ｙ

See also: y', у, ყ, and Appendix:Variations of "y"

y	U+0079, y LATIN SMALL LETTER Y

← x
[U+0078]

Basic Latin

z →
[U+007A]

Character variations

ʸ	U+02B8, ʸ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL Y

← ʷ
[U+02B7]

Spacing Modifier Letters

ʹ →
[U+02B9]

ｙ	U+FF59, ｙ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER Y

← ｘ
[U+FF58]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

ｚ →
[U+FF5A]

Languages (61)

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Page categories

English Wikipedia has an article on:

y

Wikipedia

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation of IPA [yː]: (file)

Symbol

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Close front rounded vowel

Wikipedia

y

(metrology) Symbol for the prefix yocto-.
(IPA) a close front rounded vowel: the German ü-sound.
(NAPA) the English y-sound, IPA [j].
(superscript ⟨ʸ⟩, IPA) [y]-coloring, a [y] on- or off-glide (diphthong), or a weak, fleeting, epenthetic or echo [y].
(superscript ⟨ʸ⟩, NAPA) palatalization, equivalent to IPA [ʲ].
Denoting an item that is twenty-fifth in a list.

Gallery

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of Y, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase Y in Fraktur

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪ/
Audio (General American): (file)
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /i/, /ɪ/, /aɪ/, /ə/, /j/
(letter name): Rhymes: -aɪ
Homophones: why, Wye, wye

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y, plural ys or y's)

The twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wy or wye and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviations.

y

(stenoscript) the sound sequence /ɔɪ̯/.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of why.
(stenoscript) the suffix -ry or -rry.

Noun

y

Abbreviation of year.
- 2003, Howard Tanner, Sonia Jones, Becoming a Successful Teacher of Mathematics:
  Consider the following questions selected from the tests and estimate the proportion of Y8 pupils you would expect to answer correctly.
(UK, television) Abbreviation of youth, usually followed by an age appropriate for the content so marked.
Y7
(computing) Abbreviation of yes.

Derived terms

Adverb

y (not comparable)

(slang, text messaging, Internet slang) Abbreviation of why.

Etymology

From Latin et, from Proto-Indo-European *éti.

Conjunction

y

and

Etymology

From Latin et, from Proto-Indo-European *éti.

Conjunction

y

and

Pronoun

y (y (or -y), plural ys/yos or -ys/-yos)

Pronoun for the third-person singular indirect object.
da-y pan
give him/her bread

Usage notes

Usually seen as -y

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

y lower case (upper case Y)

The thirty-first letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /i ɡreko/, [i ɣ̞re̞.ko̞]

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Basque alphabet, called i greko and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

Conjunction

y

Obsolete form of i (“and”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪː/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *eið, from Proto-Celtic *esyo m and *esyās f; compare Old Irish a (“his, her, its, their”) and Sanskrit अस्य (asyá, “his, its”) and अस्यास् (asyā́s, “her”).

Pronoun

y

(Standard Cornish, Standard Written Form) his

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *eyes, plural of *es, from Proto-Indo-European *éy. Cognate with Breton i(nt), Irish ia(d) and Welsh hwy

Pronoun

y

(Standard Cornish) they (third person plural pronoun)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Celtic *ide- (compare Breton e, ez, Welsh y, yth, Old Irish id), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁i-dʰei- (compare Latin ibi (“here”), Avestan 𐬌𐬛𐬁 (idā, “here, in the same way”), and Sanskrit इह (ihá, “here”)).

Particle

y (triggers mixed mutation)

Inserted before the verb when the verb precedes the subject

Alternative forms

ij (in some words)

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛɪ/, /iˈɡrɛk/, /ˌɣrik.sə ˈɛɪ/
Audio: (file)

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

the twenty-fifth letter of the Dutch alphabet

Usage notes

In certain dialects the letter is pronounced similar to IPA: /ji:/. In these dialects, they will actually write "y" such as in "jy" (IPA: /ji:/) instead of modern standard Dutch jij (IPA: /jɛɪ/).

Conjunction

y

Alternative form of i

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /iː/
Homophone: i

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and y for information on the development of the glyph itself. In particular, the use of ⟨y⟩ for /y/ follows the Swedish orthography, which in turn follows Latin.

Pronunciation

Audio; “yy, nyökkäys, tyttö, yy”: (file)

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called yy and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

compounds

Etymology

Inherited from Latin hīc.

Pronoun

y (ORB, broad)

it (third-person singular neuter dative)

References

y in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
y in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Etymology 1

From i grec (“Greek i”), referring to the letter upsilon (Υ), originally borrowed from the Greek alphabet, as opposed to "Latin i" (I).

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /i.ɡʁɛk/

Letter

y

a letter in the French alphabet, after x and before z

Etymology 2

10th century; from Old French i, from Latin hīc (“here”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰi-ḱe (“this, here”)), with meaning influenced by Old French iv (“there, thither”), itself from Latin ibī. Derivation from the latter poses difficulty from a phonetic standpoint. Compare Catalan hi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /i/
Homophones: hie, hies, hient, i

Pronoun

y (adverbial)

there (at a place)
Il est dans la maison. Il y est.
He is in the house. He is there.
there, thither (to there)
Nous allons au Mexique. Nous y allons.
We are going to Mexico. We are going there.
Used as a pronoun to replace an adverbial phrase starting with à.
Je pense à mon pays. J’y pense.
I think about my country. I think about it.
1. With verbs: see Appendix:French verbs followed by à for verbs which use this structure.
2. (archaic) With adjectives. Only used with a handful of adjectives (the most common combination being y compris, which is a special case), mainly in legal terminology.
  personnes y nommées ― Persons named there(in)
  
  procédures y afférentes ― Related procedures
  
  documents y relatifs ― Related documents
  
  eaux y affluentes ― Tributary waters

Derived terms

Related terms

More information Number, Person ...

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative (subject)	Accusative (direct complement)	Dative (indirect complement)	Locative (at)	Genitive (of)	Disjunctive (tonic)
Singular	First	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi
	Second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi
	Third	Masculine	il	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui
		Feminine	elle	la, l’	lui	y	en	elle
		Indeterminate	on¹	—	—	—	—	—
		Reflexive	—	se, s’⁴		—	—	soi⁴
Plural	First	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous
	Second	—	vous²	vous²^,3		—	—	vous²
	Third	Masculine	ils³	les	leur	y	en	eux³
	Third	Feminine	elles	les	leur	y	en	elles

Close

French personal pronouns

¹ Also used as the first person plural.

² Also used as the polite singular form.

³ Also used when a group has both men and women.

⁴ Also used as third person plural reflexive.

Etymology 3

Eye dialect spelling or contraction of il and ils.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /i/

Pronoun

y

(Quebec, colloquial) he: alternative form of il
(Quebec, colloquial) they: alternative form of ils
(Quebec, colloquial) they: alternative form of elles

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /yː/, /y/, /ʏ/, /i/, /ɪ/, /j/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈʏpsilɔn/
Audio: (file)

Letter

y n (strong, genitive y, plural y)

the letter y

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɨ/

Noun

y

water

Derived terms

ysyry (“river”)

Etymology

Contraction of yo.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/

Pronoun

y

Contraction of yo.

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈi]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈipsilon]

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

A letter of the extended Hungarian alphabet, called ipszilon and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

As shown in the alphabet below, this letter normally occurs in Hungarian words only as part of four digraphs: gy, ly, ny, and ty (with their long counterparts: ggy, lly, nny, tty). Aside from them, the terms containing y defined in an extensive Hungarian monolingual dictionary^[1] are baby-doll, baby-sitter, body (“bodice”), body-building / bodyzik / bodyzó, boy, brandy, citoyen, country/countryzene, cowboy/cowboyfilm/cowboykalap, curry, disc-jockey, doyen, dry, dyn, fair play, háryjános/háryjánoskodik, intercity, joystick, play back, playboy, royalista, sherry, spray, whisky, yard, yperit, yuppie, złoty and the letter itself. Additionally, a newer and more comprehensive but as yet incomplete dictionary^[2] contains bicsérdysta, byte, copyright, and cowboycsizma. (The forms dandy, gentry, happy end (“happy ending”), jersey, maya, nylon, and yen are also mentioned as alternative forms in the former volume, but their current standard spelling is dendi, dzsentri, dzsörzé, hepiend, jen, maja, and nejlon.)

Proper names written with y include the country names Guyana, Paraguay, Seychelle-szigetek, and Uruguay and the capital names Conakry, Port Moresby, and Reykjavík. Other names deriving from Latin alphabets are also retained (such as English Calgary, Hollywood, Kentucky, Montgomery, New Jersey, New York, Sydney, Wyoming etc., German Bayreuth, Speyer, Steyr, French Lyon, Mayotte, Nancy, Vichy, and Polish Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Przemyśl). Otherwise, this letter is usually transcribed in country and city names, for example Jemen (“Yemen”), Malajzia (“Malaysia”), Nepjida (“Naypyidaw”), and Rijád (“Riyadh”).

