# يعني
## Arabic
### Etymology

Non-past of عَنَى (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”). Compare Hebrew יען (ya'en, “because of, since”).

### Pronunciation

IPA: /jaʕ.niː/

### Verb

يعني (form I)
* يَعْنِي (yaʕnī) /jaʕ.niː/: third-person masculine singular non-past active indicative of عَنَى (ʕanā)
* يَعْنِيَ (yaʕniya) /jaʕ.ni.ja/: third-person masculine singular non-past active subjunctive of عَنَى (ʕanā)

### Interjection

يَعْنِي • (yaʕnī)
* (adverbial, conjunctive, prepositional, or adjectival) in other words, actually, namely, to wit, kind of, somewhat, id est, that is, meaning, you know
* (filler) er, so, uh, well

#### Descendants

* Gulf Arabic: يعني (yaʕni)
* North Levantine Arabic: يعني (yaʕni)
* South Levantine Arabic: يعني (yaʕni)
* → Armenian: յանի (yani)
* → Azerbaijani: yəni
* → Bashkir: йәғни (yəğni)
* → Classical Persian: یَعْنِی (ya'nī)
** Tajik: яъне (yaʾne)
* → Hebrew: יעני (yá'ni)
* → Hindustani:
    Hindi: यानी (yānī)
    Urdu: یَعْنِی (ya'nī)
* → Indonesian: yakni
* → Kalasha: yani
* → Kazakh: яғни (äğni)
* → Malay: yakni
* → Northern Kurdish: yenî, yani
* → Ottoman Turkish: یعنی (yani)
** Turkish: yani
*** → Swedish: yani
* → Swahili: yaani
* → Tatar: ягъни (yağni), yağni
* → Uyghur: يەنى (yeni)
* → Uzbek: ya'ni

### Verb

يعني (form I)
* يَعْنِي (yaʕnī) /jaʕ.niː/: third-person masculine singular non-past active indicative of عَنَى (ʕanā)
* يَعْنِيَ (yaʕniya) /jaʕ.ni.ja/: third-person masculine singular non-past active subjunctive of عَنَى (ʕanā)

## Gulf Arabic
### Etymology

Non-past of Arabic عَنَى (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”).

### Verb

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)
* (transitive) [he/she/it] means

#### Usage notes

* In the past tense, كان معناته is used, which means "its meaning was".

### Interjection

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)
* (adverbial) kind of, somewhat
    كان حلو الفلم ؟ يعني بس مو وايد . ― Was the movie good? Kind of, but not so much.

#### Usage notes

* The expression is only used when answering questions.

## North Levantine Arabic
### Conjunction

يعني • (yaʿni)
* so
    عملنا اللي فينا نعملو، يعني رح نشوف شو بيصيرʿMilna lli fīna naʿmlu, yaʿni raḥ nšūf šu biṣīr.We’ve done what we could, so we’ll see what happens.

### Adverb

يعني • (yaʿni)
* namely; that is; in other words
    لازم نسألو، يعني المعلمLāzim nisʾalu, yaʿni li-mʿallim.We have to ask him, I mean the teacher.

### Interjection

يعني • (yaʿni)
* well; you know; er; uh
    يعني... الموضوع أصعب من هيكYaʿni... l-mawḍūʿ ʾaṣʿab min hayk.Well... the affair is more complicated than that.
* kind of; I guess
    كان حلو الفلم؟ — يعني، بس توقعتو أحلىKān ḥilu l-film? — Yaʿni, bas twaʾʾaʿtu ʾaḥla.Was the film good? — I guess, but I’d expected it to be better.
* (postpositioned) really; seriously; man; come on; used for emphasis
    ما في فرق كبير. هو نفس الشي تقريبا، يعنيMa fi fariʾ kbīr. Huwi nafs iš-ši taʾrīban, yaʿni.There’s no big difference. It’s roughly the same thing, really.
    هيدا مش معقول، يعني ― Hayda miš maʿʾūl, yaʿni. ― This is crazy, man.

## South Levantine Arabic
### Etymology

From Arabic يَعْنِي (yaʕnī).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /jaʕ.ni/, [ˈjaʕ.ni]
* Audio (Ramallah):(file)

### Interjection

يعني • (yaʕni)
* so, well, you know
* I guess, I suppose
* does that mean...? (in a question)