や

や U+3084, や HIRAGANA LETTER YA ← ゃ [U+3083] Hiragana ゅ → [U+3085]

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 也 in the cursive sōsho style.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠]

Syllable

や (romaji ya)

1. The hiragana syllable や (ya). Its equivalent in katakana is ヤ (ya). It is the thirty-sixth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is や行あ段 (ya-gyō a-dan, “row ya, section a”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐ゐ゙, 𛄟, ゑ𛅑ゑ゙, を𛅒を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠]

Particle

や • (ya) 

1. and/or

   おとしよりや体(からだ)の不自(ふじ)由(ゆう)な方(かた)は登(とう)録(ろく)しませんか。

   O-toshiyori ya karada no fujiyū na kata wa tōroku shimasen ka.

   Don’t seniors and the physically handicapped [and others] register?

   最(さい)近(きん)は犬(いぬ)や猫(ねこ)を飼(か)っている人(ひと)は多(おお)い

   saikin wa inu ya neko o katte iru hito wa ōi

   recently, many people are raising [animals like] dogs and/or cats

Usage notes

• Used to conjoin nouns, や (ya) may imply that the list is not limited to the nouns named. Contrast with と (to), the other particle typically used to conjoin nouns, which implies that the list is limited to the stated nouns.
• It is not used in legal documents or academic papers because it lacks comprehensiveness or exhaustiveness. For example, “AやB” often implies that in addition to A and B, something else is also included.

Etymology 3

Phonetic change of じゃ (ja) in the late Edo period

Verb

や • (ya) 

1. (Kansai, Shikoku, Hokuriku, Fukuoka) is, are

   Variation on the Japanese copula だ (da), associated with Kansai dialect, particularly Ōsaka. The use of や (ya) is common in fictional dialogue attributed to characters from Ōsaka.

   まあ、ぼちぼちやなあ。

   Mā, bochibochi ya nā.

   Well, things are slow. (a stereotypical Ōsaka expression)

   • 2016, Makoto Shinkai, director, 君の名は。 [your name.], Toho, spoken by Mitsuha Miyamizu (Mone Kamishiraishi):

     もうこんな町嫌や！こんな人生嫌や！

     Mō konna machi iya ya! Konna jinsei iya ya!

     I'm sick of this town! I'm sick of living like this!

Usage notes

• This word is phonologically enclitic, like particles, since it is basically a contraction of a particle (で) and a verb. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "や" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	や	ya
Continuative (連用形)	で	de
Terminal (終止形)	や	da
Attributive (連体形)	である	de aru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	なら であれ	nara de are
Imperative (命令形)	-	-
Key constructions
Passive	-	-
Causative	-	-
Potential	-	-
Volitional	やろう¹	yarō¹
Negative	やない	ya nai
Negative continuative	やのうて² やなくて²	ya nōte² ya nakute²
Formal	です, だす³, どす³	desu, dasu³, dosu³
Perfective	やった	yatta
Conjunctive	で やって	de yatte
Hypothetical conditional	ならば であれば やったら	naraba de areba yattara
¹ usually shortened to やろ (yaro). ² often replaced to an alternative expression とちごうて (to chigōte). ³ だす (dasu) is used in traditional Osaka dialect and どす (dosu) is used in traditional Kyoto dialect.

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• やー (yā)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠]

Adjective

や • (ya) -na (adnominal やな (ya na), adverbial やに (ya ni))

1. (informal) Alternative form of いや (iya)

   学(がっ)校(こう)はやだ。

   Gakkō wa ya da.

   I don't wanna go to school.

Inflection

Inflection of や

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	やだろ	ya daro
Continuative (連用形)	やで	ya de
Terminal (終止形)	やだ	ya da
Attributive (連体形)	やな	ya na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	やなら	ya nara
Imperative (命令形)	やであれ	ya de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	やではない やじゃない	ya de wa nai ya ja nai
Informal past	やだった	ya datta
Informal negative past	やではなかった やじゃなかった	ya de wa nakatta ya ja nakatta
Formal	やです	ya desu
Formal negative	やではありません やじゃありません	ya de wa arimasen ya ja arimasen
Formal past	やでした	ya deshita
Formal negative past	やではありませんでした やじゃありませんでした	ya de wa arimasen deshita ya ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	やで	ya de
Conditional	やなら（ば）	ya nara (ba)
Provisional	やだったら	ya dattara
Volitional	やだろう	ya darō
Adverbial	やに	ya ni
Degree	やさ	yasa

See also

• やだ (yada)

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of や – see the following entry.

【矢】2 [noun] (archery, weaponry) an arrow [noun] a wedge used to break hard objects such as wood or stone [noun] a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various designs of arrows [proper noun] a place name

(This term, や, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as や, see Category:Japanese kanji read as や.)

Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of や – see the following entries.

【屋】3 [noun] house [suffix] shop [suffix] person who sells or does that thing; -ist

【家】2 [noun] a house [suffix] house of something, place where some business is conducted [suffix] person who does that thing

(This term, や, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as や, see Category:Japanese kanji read as や.)

Etymology 7

For pronunciation and definitions of や – see the following entry.

【八】1 [noun] eight

(This term, や, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as や, see Category:Japanese kanji read as や.)

Etymology 8

Alternative spelling
輻

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) や​ [yáꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ja̠]

Noun

や • (ya) ^{←や (ya)?}

1. spoke (of a wheel)

   Synonym: スポーク (supōku)

   Coordinate term: こしき (koshiki, “hub”)

Okinawan

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wa, from Proto-Japonic *pa. Cognate with Japanese は (wa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ja/

Particle

や (ya) 

1. topic marker

   今日 (ちゅー)や良 (い)い天気 (てぃんち)でーびる。

   Chū-ya ii tinchi dēbiru.

   It is a fine day.

   (literally, “today + as for + good + weather + is”)

Usage notes

Used after words ending in long vowels.

References

• “や” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• 1902, E. R. Edwards, nouts ɔn kəɹiən ən ˈluwˈtʃuwən, in lə mɛːtrə fɔnetik, p.114