yo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "yo"

Languages (33)

Translingual • English

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Afar • Aragonese • Asturian • Chavacano • Chinese • Danish • Dutch • Guerrero Amuzgo • Haitian Creole • Indonesian • Japanese • Kristang • Ladino • Lashi • Lingala • Lower Tanana • Mandarin • Middle English • Noone • Norman • Old Spanish • Pali • Spanish • Tregami • Turkish • West Makian • Xhosa • Yanomamö • Ye'kwana • Yoruba • Zulu

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

yo

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Yoruba.

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

yo

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /jəʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ
• (US) IPA^(key): /joʊ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Etymology 1

As a greeting first attested in 1859, attested first as a cry of sailors and huntsmen (first attested in the 1400s; compare e.g. huzzah, giddyup). Originally from Middle English yo, io, ȝo, yeo, yaw, variant forms of ya, ye (“yes, yea”), from Old English ġēa (“yes, yea”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”); or perhaps from Old English ēow (“Wo!, Alas!”, interjection). Compare Danish, Swedish, German, Norwegian jo (“yes (flexible meaning)”), Dutch jow (“hi, hey”) and Dutch jo (“hi, hey”). More at yea, ow, ew.

Modern popularity apparently dates from World War II (claimed to be a common response at roll calls; see definition 4), and then most intensely attested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it thence spread globally from American dominance of pop culture post-WWII.

Interjection

yo

1. (slang) A greeting similar to hi.

   Synonyms: oi, wotcher

   Yo Paulie! How's it going?

2. (slang) An interjection similar to hey.

   Synonyms: ahoy, oi; see also Thesaurus:hey

   Yo, check this out!

   Check this out, yo!

3. (slang) An expression of surprise or excitement.

   Yo, that's crazy, but I don't remember asking.

   • 2021 October 2, Mason Cannon, “Don't Feel Pressured To Declare Your Major Right Away”, in Study Breaks‎:

     I have quickly acclimated myself to the standard form of greeting on campus: "Oh hey what’s your name? … Yeah, nice to meet you, what're you studying? … Yo that’s sick!" A script to recite, nearly verbatim, 10 times a day or more.

4. (military slang) Present! Here!

   Sergeant: Smith?
   Private Smith: Yo!

5. (chiefly African-American Vernacular) Emphatic conclusion to a statement.
   • 2010, "Kafkaesque" (Breaking Bad TV series, season 3, episode 9)

     JESSE: That is messed up, yo.

Synonyms

• (greeting): hey, hi; see also Category:English greetings
• (interjection): hey

Derived terms

• yo-ho
• yo-ho-ho

Translations

greeting similar to hi

Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can Albanian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: please add this translation if you can Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: moi (fi), jou (fi) French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can Hebrew: please add this translation if you can Hindi: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Indonesian: hoi (id), oi (id) Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: よ (ja) (yo) Kazakh: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: please add this translation if you can Malay: oi (ms), hoi Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Polish: siema (pl) Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Romanian: măi (ro), mă (ro), băi (ro), bă (ro) Russian: йо́у (ru) (jóu) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can Latin: please add this translation if you can Slovak: please add this translation if you can Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swedish: please add this translation if you can Tagalog: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

interjection similar to hey

Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can Albanian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: please add this translation if you can Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: hei (fi) French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can Hebrew: please add this translation if you can Hindi: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Indonesian: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Kazakh: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: please add this translation if you can Malay: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Polish: ej (pl) Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Romanian: măi (ro), mă (ro), băi (ro), bă (ro) Russian: please add this translation if you can Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can Latin: please add this translation if you can Slovak: please add this translation if you can Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swedish: please add this translation if you can Tagalog: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

expression of surprise or excitement

Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can Albanian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: please add this translation if you can Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: joo (fi), jou (fi) French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can Hebrew: please add this translation if you can Hindi: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Indonesian: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Kazakh: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: please add this translation if you can Malay: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Polish: ej (pl) Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Romanian: măi (ro), mă (ro), băi (ro), bă (ro) Russian: please add this translation if you can Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: please add this translation if you can Latin: please add this translation if you can Slovak: please add this translation if you can Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swedish: please add this translation if you can Tagalog: please add this translation if you can Turkish: please add this translation if you can Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Etymology 2

From you're, your, etc.

Alternative forms

• yo'

Determiner

yo

1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of your.

   Yo sandwich has only bacon in it. Want some ketchup on that?