Declension

More information Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony), singular ...

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	y	y-ok
accusative	y-t	y-okat
dative	y-nak	y-oknak
instrumental	y-nal	y-okkal
causal-final	y-ért	y-okért
translative	y-ná	y-okká
terminative	y-ig	y-okig
essive-formal	y-ként	y-okként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	y-ban	y-okban
superessive	y-on	y-okon
adessive	y-nál	y-oknál
illative	y-ba	y-okba
sublative	y-ra	y-okra
allative	y-hoz	y-okhoz
elative	y-ból	y-okból
delative	y-ról	y-okról
ablative	y-tól	y-októl
non-attributive possessive - singular	y-é	y-oké
non-attributive possessive - plural	y-éi	y-okéi

Close

More information Possessive forms of, possessor ...

Possessive forms of y
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	y-om	y-aim, y-jaim
2nd person sing.	y-od	y-aid, y-jaid
3rd person sing.	y-a, y-ja	y-ai, y-jai
1st person plural	y-unk	y-aink, y-jaink
2nd person plural	y-otok	y-aitok, y-jaitok
3rd person plural	y-uk, y-juk	y-aik, y-jaik

Close

Derived terms

y-nyi
y-odik
y-os

References

[1]
75,000 entries in Pusztai, Ferenc (ed.). Magyar értelmező kéziszótár (“A Concise Explanatory Dictionary of Hungarian”). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2003. 2nd, expanded and revised edition →ISBN. Online searchable version (under development)
[2]
As of 2021, completed until ELZ. Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (’A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress)

Pronunciation

(context pronunciation) IPA^(key): /j/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /je/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /je/
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Letter

y f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Latin alphabet, called ipsilon, i greco or i greca in Italian

Usage notes

The letter Y is not considered part of the Italian alphabet. It is found mainly in loanwords.

Etymology

From Portuguese e.

Conjunction

y

and

References

Gonçalves, Manuel (2015) Capeverdean Creole-English dictionary, →ISBN

Noun

y

Alternative form of 'ɨ

References

Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog y. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English y.

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /waj/ [wai̯]
- Rhymes: -aj
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /i/ [i̞]
- Rhymes: -i

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called way and written in the Latin script.

References

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎ (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and y for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The thirty-first letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔɘ˥/

Particle

y

no

References

K. E. Herr (2011) The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎, Payap University, page 47

Conjunction

y

and

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ɨ/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The fourteenth letter of the Latgalian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /yː/, [yː]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /i/, [iː]

Noun

ȳ f (indeclinable)

A name of the letter Y.

Synonyms

(name of the letter Y): ī graeca, ȳpsīlon

Coordinate terms

(Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

y in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Latin Grammar (3rd ed., 1895), page 1
The Latin names for the letters… For Y the sound was used, for Z the Greek name (zēta).

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /iː/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The fifteenth letter of the Lithuanian alphabet, called i ilgoji and written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɨ/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The thirty-first letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called y and written in the Latin script.
The name of the Latin-script letter y/Y.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronoun

y

they, them (personal pronoun)

Article

y

Alternative form of yn

Noun

y

water

References

Léxico Guaraní, dialeto Mbyá : versão para fins acadêmicos (1998)

Etymology 1

Pronoun

y

Alternative form of I

Etymology 2

Preposition

y

Alternative form of in (“in”)

Adverb

y

there (in a given place)
- 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 12:
  Or me dictes fist Lancelot, des lettres qui illec sont escriptes, savez vous qui les y fist mettre
  Now tell me, said Lancelot, about these letters that are written here, do you know who put them here?

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/, /ɣ/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The letter ⟨y⟩ is used for the phoneme /j/, but also for /ɣ/ before a front vowel, where that is pronounced [ʝ].

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /yː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /yː/, /y/
Audio: (file)

Letter

y

The twenty-fifth letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Perhaps the most troublesome sound in Norwegian. Even some native speakers tend to merge it into /i(ː)/.

Etymology 1

From Old Norse ýr, from Proto-Germanic *īhwaz. Akin to English yew.

