Wiktionary

ye

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ye" and үе

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology 1

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From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, ge, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”), Latvian jūs (“ye”). See also you.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK, US) enPR: yē, IPA(key): /jiː/, [jɪi], [ji(ː)]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

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ye (personal pronoun)

  1. (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland, Ottawa Valley) You (the people being addressed).
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 17, page 512:
      My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.
    • 1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 6, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church‎[3]:
      Queſtion me then no more; whate'er ye want, / Ask in my Name, and God ſhall ſurely grant. / You've asked nothing yet for Jesus sake : / Ask and receive, and of my joyes partake.
    • 1995, Elizabeth II, “Legal Notice 247 of 1996”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette‎[4], page B1096:
      Know Ye that We have declared and by these Presents do declare our Will and Pleasure as follows— […]
  2. (archaic) You (the singular person being addressed).
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick‎[5], chapter 23:
      Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; [...]
Usage notes
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Ye was originally used only for the nominative case (as the subject), and only for the second-person plural. Later, ye was used as a subject or an object, either singular or plural, which is the way that you is used today. In modern Hiberno-English usage, ye is used as a subject or an object in the plural, to contrast with you (singular).

Synonyms
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Derived terms
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References
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  • Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “ye”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎[6], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.

Etymology 2

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From Middle English þe. Early press typographies in late 15th century lacked the letter þ (“thorn”), for which the letter y was substituted due to their resemblance in blackletter hand (etymological y was for a while distinguished by a dot, ẏ (14th c.–15th c.[1])). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.

"Ye" for "þe" continued in manuscripts through the 18th century. The practice was revived in the United Kingdom in the 19th century as a deliberate antiquarianism in shop names, thus the Ye Olde ... Shoppe construction.[1][2]

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often pronounced with the ordinary sound of ⟨y⟩: IPA(key): /jiː/

Article

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ye

  1. (archaic, definite) The.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:17, column 2:
      Now vnto yͤ king eternal, immortall, inuiſible, the onely wiſe God, be honour and glory for euer ⁊ euer. Amen.
    • 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)
      It being one cheife proiect of ye ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in formr times by keeping ym in an unknowne tongue, so in these lattr times by perswading from ye use of tongues, yt so at least ye true sence & meaning of ye originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, yt learning may not be buried in ye church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting or endeavors,—
    Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe (pseudoarchaic)
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Shortened from yes or yeah.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ye

  1. (slang) Yes, yeah.

Etymology 4

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From Russian е (je).

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Noun

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ye (plural yes)

  2. The Cyrillic letter Е, е, featured in various Slavic and Turkic languages.
Translations
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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ye”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2025 March 12) “Ye Olde Etymologie Shoppe”, in Online Etymology Dictionary‎[1]

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Ainu

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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ye (Kana spelling イェ)

  1. Latin spelling of イェ

Aragonese

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʝe/
  • Syllabification: ye
  • Rhymes: -e

Verb

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ye

  1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

Asturian

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Alternative forms

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  • yía (Western Asturias)
  • ya (Western Asturias)
  • e (Easternmost Asturias)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʝe/ [ˈɟ͡ʝe]
  • Rhymes: -e
  • Syllabification: ye

Verb

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ye

  1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

Azerbaijani

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Verb

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ye

  1. second-person singular imperative positive degree of yemək

Bambara

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Etymology 1

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Postposition

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ye

  1. at, towards
  2. for
    N ye nin kɛ Madu ye
    I did this for Madou
  3. with
    N bɛ n ko ni safunɛ ye
    I wash myself with soap

Etymology 2

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Verb

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ye (auxiliary)

  1. (verbal auxiliary for transitive verbs) marks an action which is accomplished
    Ne ye moto san
    I bought a motorbike

Etymology 3

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Verb

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ye

  1. (transitive) to see
    Ne m'a ye fɔlɔ
    I haven't seen him yet
Derived terms
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Catawba

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Noun

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ye

  1. man (adult male human), men
  2. person, people
  3. Native American Indian(s)

Usage notes

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  • Catawba nouns do not inflect for number.
  • Many of Catawba's names for tribes incorporate this word, e.g. yę iswa (“the Catawba”, literally “people of the river”), yę manterą (“the Cherokee”, literally “people born in/on the land”).
  • The vowel of this word is generally nasalized; this is reflected in different ways or not at all in different transcriptions: ye, yę, yen. Sometimes, an initial i, also nasalized, is found: inyen / įyę.

