# يا
## Arabic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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 أُصَلِّيyā qudsu yā qudsu yā qudsu yā madīnata ṣ-ṣalāh ʾuṣallīO 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 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 ٱلشَّرِكَةِyā muwaẓẓifī hāḏihi š-šarikatiO 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
    (modernized orthography) وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَى لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّى نَرَى ٱللّٰهَ جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّاعِقَةُ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَwa-ʔiḏ qultum yā mūsā lan nuʔmina laka ḥattā narā llāha jahratan fa-ʔaḵaḏatkumu ṣ-ṣāʕiqatu wa-ʔantum tanẓurūnaAnd [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
* → Valencian Catalan: ye
* → Persian: یا (yâ)

#### See also

* near vocative particles: أَ (ʔa), أَيْ (ʔay)
* far vocative particles: أَيَا (ʔayā), آ (ʔā), هَيَا (hayā)

#### See also

* أَيُّهَا (ʔayyuhā), أَيَّتُهَا (ʔayyatuhā)
* نَكِرَة مَقْصُودَة (nakira(t) maqṣūda)
* نَكِرَة غَيْرُ مَقْصُودَةٍ (nakira(t) ḡayru maqṣūdatin)
* مُنَادًى (munādan)
* تَرْخِيم (tarḵīm)
* لُغَةُ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ (luḡatu man yantaẓiru)
* لُغَةُ مَنْ لَا يَنْتَظِرُ (luḡatu man lā yantaẓiru)

### References

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

## Egyptian Arabic
### Etymology 1

From Arabic يَا (yā).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ja/ (mostly 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

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 یا (yâ).

#### Pronunciation

* (Cairene) IPA: /ja/

#### 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 adverbial accusative of the adjective-forming ـِيّ (-iyy). Equivalent of ـي (-i) +‎ ـًا (-an).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ijjan/

#### Suffix

ـيّاً or ـيًّا • (-iyyan)
* (somewhat formal) Forms adverbs from nouns and adjectives: -ly
    ‎حصري (ḥaṣri, “exclusive”) + ‎ـيًّا → ‎حصريًّا (ḥaṣriyyan, “exclusively”)
    ‎حرف (ḥarf, “letter”) + ‎ـيًّا → ‎حرفيًّا (ḥarfiyyan, “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 nunation.

## Gujarati
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian یا (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: /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 یا (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 Moroccan Amazigh ⵢⴰⴷ (yad)

#### 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 فحاليyā 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: /ja/, [ja]
* Audio (Ramallah):(file)

#### Particle

يا • (ya)
* vocative particle

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian یا (yâ, “or”).

#### Pronunciation

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

#### Conjunction

يا • (ya)
* either ... or
    Synonyms: ولّا (willa), أو (ʔaw)
    معيش وقت اليوم — يا بروح عالنادي يا بشوف صحابي.maʕīš waʔt il-yōm — ya barūḥ ʕan-nādi ya bašūf ṣḥābiI 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