Derived terms

• yo momma

Pronoun

yo

1. (Baltimore) third-person singular, familiar

   Yo was tuckin' in his shirt! (Stotko and Troyer 2007)

Etymology 3

Noun

yo

1. Abbreviation of year(s) old; also y.o., y/o.
2. (crochet) Initialism of yarn over.

Etymology 4

From Russian ё (jo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɒ/

Noun

yo (plural yos)

1. The letter Ё, ё.

Derived terms

• yoficator

Translations

Ё

Russian: ё (ru) n (jo)

Etymology 5

Numeral

yo

1. Short for yoleven.

Etymology 6

From irregular romanization of the standard Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 龠 (yuè).

Noun

yo (plural yo or yos)

1. Obsolete form of yue, a traditional Chinese unit of volume.

See also

• fro-yo
• yo-weight
• yo-yo

Etymology 7

Noun

yo (plural yos)

1. (knitting) Alternative form of YO:
   1. Abbreviation of yarnover.

Verb

yo (third-person singular simple present yos, present participle yoing, simple past and past participle yoed)

1. (knitting) Alternative form of YO:
   1. Abbreviation of yarnover.

Anagrams

• oy

Afar

Etymology

Cognate with Saho yoo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjo/ [ˈjɔ]

Pronoun

yó

1. I, me

Usage notes

• The form yóo is used when the pronoun isn't followed by a clitic.

See also

Afar personal pronouns

		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				m	f
subject	singular	anú	atú	úsuk	ís
	plural	nanú	isín	úsun
object	singular	yó	kó	ká	tét
	plural	né	sín	kén

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “yo”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Aragonese

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Pronoun

yo m sg or f sg

1. First-person singular nominative pronoun; I

See also

				nominative	disjunctive	dative	accusative
first person	singular			yo	me, m'2
	plural	masculine		nusatros1.1		nos1.6
		feminine		nusatras1.1
second person	singular	familiar		tú	te, t'2
		formal		vusté,1.2 vos
	plural	familiar	masculine	vusatros1.3		vos, tos3
			feminine	vusatras1.3
		formal		vustés,1.2 vos
third person	singular	masculine		él1.4		le1.7	lo,1.8 l'2
		feminine		ella1.5			la
	plural	masculine		els, ellos1.4		les1.7	los1.9
		feminine		ellas1.5			las
	reflexive			—		se, s'2

Aragonese personal pronouns

1. The forms shown in the table are the most widespread ones. Some varieties use different forms:
   1. nusotros/as (Ansotano, Cheso, Somontanos) and nusaltros/as (Benasquese and Belsetán).
   2. usté(s) (Benasquese), ustet(z) (Ansotano), vustet(z) (Tensino, Somontanos)
   3. vusotros/as (Ansotano, Cheso, Somontanos) and vusaltros/as (Benasquese and Belsetán).
   4. ell(s) (Benasquese) and er(s) (Belsetán).
   5. era(s) (Belsetán).
   6. mos (Ribagorçan). Before third-person pronouns and the adverbial pronoun en the contracted form mo' is used.
   7. li(s) (Cheso, Tensino).
   8. el (Ribagorçan). The contracted form l' is used before verbs beginning with vowel sounds and 'l after pronouns ending in vowels and no (“no, not”).
   9. es, els (Ribagorçan). These forms are contracted to 's and 'ls after pronouns ending in vowels and no (“no, not”).
2. The contracted forms are used before verbs beginning with vowel sounds.
3. In Ribagorçan the contracted form to' is used before third-person pronouns and the adverbial pronoun en.

References

• “yo”, in Aragonario, diccionario castellano–aragonés (in Spanish)

Asturian

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Pronoun

yo

1. I (first-person singular pronoun)

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish yo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝo/, [ˈʝ͡ʝo]

Pronoun

yo

1. I (1st person nominative pronoun)

See also

Person	Number	Direct (ang)	Indirect (ng)	Oblique (sa)
First	singular	yo	conmigo	de mio
	plural inclusive	kita	kanaton	de aton
	plural exclusive	kami	kanamon	de amon
Second	singular	tu, usted, vos	contigo, con usted, con vos	de tuyo
	plural	kamo, ustedes, vosotros	kaninyo, con ustedes	de inyo, de ustedes
Third	singular	ele	con ele	de suyo
	plural	sila, ellos, esos	kanila, con ellos	de ila

Chavacano personal pronouns

Chinese

Etymology

From English yo.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jou¹

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jou¹
    • Yale: yōu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jou¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: you¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jou̯⁵⁵/

Adjective

yo

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, chiefly university slang) outgoing; sociable

Verb

yo (Hong Kong Cantonese, chiefly university slang)

1. to act in an outgoing manner
2. to socialize with; to interact with
3. (euphemistic) Used in certain interjections to replace vulgar verbs.

Derived terms

• yo女

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English yo.

Interjection

yo

1. (slang) yo
   • 2016, Lisbeth Zornig, Mikael Lindholm, Bundfald, Art People, →ISBN:

     “Yo!” Mathias så op.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English yo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /joː/
• Hyphenation: yo
• Rhymes: -oː

Interjection

yo

1. (slang) yo (informal greeting, interjection similar to hey)

Guerrero Amuzgo

Adjective

yo

1. with

Haitian Creole

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo/

Article

yo pl

1. the

Usage notes

This word is only used in its article sense when it modifies a plural noun.

See also

• a
• an
• la
• lan
• nan
• sa a (emphatic value)
• yon (indef. art.)

Pronoun

yo (contracted form y)

1. they
2. them

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɔ/

Etymology 1

From ayo.

Interjection

yo

1. Short for ayo.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English yo.

Interjection

yo

1. (slang) yo (greeting, interjection similar to hey)

Japanese

Romanization

yo

1. The hiragana syllable よ (yo) or the katakana syllable ヨ (yo) in Hepburn romanization.

Kristang

Pronoun

yo

1. I (first-person singular personal pronoun)^[1]

See also

Kristang personal pronouns (edit)
Person	Singular	Plural
First	yo	nus
Second	bos	bolotu
Third	eli	olotu

References

1. 2010, Ladislav Prištic, Kristang - Crioulo de Base Portuguesa, Masaryk University, page 26.

Ladino

Alternative forms

• io (Romania), lyo (Yugoslavia)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish yo (“I”), from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo/, /jɔ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Pronoun

yo (Hebrew spelling ייו)^[1]

1. I (myself) [16th c.]
   • (Can we date this quote?), Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi, edited by Aron Rodrigue, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica: The Ladino Memoir of Sa'adi Besalel A-Levi‎, Stanford University Press, published 2012, →ISBN, page 215:

     Yo, ke nunka en mis dias ke non sali aver fuego, syendo fui akavidado, ma akea noche fui ovligado de ir a este fuego, non para verlo, otro ke syendo era serka dela kaza de si. Shelomo Fernandes.

     Myself, never in all my days had I gone out to watch a fire, seeing as how I was warned against that, but that night I was obligated to go after this fire, not to watch it, but [because] it was approaching Mr. Shelomo Fernandes's house.

   • 2002, Aki Yerushalayim‎, numbers 68-72, page 59:

     […] i no digas: fulano es fermozo i yo no, ke bien saves ke deske el ombre es muerto, ke no se kuenta salvo por animalia muerta.

     And don’t say: so and so is handsome and I’m not; you know well that since the man is dead that he doesn’t count except as a dead animal.

   • 2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar‎, page 142:

     […] mos fuimos en luna de miel a París, i yo empesí a engodrarme … i engodrarme. El prenyado a mí me yakishea muncho.

     we left to have our honeymoon in Paris, and I started to gain weight … and gain weight. I look so much like I am pregnant.

   • 2008, Matilda Gini Barnatán, Viviana Rajel Barnatán, Darío Meta Barnatán, La ija i la madre komo la unya i la karne‎, Ibersaf Editores, →ISBN, page 69:

     Agora soltanto
     So reflekto de Tu Brilyo
     Yo no me demando
     Sospiro
     Mirando en lo Alto
     So felis
     Dunke bivo…

     Now letting go, I am [an] image of your radiance, I wonder not; I sigh, looking above, I am happy, therefore I live…

References

1. “yo”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola.

Lashi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Lolo-Burmese *hja, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hja. Cognates include Jingpho yi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo˧/, [ju˧˩]

Noun

yo

1. field
2. farm

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo˧/

Noun

yo

1. peace

Etymology 3

From Proto-Lolo-Burmese [Term?], from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-ja. Cognates include Jingpho kăya.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /joː˧/, [jɔ˧˨]

Noun

yo

1. itch

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis), pages 15-16

Lingala

Pronoun

yo

1. Alternative form of yɔ̂

Lower Tanana

Noun

yo

1. sky

References

• James Kari, Lower Tanana Athabaskan Listening and Writing Exercises (1991)

Mandarin

Romanization

yo (yo⁵ / yo⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄧㄛ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 喲 / 哟
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嚛 / 𪠸, 𪠸

yo

1. Nonstandard spelling of yō.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

yo

1. Alternative form of yow

Etymology 2

Pronoun

yo

1. Alternative form of heo (“she”)

Noone

Noun

yo (plural yɔ́)

1. snake

References

• R. Blench, Beboid Comparative

Norman

Alternative forms

• iâo (continental Normandy)
• iaoue (Guernsey)
• ieau (Jersey)

Etymology

From Old French yaue, ewe, euwe, egua (“water”), from Latin aqua (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water, flowing water”).

