ي
ي - Arabic
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA: /jaːʔ/
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/, /iː/ (in Literary Arabic)
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/, /i(ː)/, /e(ː)/ (in Arabic dialects and loanwords)
Letter
ي / يـ / ـيـ / ـي • (yāʾ)
Usage notes
- After kasra it is pronounced as a long ī /iː/ or y /j/ after fatḥa, ḍamma and before other vowels.
- In the final position alif maqṣūra (ألف مقصورَة (“restricted alif”)) is always written without dots (ـى). alif maqṣūra always follows a fatḥa and is transliterated as ā; see ى for its pronunciation. It is also called alif layyina (ألف لينَة (“flexible alif”))
- The traditional usage remains in Egypt and Sudan, for which the final yāʾ is written without dots and is visually identical to alif maqṣūra.
Descendants
- Persian: ی
Symbol
ي / يـ / ـيـ / ـي • (yāʾ)
Suffix
ـِي or ـِيَ or ـيَ • (-ī or -iya or -ya)
Usage notes
أَنَا (ʔanā) has four enclitic forms which are employed in different contexts and are generally not interchangeable. The enclitic forms ـنِي (-nī) and ـنِيَ (-niya) are attached to prepositions ending in نْ (n) with no final vowel (e.g., مِنْ (min) and عَنْ (ʕan)) and to verbs. They may also be added to the class of particles traditionally called "the sisters of إِنَّ (ʔinna)" (except لَعَلَّ (laʕalla)).
The forms ـِي (-ī) and ـيَ (-ya) are used elsewhere mostly interchangeably, though restrictions in metrical poetry often determine which variant is used. All short case endings before the suffix are elided (that is, those of the singular, the broken plural, and the so-called sound feminine plural), as in قَوْلِي (qawlī, “my speech (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”), أَصَابِعِي (ʔaṣābiʕī, “my fingers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”), and مُعَلِّمَاتِي (muʕallimātī, “my female teachers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”).
In cases where ـِي (-ī) would be preceded by a long vowel, as when suffixing sound masculine plural nouns, only ـيَ (-ya) is used. If the word ends in a long close vowel (that is, -ū or -ī), the long close vowel assimilates to /i/ and the suffix is geminated, thus producing ـِيَّ (-iyya), as in مُعَلِّمِيَّ (muʕallimiyya, “my teachers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”) (from مُعَلِّمُو (muʕallimū, “(the) teachers of (nominative)”) or مُعَلِّمِي (muʕallimī, “teachers of (accusative or genitive)”)) and قَاضِيَّ (qāḍiyya, “my judge (nominative, accusative, or genitive); my judges (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”) (from قَاضِي (qāḍī, “(the) judge of (nominative)”) or from قَاضُو (qāḍū, “(the) judges of (nominative)”) or قَاضِي (qāḍī, “(the) judges of (accusative or genitive)”)). Therefore, when suffixed, such nouns, like nouns with short endings, are described as indeclinable in traditional Arabic grammar. However, the last long vowel is retained if it is open (that is, -ā), as in إِصْبَعَايَ (ʔiṣbaʕāya, “my two fingers (nominative)”) (from إِصْبَعَا (ʔiṣbaʕā, “(the) two fingers of (nominative)”). If the word ends in the diphthong -aj, ـيَ (-ya) is used, /j/ is elided, and the suffix is geminated, as in إِصْبَعَيَّ (ʔiṣbaʕayya, “my two fingers (accusative or genitive)”) (from إِصْبَعَيْ (ʔiṣbaʕay, “(the) two fingers of (accusative or genitive)”). Thus, suffixed dual nouns are distinguishable in case, unlike all the other forms.
