يا

See also: یا and ئا

Arabic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jaː/

Particle

يَا • (yā)

O; hey; you; vocative particle preceding a noun used in direct address, only rarely omitted in such contexts
يَا كَرِيمُ... ― yā karīmu... ― (Hey) Kareem, ...

يَا حِمارُ! ― yā ḥimāru! ― You idiot!
- 1971, “زَهْرَةُ المَدَائِن (zahratu l-madāʔin) [The Flower of [All] Cities]”, in Said Akl (lyrics), The Rahbani Brothers (music), القُدْسْ فِي البَال (al-quds fī l-bāl) [Jerusalem in My Heart], performed by Fairuz:
  يَا قُدْسُ يَا قُدْسُ يَا قُدْسُ يَا مَدِينَةَ الصَّلَاة أُصَلِّي
  yā qudsu yā qudsu yā qudsu yā madīnata ṣ-ṣalāh ʾuṣallī
  O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, O city of prayer... I pray

Usage notes

If the noun following يَا describes a certain person and is singular, sound feminine plural or broken plural, it governs the nominative case in the construct state. If it describes a certain person and is sound dual or sound masculine plural, it governs the nominative case in the indefinite state.

يَا مُحَمَّدُ! ― yā muḥammadu! ― O Muhammad!

يَا مُحَمَّدُ! ― yā muḥammadu! ― O Muhammad!

يَا طَبِيبُ دَاوِنِي! ― yā ṭabību dāwinī! ― O doctor, treat me! (addressing a certain doctor)

يَا مُوَظِّفُونَ! ― yā muwaẓẓifūna! ― O employees!

يَا نَاسُ! ― yā nāsu! ― O people!

If the noun following يَا is meant in general and isn't meant to address a certain person, it governs the accusative case in the indefinite state.

يَا طَبِيبًا دَاوِنِي! ― yā ṭabīban dāwinī! ― O any doctor, treat me! (calling for a doctor)

يَا فَاهِمًا اِلدَّرْسَ اِشْرَحْهُ لَنَا! ― yā fāhiman id-darsa išraḥhu lanā! ― O anyone who understands the lesson, explain it to us!

If the noun following يَا is in a genitive construction, it governs the accusative case in the construct state.

يَا مُدَرِّسَ ٱلْفَصْلِ نَظِّمْ فَصْلَكَ! ― yā mudarrisa l-faṣli naẓẓim faṣlaka! ― O teacher of the class, organise your class!

يَا مُوَظِّفِي هٰذِهِ ٱلشَّرِكَةِ ― yā muwaẓẓifī hāḏihi š-šarikati ― O employees of this company!

يَا أَبَانَا! ― yā ʔabānā! ― O our father!

يَا حَبِيبِي! ― yā ḥabībī! ― O my dear!

If we want to use the noun following يَا in the definite state, we must use another particle أَيُّهَا (ʔayyuhā) (masculine) or أَيَّتُهَا (ʔayyatuhā) (feminine) together with يَا.

يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلطَّبِيبُ دَاوِنِي! ― yā ʔayyuhā ṭ-ṭabību dāwinī! ― O you doctor, treat me!

يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ! ― yā ʔayyuhā n-nāsu! ― O you people.

In Qur'anic and to some degree Classical orthography, يَا (yā) was written يَٰـ and joined to the following word. Compare the following verse (Surat al-Baqara 55, translation Muhammad Asad).
(original orthography) وَإِذۡ قُلۡتُمۡ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نُّؤۡمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ نَرى ٱللَّهَ جَهۡرَةࣰ فَأَخَذَتۡكُمُ ٱلصَّـٰعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمۡ تَنظُرُونَ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

(modernized orthography) وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَى لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّى نَرَى ٱللّٰه جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّاعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

And [remember] when you said, "O Moses indeed we shall not believe thee unto we see God face to face!" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment overtook you before your very eyes.

Derived terms

يااللّٰه (ya-llāh)

Descendants

→ Armenian: յա (ya)
→ Hebrew: יא (ya)
→ Hindi: या (yā)
→ Ottoman Turkish: یا (ya)
- Turkish: ya
→ Persian: یا (yâ)

References

Fischer, Wolfdietrich (2006) Grammatik des Klassischen Arabisch (in German), 4^th edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, →ISBN, § 157

Egyptian Arabic

Pronunciation

(Cairene) IPA^(key): /ja/

Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ja/ (chiefly unstressed)

Particle

يا • (ya)

vocative particle, rarely omitted
طمني يا دكتور، ايه حالة ابننا دلوقت؟
ṭamminni ya doktor, ē ḥālet ibnena dilwaʾt?
Assure me [O] doctor, what's the health status of our son now?

Usage notes

It's reduced to /j/ before /a/, which may sometimes be reflected in spelling:

‎يـ (y-) + ‎احمد (áḥmad) → ‎يحمد (yáḥmad, “hey, Ahmed”)

Derived terms

ياترى (yatára, “I wonder”)
يادوب (yadōb, “just barely”)
ياريت (yarēt, “used optatively: I hope (that)”)
ياما (yāma, “a lot, much, many”)
يلا (yálla, “let's go!”)
يالا (yāla, “hey you, hey kid (masculine)”)
يسطا (yasṭa, “bro, dude”)

Etymology 2

From Persian (yâ).

Conjunction

يا • (ya)

either ... or
يا ده يا ده.
ya da ya da.
Either this or that.

Etymology 3

Learned borrowing from Arabic ـِيًّا (-iyyan), the indeterminate accusative of the adjective-forming ـِيّ (-iyy) (whence ـي (-i)). The indeterminate accusative denotes adverbial usage in the literary language.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈijjan/, [ˈɪjːən] invalid IPA characters (//[])

Suffix

ـيّاً or ـيًّا • (-íyyan or -íyyan)

(somewhat formal) forms adverbs from nouns and adjectives: -ly
‎حصري (ḥáṣri, “exclusive”) + ‎ـيًّا → ‎حصريًّا (ḥaṣríyyan, “exclusively”)

‎حرف (ḥarf, “letter”) + ‎ـيًّا → ‎حرفيًّا (ḥarfíyyan, “literally”)

Usage notes

This is only used in a slightly higher register, otherwise, adjectives are used adverbially with no change in the word's form, and nouns are often times prefixed with بـ (bi-).

This is one of the only morphemes in colloquial Egyptian Arabic that still uses tanwin.

Gujarati

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian (yā).

Conjunction

يا • (yā) (Standard Gujarati યા) (Lisan ud-Dawat)

or

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic يَا (yā).

Interjection

يا • (yā) (Standard Gujarati યા) (Lisan ud-Dawat)

O!

Gulf Arabic

Pronunciation

(Kuwait) IPA^(key): /jaː/

Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

Particle

يا • (ya)

vocative particle
يا غريب كون اديب
yā ḡərīb kūn ədīb
O stranger be respectful

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian (yâ, “or”).

Conjunction

يا • (ya)

either ... or
يَا هَذَا يَا هَذَا.
yā hāḏa yā hāḏa.
Either this or that.

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

Particle

يا • (yā)

Hey
Synonyms: أ (a), وا (wa)

يا داك لولد، أش كاتدير؟
yā dak l-weld ash katdir?.
Hey you kid, what are you doing?

Etymology 2

From Berber ⵢⴰⴷ.

Adverb

يا • (yā)

already
Synonyms: ديجا (diʒa), ياد (yad), عاد (ʕad), فايت (fayt), يلاه (yllah)

(Chiefly Eastern Morocco)
مشيت يا للبحر
mshit yā le l-bḥer.
I already went to the sea.

Etymology 3

Particle

يا • (yā)

either...or
يا غاتعطيني شنو بغيت، يا غانمشي فحالي
yā ġatɛtini šnu bġit, yā ġanmši fḥali.
Either you give me what I want, or I will leave.

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

Particle

يا • (yā)

vocative particle

Etymology 2

From Arabic إيَّا (ʔiyyā).

Particle

يا • (yā-)

accusative particle, used with pronominal suffixes to express English object pronouns, like me, him, etc.
شو بدك ياني قول؟
šū baddak yāni ʔūl?
What do you want me to say?

رح فرجيك ياهن.
raḥ farjīk yāhun.
I'll show them to you.

ما فيني اشرحلك ياه.
mā fīni ʔišraḥ-lak yā.
I can't explain it to you.

Usage notes

Used with false verbs (example 1) and in double accusative constructions (example 2). Optionally used after verbs that are already suffixed with an indirect-object pronoun (example 3).

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ja/, [ja]
Audio (Ramallah): (file)

Particle

يا • (ya)

vocative particle

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian (yâ, “or”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ja/, [ja]
Audio (Ramallah): (file)

Conjunction

يا • (ya)

either ... or
Synonyms: ولّا (willa), أو (ʔaw)

معي ش وقت اليوم — يا بروح ع النادي يا بشوف صحابي.
maʕīš waʔt il-yōm — ya barūḥ ʕan-nādi ya bašūf ṣḥābi
I don't have time today — I either go to the gym or see my friends.

Etymology 3

From Arabic إِيَّا (ʔiyyā).

Particle

يّا • (yyā-)

Alternative spelling of ايا (iyya-), especially after a vowel