Noun

y m (definite singular yen, indefinite plural yar, definite plural yane)

(obsolete) yew
Synonym: barlind

Related terms

Ivar m
Iveland
Ivesdal

Etymology 2

From Old Norse úa, influenced by kry.

Verb

y (present tense yr, past tense ydde, past participle ytt/ydd, passive infinitive yast, present participle yande, imperative y)

to crawl (of small animals)

References

“y” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɨ/
Rhymes: -ɨ
Hyphenation: y

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tɨ (“liquid, urine”), from Proto-Tupian *tˀɨ (“liquid, urine”). Doublet of ty.^[1]^[2]

Cognate with Sateré-Mawé hɨ (“river”), Guaraní ty (“urine”).

Noun

y (possessable, IIb class pluriform, absolute ty, R1 ry, R2 ty)

water
Synonym: 'y
liquid
Synonym: yku
humidity
Synonyms: yby'y, akymaíba

Coordinate terms: abyaru, 'a'y
juice, while it's still inside the fruit
broth
Synonym: îekysy

Derived terms

pakoby
ypûera

Adjective

y (IIb class pluriform, R1 ry, R2 ty, noun form y)

humid
Synonyms: yby'y, akymaíb

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *tɨ (“river”), from Proto-Tupian *it͡ʃˀɨ (“river”).^[1]^[3]

Cognate with Awetí hɨ (“river”) and Sateré-Mawé ihɨ (“river”).

Noun

y (possessable, IIb class pluriform, absolute ty, R1 ry, R2 ty)

river
Synonym: 'y

References

[1]
Beatriz Carretta Corrêa da Silva (2010) Mawé/Awetí/Tupí-Guaraní: relações linguísticas e implicações históricas‎ (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB, pages 403–404
[2]
Andrey Nikulin (2020) Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo‎ (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB
[3]
Aryon d'Alligna Rodrigues (2007) “As consoantes do proto-tupí”, in Aryon d'Alligna Rodrigues, Ana Suelly Arruda Câmara Cabral, editors, Línguas e culturas tupí‎, 1 edition, volume 1, Campinas: Curt Nimuendajú, pages 167–204

Alternative forms

i (alternative spelling)

Etymology

From Spanish y and Portuguese e and Kabuverdianu i.

Conjunction

y

and

Etymology

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and y for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈi.ɡrɛk/
Homophones: -y, -y-

Letter

y (upper case Y, lower case)

The twenty-ninth letter of the Polish alphabet, called y or igrek and written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

Letter name: (ípsilon)

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈip.si.lõ/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈi.psi.lɔn/, /ˈi.pslɔn/

Audio (Brazil): (file)

Letter name: (i grego)

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈi ˈɡɾe.ɡu/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈi ˈɡɾe.ɡo/

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈi ˈɡɾe.ɡu/ [ˈi ˈɣɾe.ɣu]

Phoneme:

IPA^(key): /i/, /j/ (loanwords)

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Adverb

y

really, truly

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/, /i/

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The thirtieth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called igrec or i grec and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Used chiefly in recent loanwords and foreign proper nouns.

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and y for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The thirty-first letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (phoneme) /ʝ/, /i/

IPA^(key): (letter name, everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝe/ [ˈɟ͡ʝe]
IPA^(key): (letter name, Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃe/ [ˈʃe]
IPA^(key): (letter name, elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒe/ [ˈʒe]

- Rhymes: -e
/i/ in the conjunction (see below) and in word-final diphthongs (e.g. hoy, rey); otherwise /ʝ/.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-sixth letter of the Spanish alphabet, called ye or i griega and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Spanish é or e, from Latin et.

Alternative forms

e
i (obsolete)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (preconsonantal) /i/ [i]
- Rhymes: -i
- Syllabification: y
IPA^(key): (prevocalic) [i̯]
- Rhymes:
Audio (Spain): (file)

Conjunction

y

and
- 1605, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha¹, Chapter I:
  Es, pues, de saber que este sobredicho hidalgo, los ratos que estaba ocioso —que eran los más del año—, se daba a leer libros de caballerías, con tanta afición y gusto, que olvidó casi de todo punto el ejercicio de la caza y aun la administración de su hacienda; y llegó a tanto su curiosidad y desatino en esto, que vendió muchas hanegas de tierra de sembradura para comprar libros de caballerías en que leer, y, así, llevó a su casa todos cuantos pudo haber dellos.
  You must know, then, that the above-named gentleman whenever he was at leisure (which was mostly all the year round) gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such ardour and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field-sports, and even the management of his property; and to such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillageland to buy books of chivalry to read, and brought home as many of them as he could get.
(in names of number) and
setenta y seis ― seventy-six
(in arithmetic) plus, and
uno y uno son dos ― one plus one is two
(informal) well
¡Y por supuesto! ― Well, of course!
(informal) what about, how about, where is/are the
Pero, ¿y el concierto? ¿Ya no vamos? ― But what about the concert? Are we not going anymore?

