ya

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ya"

Languages (83)

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Page categories

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

YA

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Reduced form of you. Compare Dutch je, reduced/unstressed form of jij (“you”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jʌ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌ

Pronoun

ya

1. Nonstandard spelling of you.
   • 1984, Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”, in Various Positions:

     But you don't really care for music, do ya?

   • 2011, Byron Douglas, chapter 3, in A Journey Through the Life of an Anti-Social‎^[64–65], →ISBN:

     Lola got a shocked look on her face then said, “Ya need to stop actin' jealous if ya aint, and ya can't control what I do. Ya aint my daddy and ya aint my man. I'll see ya tomorrah after work if ya want. Just give me a call, ya have my number”.

Usage notes

• Never used with prosodic stress.

Derived terms

• -cha
• get it in ya
• hey ya
• hiya
• -ja
• love ya
• see ya
• smell ya later
• there ya go
• whaddaya
• ya think?

See also

• yer

Etymology 2

Apparently from German ja and cognates in other Germanic languages; related to English yeah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Interjection

ya

2. (informal) Yeah; yes.

Etymology 3

From Middle English ya, from Old English ġēa, iā (“yea, yes”). More at yea.

Alternative forms

• yaa, yaw, yah, yha

Pronunciation

• (West Country, UK) IPA^(key): /ˈjɑː/, /ˈjɐ/
• Rhymes: -ɑː, -ɐ

Adverb

ya (not comparable)

1. (UK dialectal, West Country, Northern England, Scotland) yea; yes
   • 1806, Jamieson, Pop. Ballads:

     'Ya, wilt thou!' said Wallace, 'then tak thee that, […] '

   • 1894, W. G. Stevenson, Puddin' iii.:

     Ya, auld man, ye ken fine ye wad like me.

   • 1896, Ackworth, Clog Shop Chron.:

     Ya, bur 'ee did, […]

Etymology 4

Variation of hyah.

Interjection

ya

1. (informal) Go. (Spoken to horses and cattle.)

Etymology 5

Determiner

ya

1. Nonstandard spelling of your.

Derived terms

• chewie on ya boot

Etymology 6

From Russian я (ja).

Noun

ya (plural yas)

1. A letter of the Cyrillic alphabet: Я, я.

Translations

a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet "Я/я"

Belarusian: я (be) n (ja) Czech: ja (cs) Russian: я (ru) n (ja) Ukrainian: я (uk) n (ja)

Etymology 7

From Malay ya, from Dutch ja (and ultimately Proto-Germanic *ja). Reinforced by informal variants of yes in English (e.g., yeah). Doublet of yes.

Alternative forms

• yeah, yea, yah

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑ/, (in tag questions) [jɑː˨˦]

Interjection

ya

1. (informal, Singapore, Malaysia) Yes, yeah (used to express affirmation)

Particle

ya

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Used to form a confirmation-seeking tag question, expecting an affirmative response.
   • 1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 21:

     What about yourself Mr Chee, never look a day older, you'll see the rest of us six feet under… Really you look very well. I heard you went for new treatment in Switzerland ya?…

See also

• (question tags in Singlish): is it, ah

Anagrams

• -ay, AY, ay, ay^

Abui

Noun

ya

1. water

References

• František Kratochvíl, A grammar of Abui: a Papuan language of Alor (2007)
• František Kratochvíl, Benidiktus Delpada, Abui-Indonesian-English Dictionary (2008)

Angkamuthi

Verb

ya

1. (Yadhaykenu) throw

References

• Claire Bowern, Harold James Koch, Australian Languages: Classification and the Comparative Method (2004), page 537

Anguthimri

Verb

ya

1. (transitive, Mpakwithi) to give
2. (transitive, Mpakwithi) to bring

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 189

Anyin Morofo

Adjective

ya

1. bad

Asturian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʝa/ [ɟ͡ʝa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ya

Conjunction

ya

1. (Western Asturias) alternative form of y

Adverb

ya

1. obsolete spelling of yá

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		ја
Arabic		یا

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic يَا (yā, “o, hey, you”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jɑː]

Particle

ya

1. vocative particle

   Synonym: ey

   Ya Əli! (Shiite exclamation) ― O Ali!

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian یا (yâ, “either, or”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑ/

Conjunction

ya … ya …

1. either … or

   Ya bu, ya da o. İkisinə də birdən pulumuz çatmaz.