Noun

yo f (plural yos)

1. (Sark) water

Old Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Adverb

yo

1. I

Descendants

• Ladino: yo, io (Romania), lyo (Yugoslavia)/ייו
• Spanish: yo
  • Chavacano: yo

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀬𑁄 (Brahmi script)
• यो (Devanagari script)
• যো (Bengali script)
• යො (Sinhalese script)
• ယော or ယေႃ (Burmese script)
• โย (Thai script)
• ᨿᩮᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ໂຍ or ໂຢ (Lao script)
• យោ (Khmer script)
• 𑄠𑄮 (Chakma script)

Pronoun

yo

1. masculine nominative singular of ya (“who (relative)”)

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish yo, from Late Latin eo, from Classical Latin egō̆.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝo/ [ˈɟ͡ʝo]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝo/ [ˈɟ͡ʝo]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃo/ [ˈʃo]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒo/ [ˈʒo]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -o
• Syllabification: yo

Pronoun

yo

1. first-person singular pronoun in the nominative case; I

Usage notes

• When more pronouns are included in the same sentence, it is considered impolite to say the pronoun yo at first; it must be the last one (this also applies to mí):

  Iremos Rosa, tú y yo. ― Rosa, you and I will go.

Derived terms

• ocho con yo
• otro yo
• qué sé yo
• yo de ti
• yo que tú

See also

				nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
first person	singular			yo	me		mí1
	plural	masculine2		nosotros	nos		nosotros
		feminine		nosotras			nosotras
second person	singular	tuteo		tú	te		ti1
		voseo		vos			vos
		formal3		usted	le, se4	lo/la5	usted
	plural	familiar6	masculine2	vosotros	os		vosotros
			feminine	vosotras			vosotras
		formal/general3		ustedes	les, se4	los/las5	ustedes
third person	singular	masculine2		él	le, se4	lo	él
		feminine		ella		la	ella
		neuter		ello7		lo	ello
	plural	masculine2		ellos	les, se4	los	ellos
		feminine		ellas		las	ellas
	reflexive			—	se		sí1

Spanish personal pronouns

1. Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
2. Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
3. Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
4. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g., Se lo dije instead of Le lo dije)
5. Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
6. Used primarily in Spain
7. Used only in rare circumstances

Noun

yo m (plural yos or yoes)

1. (psychoanalysis) Freud's concept of the ego

Descendants

• Chavacano: yo

Further reading

• “yo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tregami

Tregami cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : yo

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *eka, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Háykas, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óykos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjo/

Numeral

yo (Gambir)^[1]

1. one

References

1. Strand, Richard F. (2016) “y′o”, in Nûristânî Etymological Lexicon‎

Turkish

Alternative forms

• yoo

Etymology

Clipping of yok.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /joː/

Interjection

yo

1. (informal) no
2. (informal) Term of objection, roughly equivalent to nope, nah or naw.

Further reading

• “yo”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “yo¹”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 5343

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jo/

Particle

yo

1. sentence-final action negation particle; not

   de tifiam yo ― I am not eating

Usage notes

Specifically negates action verbs (intransitive, transitive, ditransitive, etc.). To negate a stative verb, see wayo. The verbs seba/tope (“to want”) are not negated by ua, which would be ungrammatical. Instead, one uses the verb fono (“to not want”).

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎, Pacific linguistics

Xhosa

Pronoun

-yo

1. Combining stem of yona.

Yanomamö

Noun

yo (plural yoku)

1. path, trail, a path marked by hand-broken branches

References

• Lizot, Jacques (2004) Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmɨ‎ (in Spanish), Vicariato apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho, →ISBN

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɟo]

Verb

yo

1. (transitive) to leave (someone) without a portion from the hunt

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “yo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jó/

Verb

yó

1. to become saturated with food or drinks; to become full (after eating)
   1. to become drunk
2. to become fleshy or robust (in reference to the belly or body)
3. (idiomatic, euphemistic) to become pregnant

Derived terms

• Àwòyó (“a nickname for the orisha Yemọja”)

Zulu

Pronoun

-yo

1. Combining stem of yona.