Exactly, because it's a "y" sound.

a unique ...

Das "unique" wird "junik" gesprochen ... also ein konsonantischer Laut am Anfang ... demnach : a unique

Edith reicht noch einen Synchron● nach oben :-)

You're confusing consonants and vowels. "Unique" starts with a vowel, but it's a vowel pronounced with an initial "y" sound, which is what I think you meant.

a university, a one-pound coin."

Michael Swan, Practical English Usage (OUP)

A point for you, too, no me bré.

It's nice to see you quoting Michael Swan, Reinhard. He's very good especially on BE, although very occasionally a bit mystifying to AE speakers.

@ Reinhard:

I didn't mean to imply that the OUP was engaged in a campaign to confuse people. ;-) But there are some differences between AE and BE (preferences regarding punctuation - commas!!! - and the placement of adverbs, for example).

These differences aren't harbingers of the end of civilization, but when English speakers notice them for the first time - and this may be when they are mature, educated adults who assume they have a good understanding of their native language - they occasionally feel mystified. ;-)

To give Swan his due, he does sometimes note American usage.

[edit] I am not aware of a comprehensive guide to English usage that takes into account all the different varieties.

That doesn't apply to the OP, who writes "weil unique ja wie "y" ausgesprochen wird," even though, according to his/her language profile, s/he doesn't have a native language. ;-)

BTW, when I first came to LEO lo these many years ago, I was given strict instructions about not writing "im Vorraus" with two "r"s, so I've been biting my tongue since yesterday waiting for a native speaker of German to comment.

Ernsthaft? Du hörst da also zwei Vokale hintereinander? Einen Diphthong /ɪu/ gibt es schließlich in der Received Pronunciation nach Meinung der meisten Experten nicht. Ist unique dann für Dich ein Dreisilbler wie iambic?

Aber selbst wenn man sich nicht sicher ist, ob unique nun mit einem Vokal /ɪ/ oder einem Halbvokal /j/ am Anfang ausgesprochen wird, hilft ein Blick in ein Wörterbuch mit Lautschriftangaben, z. B. dieses:

"Pronunciation: /juːˈniːk/"

Die Halbvokale /j, w/ wirken in unserem Zusammenhang wie Konsonanten; also

a university /juːnɪˈvəːsɪti/

a week /wiːk/

@#8

That surprises me. But if that's how it is, you will simply have to 'deem' it to be a /j/.

(The first sound in a word beginning with a 'u' must be either /ʌ/ or /j/, so forget the /i/.)

I hope you don't 'hear' the first sound in 'one' as /u/.

(Having said which, I must confess to having 'heard' an /i/ in the French word 'plier' for many years until I was assured by a French phonetician that it was a /j/.)

@#10

OT but warning: your transcription of 'university' would be disputed by many. For three reasons: the presence of the second /ɪ/ in actual speech is dubious, and the final vowel in true Daniel Jonesian RP would not be /i/ but /ɪ/. You also make a phonemic distinction between /i:/ and /i/ which I think no one would accept.

Für SD3 und thankgoditsfriday:

Bitte nie nie nie "im Voraus" mit zwei r schreiben!!! Immer nur eins!

Merkhilfe: setzt sich zusammen aus "vor" und "aus", wie "vor" und "an" in "voran".

:)

Danke für den Hinweis, escoville! Ich muss gestehen, ich habe die fragwürdige Umschrift ungeprüft und ohne nachzudenken per copy and paste von oxforddictionaries.com übernommen:

Deine Argumente leuchten mir ein.