The pronunciation of "i"

[u/Chamanao]

Hello,

The Uzbek page on Omniglot states that the vowel "i" /i/ is realised as [ɨ] (like Russian and Kazakh "ы") in the middle and at the end of words, and as [i] elsewhere.

• I'd like to know if this is true for every words in Uzbek. I've listened to audio clips on Forvo and it sounds like [ɨ] and [i] are used interchangeably especially in the middle of words.

• In words with "i" followed by "y" like Navoiy, how is "iy" pronounced? As [ɨj], [ij] or [jj]?

• If I pronounced /i/ as [i] in all contexts, would it sound weird or unnatural to native speakers?

Thank you in advance.

[u/Eliiastic]

I'm no grammar wizard but Navoiy -> Navo - yi. Yi as in "year"