Derived terms
Related terms
| Isolated nominative pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | أَنَا (ʔanā) | نَحْنُ (naḥnu) | ||
| 2nd person | m | أَنْتَ (ʔanta) | أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā) | أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum) |
| f | أَنْتِ (ʔanti) | أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هُوَ (huwa) | هُمَا (humā) | هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)1 |
| f | هِيَ (hiya) | هُنَّ (hunna) | ||
| Isolated accusative pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya) | إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka) | إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā) | إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum) |
| f | إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki) | إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu) | إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā) | إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum) |
| f | إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā) | إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna) | ||
| Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)2 | ـنَا (-nā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | ـكَ (-ka) | ـكُمَا (-kumā) | ـكُم (-kum) |
| f | ـكِ (-ki) | ـكُنَّ (-kunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)3 | ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)3 | ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)3 |
| f | ـهَا (-hā) | ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)3 | ||
| 1. هُمْ (hum) becomes هُمُ (humu) before the definite article الـ (al--). 2. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya, “my”) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي (-ī) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʔinnī)). 3. ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw). | ||||
Suffix
ـِيّ • (-iyy)
- The nisba suffix, an extremely productive suffix used to derive adjectives (with the meaning “related to ...”) or nouns (with the meaning “person related to ...”) from other nouns: for instance, فَنِّيّ (fanniyy, “artistic, artist”) derived from فَنّ (fann, “art”), عِرَاقِيّ (ʕirāqiyy, “Iraqi, an Iraqi”) derived from عِرَاق (ʕirāq, “Iraq”).
Derived terms
Pronunciation
- IPA: /jaː/
Particle
يَٰـ • (yā-)
- (Classical Arabic) Alternative spelling of يَا (yā) (vocative particle)
Usage notes
See يا#Usage notes for details.
ي - Kazakh
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA: /ja ˌʲeki noˈqat/
- (phoneme): IPA: /əj/ (back)
- (phoneme): IPA: /ij/, /ɘj/ (front)
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/ (consonantal)
Letter
ي • (ï, y)
- The twenty-ninth letter of the Kazakh in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter И, Й or sometimes ий, ый.
Forms
| Isolated form | Final form | Medial form | Initial form |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ |
Usage notes
- Represents the back vowel dipthong /əj/, unless a small ء (hamza) was placed in the beginning of the word. In Kazakh the Hamza marks that all vowels in the following word are fronted.
- The letter ي cannot act as a vowel in the beginning of a word or when it is written proceeding another vowel. When ي is unable to make a vowel sound, it becomes the consonant sound /j/.
ي - Malay
Pronunciation
- (Name of letter) IPA: [jɐ]
- (Phoneme, Consonant) IPA: [j]
- (Phoneme, Vowel) IPA: [i], [e], [ɛ]
- (Phoneme, Vowel, Closed ultima, Johor-Selangor) IPA: [e], [ɛ]
Letter
ي / يـ / ـيـ / ـي
ي - Pashto
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA: /ˈklaka je/
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/, /i/
Letter
ي • (klaka ye)
- The forty-first letter of the Pashto alphabet. At the end of a verb, it indicates the verb is in third person plural present form. At the end of nouns and adjectives it indicates that the word is masculine in the singular oblique case or plural direct case. It also used in the non-declining adjective class.
Forms
| Isolated form | Final form | Medial form | Initial form |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ |
ي - South Levantine Arabic
Suffix
ـي • (-i after consonant, -y after vowel) m or f
Usage notes
- This form is only used attached to nouns, prepositions and conjunctions. After verbs, the form ـني (-ni) is used instead.
Suffix
ـي • (-i) m (feminine ـيّة (-iyye), plural ـيّين (-iyyīn))
- Nisba suffix turning nouns into adjectives or nouns for people related to
ي - Uyghur
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA: /je/
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/
Letter
ي • (ye)
- The thirty-second and final letter of the Uyghur alphabet.
Forms
| Isolated form | Final form | Medial form | Initial form |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ |
ي - Yoruba
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA: /jí/
- (phoneme): IPA: /j/
Letter
ي (y)
Forms
| Isolated form | Final form | Medial form | Initial form |
|---|---|---|---|
| ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ |