English - Letter

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

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Translingual - Letter

y lower case (upper case Y)

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

See also

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter Y):  Ýý  Ỳỳ  Ŷŷ  ẙ  Ÿÿ  Ỹỹ  Ẏẏ  Ȳȳ  Ỷỷ  Ỵỵ  Ɏɏ  Ƴƴ  ʏ  Ｙｙ  Ꝡꝡ

Translingual - Symbol

Wikipedia

y

1. (metrology) Symbol for the prefix yocto-.
2. (IPA) close front rounded vowel
3. Denoting an item that is twenty-fifth in a list.

Translingual - See Also

Other representations of Y:

• Letter styles

English - Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪ/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /i/, /aɪ/, /ə/, /j/
• Homophones: why, Wye, wye

English - Abbreviation

y

1. 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.

2. (UK, television) Abbreviation of youth., usually followed by an age appropriate for the content so marked.

   Y7

3. (computing) Abbreviation of yes.
4. (slang, text messaging, Internet) Abbreviation of why.

Derived terms

• Y2K

English - See Also

• U
• V

Aragonese - Etymology

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

Aragonese - Conjunction

y

1. and

Asturian - Etymology

From Latin et.

Asturian - Conjunction

y

1. and

Asturian - Pronoun

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

1. Pronoun for the third-person singular indirect object

   da-y pan

   give him/her bread

Usage notes

• Usually seen as -y

Azeri - Letter

y lower case (upper case Y)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) hərf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

Dutch - Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ɛɪ/

Dutch - Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

1. 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 the "y" for example modern standard Dutch jij (IPA: /ɛɪ/) becomes "jy" (IPA: /ji:/).

Dutch - See Also

• Previous letter: x
• Next letter: z

Fala - Conjunction

y

1. alternative form of i

Faroese - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iː/
• Homophone: i

Faroese - Letter

y (upper case Y)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) bókstavur; Aa, Áá, Bb, Dd, Ðð, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Íí, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Óó, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Úú, Vv, Yy, Ýý, Ææ, Øø

French - Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /iɡʁɛk/

Letter

y

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

French - Etymology 2

From Latin hīc (“here”), influenced in meaning by Latin ibī (“there”). Derivation from the latter poses difficulty from a phonetic standpoint.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Pronoun

y (adverbial)

1. there (at a place)

   Il est dans la maison. Il y est. — “He is in the house. He is there.”

2. there, thither (to there)

   Nous allons au Mexique. Nous y allons. — “We are going to Mexico. We are going there.”

3. Used as a pronoun to replace à followed by an indirect object. See Appendix:French verbs followed by à for verbs which use this structure.

Related terms

French - Etymology 3

Eye-dialect spelling of il.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iː/

Pronoun

y

1. (Quebec, France, colloquial) He: alternative form of il
2. (Quebec, colloquial) They: alternative form of ils
3. (Quebec, colloquial) They: alternative form of elles

French - External Links

• “y” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German - Pronunciation

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

German - Letter

y n (genitive y or y's, plural y or y's)

1. the letter y

Guaraní - Noun

y

1. water

Italian - Noun

y m, f (invariable)

1. See under Y

Kamayurá - Noun

y

1. water

Kamayurá - References

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, ISBN 0199593566)

Ladin - Conjunction

y

1. and

Latin - Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /yː/

Latin - Noun

ȳ (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter Y.

Coordinate terms

• (Latin’s names for the letters of its own alphabet): ā (A), bē (B), cē (C), dē (D), ē (E), ef (F), gē (G), hā (H), ī (I), kā (K), el (L), em (M), en (N), ō (O), pē (P), kū (Q), er (R), es (S), tē (T), ū (V), ix / īx / ex (X), ȳ (Y), zēta (Z)

Latin - References

• 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).

Malay - Letter

y

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Mandinka - Pronoun

y

1. they, them (personal pronoun)

See also

Manx - Article

y

1. alternative form of yn

Middle English - Pronoun

y

1. I

Norwegian - Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /y̫ː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /y̫ː/, /y̫/

Norwegian - Letter

y

1. 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 IPA^(key): /i(ː)/.

Old Tupi - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔɨ/

Old Tupi - Noun

y

1. water
2. river

Old Tupi - References

• LEMOS BARBOSA, A. Curso de Tupi antigo. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria São José, 1956.

Papiamentu - Conjunction

y

1. and

Quechua - Adverb

y

1. really, truly

Spanish - Etymology 1

Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

1. The 26th letter of the Spanish alphabet, called ye or sometimes i griega.

Spanish - Etymology 2

From Old Spanish é or e, from Latin et.

Alternative forms

• e

Pronunciation

• (preconsonantal) IPA^(key): /i/
• (prevocalic) IPA^(key): /ʝ/
• Rhymes: -i

Conjunction

y

1. 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.

2. (in names of number) and

   setenta y seis - “seventy-six”

3. (in arithmetic) plus

   uno y uno son dos - “one plus one is two”

4. (informal) well

   ¡y por supuesto! - “well, of course!”

Usage notes

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

Turkish - Letter

y (lower case, upper case Y)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) harf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

Turkmen - Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ɯ/, /ɯː/

Turkmen - Letter

y (upper case Y)

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

Turkmen - See Also

• (Latin script letters) harp; Aa, Bb, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ää, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Žž, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ňň, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Ww, Yy, Ýý, Zz,

Vietnamese - Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA ^(key): /ʔi˧˧/
• (Huế) IPA ^(key): /ʔɪj˧˧/
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA ^(key): /ʔɪj˧˥/

Vietnamese - Noun

y

1. he, him

Welsh - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ə/

Welsh - Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• 'r (used after vowels)
• yr (used before vowels)

Article

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

1. the

   y bachgen ― the boy

   y ferch ― the girl (mutated from merch)

   y llong ― the ship

   y bechgyn ― the boys

   y merched ― the girls

Welsh - Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• yr (used before vowels)

Particle

y

1. (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.

2. (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

3. (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.

Usage notes

• y is almost always omitted in the colloquial language.
• 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

• bod
• mai
• i

Rhyme