¿Y la niña? ¿Está a salvo? ― How about the girl? Is she safe?

¿Y los archivos? Debo echarles un vistazo. ― Where are the files? I should take a look at them.

Usage notes

Before words that begin with the /i/ sound, the form e is used instead.

Derived terms

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish y. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English y.
Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜌ (ya).
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish y.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈwaj/ [ˈwaɪ̯] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -aj
- IPA^(key): /ˈja/ [ˈja] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -a
- IPA^(key): /ˈje/ [ˈjɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
  - Rhymes: -e
- IPA^(key): /j/ [j] (phoneme)
- IPA^(key): /i/ [ɪ] (phoneme, used as a vowel)

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y, Baybayin spelling ᜏᜌ᜔)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called way and written in the Latin script.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y, Baybayin spelling ᜌ)

The twentieth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called ya and written in the Latin script.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜒ)

(historical) The twenty-seventh letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called ye and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish y.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔi/ [ʔɪ]
Rhymes: -i
Syllabification: y

Conjunction

y (Baybayin spelling ᜁ)

(archaic) and
Synonyms: at, saka

Pronunciation

(Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [ʔi˧˧]
(Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [ʔi˦˥]

Verb

y

to imitate, to mimic

Preposition

y

along
y te hết ― do like he/she does (literally do along him/her)

Đăm nà y thỏi cáu
Follow the old customs (literally "plant rice like the previous rows")
according to
y cằm po̱ me̱ ― according to the parents' words

References

Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎ (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called ye and written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ɯ/, /ɯː/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

The twenty-eighth letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called y and written in the Latin script.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔi˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɪj˧˧]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 伊.

Pronoun

y

(archaic, literary) he; him; she; her
- 1958, Đổng Chi Nguyễn, “Thạch Sùng còn thiếu mẻ kho hay là Sự tích con mối”, in Kho tàng truyện cố tích Việt Nam, NXB Văn sử địa:
  Hồi đó ở kinh đô có một người em hoàng hậu họ Vương. Y cũng là tay cự phú nổi tiếng tiền rừng biển bạc và xài phí vào bậc nhất.
  At the time, there was in the capital a brother of the queen of the Wáng family. He was also a famous for being immensely rich and was an extravagant spender of first degree.
(derogatory) he, him

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 依.

Adverb

y

(informal) exactly; precisely (like)
y như ― exactly like/as

y như thật ― so realistic (literally, “exactly like real life”)

y chang ― very much like

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Sino-Vietnamese word from 醫.

Noun

y

(medicine) medicine; physician

Derived terms

Đông y (東醫, “traditional East Asian medicine”)
lương y như từ mẫu (良醫如慈母, “(literary) a good physician is like a good mother”)
lương y (良醫, “(literary) a good physician”)
nan y (難醫, “(of disease) difficult to cure”)
pháp y (法醫, “forensic science”)
Tây y (西醫, “modern medicine”)
y dược (醫藥, “medicine and pharmacy”)
y đạo (醫道, “(literary) art of healing”)
y học (醫學, “medicine”)
y khoa (醫科, “medicine”)
y lệnh (醫令, “doctor's instructions”)
y sĩ (醫士, “(junior) physician”)
y sinh (醫生, “physician”)
y tá (醫佐, “nurse”)
y tế (醫濟, “health care”)
y viện (醫院, “(literary) hospital”)

Noun

y

Alternative form of ɨɨ (“water”)
ay'ú. ― I drink water.

References

Handbook of Amazonian Languages, volume 4 (1998), edited by Desmond C. Derbyshire, Geoffrey K. Pullum

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

(with grave accent to indicate otherwise unpredictable short vowel /ə/): ỳ
(with acute accent to indicate unusually stressed short vowel): ý
(with circumflex to indicate otherwise unpredictable or unusually stressed long vowel): ŷ
(with diaeresis to indicate disyllabicity): ÿ

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA^(key): /ə/
- (informal) IPA^(key): /əː/
Rhymes: -ə

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-ninth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called y and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by w.

Mutation

y cannot be mutated but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word ysgol (“school; ladder”):

More information Welsh mutation, radical ...

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ysgol	unchanged	unchanged	hysgol
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Close

Derived terms

Digraph sequences: yw

Noun

y f (plural yau)

The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.

Mutation

More information Welsh mutation, radical ...

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
y	unchanged	unchanged	hy
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Close

Etymology 2

From Middle Welsh y, yr, from Old Welsh ir, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *sindos.

Alternative forms

'r (used after vowels)
yr (used before vowels and h)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ə/
Rhymes: -ə

Article

y (definite) (triggers soft mutation of a feminine singular noun, except ll and rh remain unmutated)

the
y bachgen m ― the boy

y ferch f ― the girl

y llong f ― the ship

y bechgyn pl ― the boys

y merched pl ― the girls

Etymology 3

Merger of two formerly distinct particles, ydd and yd.

(1) from earlier ydd, from Middle Welsh yð, from Proto-Celtic *ide- (compare Breton e, ez, Cornish y, yth, Old Irish id), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁i-dʰei- (compare Latin ibi (“here”), Avestan 𐬌𐬛𐬁 (idā, “here, in the same way”), and Sanskrit इह (ihá, “here”)).
(2) from earlier yd, from Middle Welsh yt, from Old Welsh it, from Proto-Celtic *ita- (compare Breton e, ez); akin to Latin ita (“so, thus”), dialectal Lithuanian it (“as”), and Sanskrit íti (“thus, in this manner”).

Alternative forms

yr (used before vowels and h)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ə/
Rhymes: -ə

Particle

y

(literary) that (preverbal particle used to mark a subordinate clause)
Wyt ti'n meddwl y gall hi ddod?
Do you think that she can come?

Mae hi'n gwybod y byddet ti'n gwrando arni hi.
She knows that you would listen to her.
(literary) which, whom (particle used with indirect relative clauses)
y dyn y dysgais ei fab ― the man whose son I taught

y ferch y gwrandewais arni ― the girl to whom I listened
(literary) preverbal particle used to mark an affirmative verb in a main clause
- 1620, William Morgan, Y Bibl Cyssegr-lan, Genesis 1:1:
  Yn y dechreuad y creodd Duw y nefoedd a’r ddaear.
  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Synonyms: mi, fe (colloquial)

Usage notes

y is almost always omitted in colloquial speech.
y is used to mean 'that' (i.e. mark a subordinate clause) when the subordinate clause begins with an affirmative form of bod not in the present tense, or another affirmative verb in any tense apart from the preterite.

Related terms

a
bod
mai (with fronted element, marked for emphasis)
i
na (negative)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/, /◌ʲ/

Letter

y (upper case Y)

A letter of the Yele alphabet.

Usage notes

After a consonant, the letter indicates palatalization, except that expected *ty and *nty are spelled ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨nj⟩.

Derived terms

The digraph ⟨yw⟩ is used after a consonant m mb p for /◌ᶣ/ in labio-palatalized ⟨myw mbyw pyw⟩.
Palatalized ⟨dny, dmy, dpy, dy, kpy, ky, ly, mby, mty, my, ndy, nmy, ny, py, tpy, vy⟩.

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /jí/

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called yí and written in the Latin script.

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

The twenty-fifth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

	singular	plural
1st person	nte, n, m	ntolu, ntelu, n
2nd person	ite, i	altolu, altelu, al
3rd person	ate, a	itolu, itelu, y

singular	nominative	accusative	dative	tonic¹	possessive²
1^st person	jo	mè			min
2^nd person	te	tè			tin
3^rd person masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
3^rd person feminine	el	la	lyé
3^rd person neuter	o		y	—
3^rd person reflexive	—	sè
plural	nominative	accusative	dative	tonic¹	possessive²
1^st person	nos				noutro
2^nd person	vos				voutro
3^rd person masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
3^rd person feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
3^rd person reflexive	—	sè
¹ Disjunctive or object of a preposition.		² Generally preceded by a definite article.

Letter

See also

Pronunciation

Symbol

Gallery

See also

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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See also

Etymology 2

Noun

Derived terms

Adverb

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Etymology

Conjunction

Etymology

Conjunction

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Etymology 1

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Etymology 2

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Etymology 3

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Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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Etymology 2

Pronunciation

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Etymology 3

Pronunciation

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Further reading

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