fy

See also: Fy, FY, -fy, and fy.

Translingual

Symbol

fy

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for West Frisian.

English

Interjection

fy

1. Archaic form of fie.
   • 1828, James Hogg, Mary Burnet:

     "O fy, Andrew, how can ye say sae? How can ye doubt that it was in the Almighty's name?"

Anagrams

• YF, yf

Norn

Alternative forms

• (Orkney) fa

Etymology

From Old Norse faðir (“father”) , from Proto-Germanic *fadēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tḗr. Compare Orcadian fa.

Noun

fy (definite singular feyrin or fyrin)

1. (Shetland) father
   • c. 17th century, Hildina (source)

     Fy di yera da ov man dum

     father thou overdost thy manhood

     Nu Hildina on askar feyrin sien

     Now Hildina she asks her father

     hien mindi yagh inga forlskona bera fare kera fyrin min

     and sure I will not present any poisoned drink, to serve for my father

Norwegian Bokmål

Interjection

fy

1. phew, shame; interjection expressing disapproval or disgust

Norwegian Nynorsk

Interjection

fy

1. phew, shame; interjection expressing disapproval or disgust

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fyː/
• Rhymes: -yː

Interjection

fy

1. shame, phew, fie; interjection expressing disapproval, disgust, or outrage

   Fy!

   Don't do that! / That thing you did was bad! (often towards a child or pet or the like)

   Fy på dig!

   Fie on you! ("You have acted in a bad way!", often towards a child or pet or the like – less dated-sounding in Swedish)

   Fy så här stinker

   Phew, it stinks in here

   Nämen fy så hemskt!

   Oh no, that's terrible!

   Fy fan vilken hemsk situation

   Damn, what a horrible situation

Synonyms

(These take för instead of på when directed against an individual. Forms without fan are euphemistic.)

• fy fan (stronger)
• fy bubblan
• fy hundan
• fy farao

Derived terms

• fy för den lede
• fy skam
• fy skäms
• inte fy skam

References

• fy in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• fy in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• fy in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Welsh

Alternative forms

• 'y (colloquial)
• 'm (chiefly literary, used after some prepositions, does not trigger mutation)

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *mene.

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /və/
  • (colloquial) IPA^(key): /ən/, /n/, /ə/, /-/
• Rhymes: -ə

Determiner

fy (triggers nasal mutation of a following consonant)

1. my

   Dyna fy nhad a fy nhad-cu.

   That's my father and my grandfather.

Pronoun

fy (triggers nasal mutation of a following consonant)

1. me (as the direct object of a verbal noun)

   Byddant yn fy nghyflogi dros dro.

   They will employ me temporarily.

Usage notes

• After the noun or verbnoun which fy precedes, i is often added. In formal language, this is done to emphasise the determiner or pronoun. In colloquial language, it is not necessarily an indicator of emphasis, and is often included with the determiner and always included with the pronoun. The exception to the latter case is in passive constructions employing cael, where i is never used.
• In formal Welsh, contractions of fy include f' before vowel-initial words in poetic language and 'm after mostly functional vowel-final words.
• In colloquial Welsh, another form of the word is used, namely yn /ən/. This begins with a vowel and usually triggers a nasal mutation hence has the tendency to be reduced variously in colloquial spelling and pronunciation as 'n /n/, y or 'y /ə/ or zero (the following mutation alone indicating its presence). This yn and its various forms usually trigger nasal mutation but may trigger soft mutation in some instances.
• Pronomial fy can occur before any verbal noun. Before a verb, pronomial 'm is found only in literary language after certain vowel-final preverbal particles. See entry for 'm for more information.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “fy”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies