-German.

Outside of Bavaria, it's far more likely to meet a "Wenn ich ihn denn treffe" German than a "Grüß Gott" German.

Yes, an extra "i" slipped in somehow. Well, since I have been *corrected* for pronouncing the word as "Libjen", I have come to the conclusion that "Lübien" must be a totally standard mispronunciation. ---> In other words, so many people pronounce it "Lübien", it must class as an alternative dialect pronuciation, surely just as valid as each of der/die/das Butter....

I really believe the pronunciation "Lübien" for Libyen stems from the fact that nearly no German (except translators) can remember its correct spelling. Everyone has "Lybien" in mind because this would be much much more natural in German, and promptly you pronounce it as you would instinctively like to write it. However in writing, more people will be able to avoid the mistake, having already been punished for the error some 100 times at school ;-)

BTW, please do not believe that y is ever spoken "ai" in ANY German word. If it is spoken "ai" in German, it is still an English word, used with English pronunciation.

Did we already have a rule for the y to be spoken as an "i", for instance in the nice word "Handy" (Händi) which should be English but is a pure German idea, as we all know?

Ich schließe mich Ghol an. Und im übrigen bin ich der Meinung, daß Karthago zerstört werden muß.

Sorry, liebe Leute - ich habe anscheinend die Anfrage nicht richtig gelesen! (War wohl schon zu müde ...) Ich war wirklich der Meinung, es ginge um die Aussprache im Englischen. Und da wird das 'y' eben nicht wie 'ü' ausgesprochen.
Nach meiner Entschuldigung muss ich jetzt aber als 'Münchner Kindl' noch die Bayern in Schutz nehmen: Der Großteil der süddeutschen Bevölkerung ist durchaus in der Lage, ein Wort wie 'Hypothek' korrekt auszusprechen - auch wenn wir alle nur Lederhosen, bzw. Dirndl tragen und den ganzen Tag nichts Besseres zu tun haben, als vor einer Maß Bier zu sitzen und zu jodeln! ;)

Or, 'yodeling' [with a 'y'], if your Lederhosen-toting Bavarian happens to be having his suds in Los Angeles...