y endings

IMY for IMOGEN

I have a wonderful cousin whose first two names are Claire Imogen. She's known throughout the family as Ba (as in baa baa black sheep) or phonetically as Bii Ei.

Now there are certain rules in English (irrespective of the national version) where the spelling affects the pronunciation of vowels and one of these concerns the letter 'i'.

If the 'i' is followed by 1 or 2 consonants (with the exception of 1 consonant + 'y') the sound is a short 'i' as in tin, tinny, bit, bitty, kin, slim, slimming, kid, kidding

If the 'i' is followed by the letter 'e' or 1 consonant + e or y or e&y the sound changes to a long 'i' as eye: tie, lie, tine, bite, kine, slime, tiny, slimy.

So if you abbrevaite your Imogen character to Imy (you make her rhyme with slimy, which is most unappealing and for me a seriously sharp carpet tack). Far better to spell her name Immy.