   [Choose] either this or that. We can't afford to buy them both at once.

Derived terms

• və yaxud
• vəya
• yaxud

Further reading

• “ya” in Obastan.com.

Bangi

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-jìj.

Verb

ya

1. to come
2. to arrive

Baoule

Noun

ya

1. Friday (day of the week)

Adjective

ya

1. bad

Barngarla

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Noun

ya

1. mouth

References

• Page 74 of Zuckermann, Ghil'ad, Emma Richards and the Barngarla (2021), Mangiri Yarda (Healthy Country: Barngarla Wellbeing and Nature), Adelaide: Revivalistics Press.

Bilbil

Noun

ya

1. fire

Further reading

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

Boloki

Verb

ya

1. to come

Breton

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Particle

ya

1. yes, word used to show agreement or acceptance.

   Ya, gwir eo! ― Yes, that's correct!

Antonyms

• nann (“no”)

Cameroon Pidgin

Determiner

ya

1. alternative spelling of your (“2st person singular possessive determiner”)

Central Huasteca Nahuatl

Pronoun

ya

1. third person; he, she

Chamorro

Conjunction

ya

1. and

Usage notes

Used to indicate causation. To connect two similar words or phrases the alternate yan.

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish ya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝa/, [ˈʝ͡ʝa]

Particle

ya

1. indicates the past tense

Chichewa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-gɪ̀a (“to go”).

Verb

-ya (infinitive kuyá)

1. to go
2. to be deep

Etymology 2

From i- +‎ a or Proto-Bantu *gɪ́á- but used as a particle.

Particle

ya

1. Class 4 of the particle form -a

See also

Inflected forms of -a

singular			plural
class 1		wa	class 2		a
class 3		wa	class 4		ya
class 5		la	class 6		a
class 7		cha	class 8		za
class 9		ya	class 10		za
class 12		ka	class 13		ta
class 14		wa
class 15		kwa
locative classes
class 16		class 17	class 18
pa		kwa	mwa

Chickasaw

Verb

ya (stative, irregular)

1. to be (something)

Usage notes

• It cannot be used by itself and must always have a preceding noun that names what it or the person "is".
• It can only be used with a Class II subject marker.
• Ya is never used with N prefixes.
• It can be used with verb suffixes such as -tok, -taam, -a'chi, etc.
• For sentences where a Class II subject marker is not needed or cannot be used, then the verb root oo can be used instead.
• For the future tense, a'chi can be used as a standalone word rather than a suffix completely replacing the use of a verb and having the meaning "will be". Similarly, a'ni, "might be" could possibly work in a similar fashion, replacing the presence of an explicit verb as well, although it is not normally used in sentences expressing being something.
• The prefix hoo- is never used with any forms of the verb "to be" (ya, oo, a'chi).
• To ask questions such as "Is it a/an....", see the entries for the noun suffixes -to̠ (used after consonants) and -hto̠ (used after vowels).

Synonyms

• oo

Dyula

Adverb

ya

1. here

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Pronoun

ya

1. third person; he, she

See also

• yaha
• yahaya

Ewe

Noun

ya

1. wind

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ja, from Latin iam (“already”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈja/
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ya

Adverb

ya

1. already

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎, 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 286

Gban

Verb

ya

1. to go

Gedaged

Noun

ya

1. fire

Further reading

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

Guinea Kpelle

Noun

ya

1. water

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Esperanto ja.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Adverb

ya

1. indeed

Igbo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Pronoun

ya (independent form, dependent form o)

1. (personal, epicene) he, she, it

   Ahụrụ m ya

   I saw him.

See also

Igbo personal pronouns

		dependent	independent	object/possessive
Singular	first	m, a/e- ... -m	m, mụ
	second	ị, i	ngị, gị	gị
	third	ọ, o	ya
Plural	first	anyị
	second	ụnụ
	third	ha, a/e- ... -ha	ha
Indefinite		a/e	-	-

Ilocano

Etymology

Borrowed from Kankanaey ya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaʔ/ [ˈjɐʔ]

Particle

ya (Kur-itan spelling ᜌ)

1. (Baguio, Benguet) Expressing apprehension following or preceding a reasoning or excuse; eh.

   Haanko ammo ya.

   I don't know eh.