می

See also: مي and مى

Mazanderani

Noun

می (mi)

1. (anatomy) hair

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *-mi.

Particle

می • (mi or mı or mu or mü)

1. Used to form interrogatives.

Descendants

• Turkish: mi, mı, mu, mü
• → Armenian: մը (mə)

References

• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

Persian

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian [script needed] (HS) / [script needed] (mdy /⁠may⁠/, “wine”), from Old Persian *𐎶𐎯 (*m-du /⁠*madu⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *mádu, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *mádʰu, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰu (“honey, mead”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [maj]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäj]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäj]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mäj]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mäj]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mej]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäj]

Readings
Classical reading?	may
Dari reading?	may
Iranian reading?	mey
Tajik reading?	may

Noun

Dari	می
Iranian Persian
Tajik	май

می • (mey)

1. (literary) wine

   Synonyms: شراب (šarâb), (archaic, poetic) باده (bâde), (archaic) مل (mol), (Mughal Empire) رام رنگی (râm rangi), (archaic, poetic) صهبا (sahbâ)

2. alcoholic beverage

Derived terms

• میخانه (meyxâne)
• میکده (meykade)
• میستان (meyestân)
• میگساری (meygosâri)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani:

  Arabic script: مئی

  Cyrillic script: меј

  Latin script: mey

• → Gujarati: મય (maya)
• → Gurani: مه‌ی (may)
• Kurdish:

  → Central Kurdish: مەی (mey)

  → Northern Kurdish: mey

• → Hindustani:

  Urdu: مے (mai)

• → Ottoman Turkish: می (may),
  • Turkish: mey
• → Pashto: می (may)
• → Uzbek: may

Etymology 2

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (hmy /⁠hamē⁠/).

Alternative forms

• (archaic) همی (hamē-)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [meː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [meː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [meː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [meː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [meː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [miː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [me]

Readings
Classical reading?	mē
Dari reading?	mē
Iranian reading?	mi
Tajik reading?	me

Prefix

Dari	می
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ме-

می • (mi-)

1. A non-combining prefix used in the present and the imperfect tenses

   می (mi-) + کردم (kardam, “I did”) = می‌کردم (mi-kardam, “I used to do; I was doing”)

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English May.

Pronunciation

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäj], [meː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäj], [meː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mäj], [meː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mäj], [meː]

Readings
Dari reading?	may, mē

Proper noun

Dari	می
Iranian Persian	مه
Tajik	май

می • (may, mē)

1. (Dari) May

See also

Gregorian calendar months in Persian · مَاه‌هَایِ تَقْوِیمِ گْریگورِی (māh-hā-yi taqwīm-i grēgōrī) (Dari Persian) (layout · text)
January	February	March	April
جَنْوَرِی (janwarī)	فِبْرُوَرِی (fibruwarī), فَرْوَرِی (farwarī)	مَارْچ (mārč)	اَپْریل (aprēl)
May	June	July	August
می (mē)	جُون (jūn)	جولَای (jōlāy)	اَگَسْت (agast)
September	October	November	December
سِپْتِمْبَر (siptimbar)	اَکْتوبَر (aktōbar)	نُوِمْبَر (nuwimbar)	دِسِمْبَر (disimbar)

Etymology 4

Alternative form of مگر (magar)

Pronunciation

• (colloquial) IPA^(key): /mej/

Preposition

می • (mey)

1. (dialectal, Shiraz, Khesht, Konartakhteh, Dashtestan) except

Conjunction

می • (mey)

1. (dialectal, Shiraz, Kazerun, Khesht, Konartakhteh, Dashtestan) but
2. (dialectal, Shiraz, Khesht, Kazerun, Konartakhteh, Dashtestan) unless

Etymology 5

Ultimately Borrowed from Latin mīra, either via French mi or English mi.

Noun

می • (mi)

1. (music) E, Mi (the third note of the fixed-Do solfège scale)
2. (music) Mi (the third note of the movable-Do solfège scale, i.e. the mediant)

Southwestern Fars

Noun

می (mi)

1. (Masarm, Deh Sarv) hair

Ushojo

Adjective

می (mī)

1. mine

Pronoun

می (mī)

1. my