References

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  • 1858, Oscar M. Lieber, Vocabulary of the Catawba Language
  • 1900, Albert S. Gatschet, Grammatic Sketch of the Catawba Language (published in the American Anthropologist)
  • 1942, Frank G. Speck and C. E. Shaeffer, Catawba Kinship and Social Organization
  • 1945, Frank T. Siebert, Jr., Linguistic Classification of Catawba (published in the International Journal of American Linguistics)

Fula

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Particle

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ye

  1. so, therefore
  2. truly
  3. not at all

References

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Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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From French est (“is”), third person singular of the indicative present of être (“to be”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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ye

  1. Form of se used at the end of a phrase, after the predicate and the subject, in that order; to be.
    Kimoun ou ye? (“Who are you?”, literally “Who you are?”)

Ido

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Esperanto je.

Preposition

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ye

  1. to, at, by (preposition used when no other fits the meaning)
    Lu kaptis la kavalo per lazo ye la kolo.
    He/she captured the horse by a lasso to the neck.
    Ye la angulo di la strado.
    At the corner of the street.
    Ilu prenis elu ye la tayo.
    He took her by the waist.

Etymology 2

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From y +‎ -e.

Noun

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ye (plural ye-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.
See also
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Indonesian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Dutch jee. Doublet of je.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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yè (plural ye-ye)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.

Synonyms

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  • way (Standard Malay)

See also

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Further reading

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Japanese

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Romanization

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ye

  1. The katakana syllable イェ (ye) in Hepburn-like romanization.
  2. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛀁
  3. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of エ
  4. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛄡 (𛄡)

Kongo

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Conjunction

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ye

  1. and

Mandarin

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Romanization

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ye

  1. Nonstandard spelling of yē.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of yé.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of yě.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of yè.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs. Compare the second-person dual pronoun ȝit.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ye (accusative yow, genitive youres, youren, possessive determiner your)

  2. Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
  3. (formal) second-person singular pronoun: you (singular).
    • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book II”, in Troilus and Criseyde, lines 22–28:
      Ȝe knowe ek that in fourme of ſpeche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand ȝeer, and wordes tho /That hadden pris now wonder nyce and ſtraunge /Us thenketh hem, and ȝet thei ſpake hem so / And ſpedde as wel in loue as men now do / Ek forto wynnen loue in ſondry ages / In ſondry londes, ſondry ben vſages […]
      You also know that the form of language is in flux; / within a thousand years, words / that had currency; really weird and bizarre / they seem to us now, but they still spoke them / and accomplished as much in love as men do now. / As for winning love across ages and / across nations, there are lots of usages […]
Usage notes
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The formal singular usage, following the T-V distinction, was used to address one's superiors, elders or others to whom one might wish to show politeness or respect.

Descendants
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  • English: ye, yee
  • Scots: ȝe, ye
  • Yola: ye

Verb

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ye (present participle yeyn)

  1. Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
    • 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2
      Yeyn or sey ye with worshyp, viso.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
See also
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Middle English personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative genitive possessive
singular 1st person I, ich, ik me min
mi1		 min
2nd person þou þe þin
þi1		 þin
3rd person m he him
hine2		 him his his
hisen
f sche, heo hire
heo 		hire hire
hires, hiren
n hit hit
him2		 his, hit —
dual3 1st person wit unk unker
2nd person ȝit inc inker
plural 1st person we us, ous oure oure
oures, ouren
2nd person4 ye yow your your
youres, youren
3rd person inh. he hem
he2		 hem here here
heres, heren
bor. þei þem, þeim þeir þeir
þeires, þeiren
1 Used preconsonantally or before h.
2 Early or dialectal.
3 Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third person dual forms in Middle English.
4 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd person singular.

References

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Etymology 2

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From Old English gēa, ġī, from Proto-West Germanic *jā, from Proto-Germanic *ja.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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ye

  1. yes, yea
Descendants
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References

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Etymology 3

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Noun

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yë (plural yën)

  1. Alternative form of eie (“eye”)

Etymology 4

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Article

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ye

  1. (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“the”)

Etymology 5

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Pronoun

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ye

  1. (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

Mirandese

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Alternative forms

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yê (outdated, yet still used)

Etymology

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From Old Leonese ye, from Latin est.

Pronunciation

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  • (Central/Raiano) IPA(key): /ˈje/
  • Audio (Central):(file)
  • (Sendinese) IPA(key): /ˈji/

Verb

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ye

  1. third-person singular present of ser

Norn

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Etymology

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From Old Norse eigi.

Adverb

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ye

  1. (Orkney) not

Pali

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Alternative forms

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Alternative scripts

Pronoun

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ye

  1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ya (“who (relative)”)

Paraujano

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈje/
  • Rhymes: -e
  • Syllabification: ye

Adverb

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ye

  1. here

References

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  • Álvarez, José, Bravo, María (2008) “ye”, in Diccionario básico de la lengua añú [Basic dictionary of the Añú language]‎[9], Maracaibo, Venezuela: University of Zulia, →ISBN, page 108.

Scots

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“ye”), plural of *túh₂.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ye

  1. you (2nd person singular and plural, nominative and accusative)

See also

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Scots personal pronouns
personal pronoun possessive
pronoun		 possessive
determiner
subjective objective reflexive
first person singular A, I, Ik me mysel mine, mines mine, my
plural we us, we oorsel, oorsels oors our
second person singular standard (formal) ye
you, yow		 ye
you, yow		 yersel
yoursel		 yers
yours		 yer
your
Insular (informal) thoo thee thysel, theesel thines thy, thee, thees
plural ye, yese
you, youse		 ye, yese
you, youse
theer		 yesels
yoursels		 yers
yours		 yer
your
third person singular masculine he, e him, im himsel, hissel his, is his, is
feminine scho, she, shu her, er hersel hers her, er
neuter it
hit		 it
hit		 itsel
hitsel		 its
hits		 its
hits
genderless, nonspecific
(formal) 		ane ane – – ane's
plural thay thaim thaimsel, thaimsels thairs thair

References

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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝe/ [ˈɟ͡ʝe]
  • IPA(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃe/ [ˈʃe]
  • IPA(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒe/ [ˈʒe]

  • Rhymes: -e
  • Syllabification: ye

Noun

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ye f (plural yes)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.
    Synonym: i griega

Usage notes

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  • "Ye" was recommended by the Real Academia Española as a simpler name for the more common i griega (literally “Greek i”). Adoption of it has been slow.

Further reading

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Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish ye, the Spanish name of the letter Y / y.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ye (Baybayin spelling ᜌᜒ) (historical)

  1. the name of the Latin-script letter Y/y, in the Abecedario
    Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) way, (in the Abakada alphabet) ya

Anagrams

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Turkish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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ye

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y/y.
See also
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Persian یه (ye).

Noun

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ye

  1. Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي
    • Previous: و

Etymology 3

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Verb

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ye

  1. second-person singular imperative of yemek

Uzbek

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Verb

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ye

  1. imperative of yemoq

Volapük

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Conjunction

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ye

  1. however
    • 1946, “Nuns”, in Volapükagased pro Nedänapükans, page 34:
      Söl: ‚Tarnow’ äbinom konletan zilik dinas valik teföl valemapükis valasotik. Bukem valemapükik omik, kel äbinon ba gretikün un Deutän, ye pedistukon ti löliko.
      Mr. Tarnow was an industrious collector of all things in the field of world languages of all kinds. His library about world languages, which was perhaps the largest in Germany, has, however, been almost completely destroyed.

Ye'kwana

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Variant orthographies
ALIV ye
Brazilian standard ye
New Tribes ye

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ye

  1. (Caura River dialect) Alternative form of iye (“wood, tree”)

Yola

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English ye, from Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ye

  1. you[1]
    • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 94:
      Ye be welcome, hearthilee welcome, mee joees,
      You are welcome, heartily welcome, my joys,
    • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 94:
      Ye be welcome, hearthillee, ivery oan.
      You are heartily welcome, every one.
    • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 94:
      Maade a nicest coolecannan that e'er ye did zee.
      Made the nicest coolecannan that ever you did see.
    • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:
      At ye mye ne'er be wooveless ta vill a lear jock an cooan.
      That you may never be unprovided to fill an empty jack and can.
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Contraction

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ye

  1. Alternative form of yie (“to give”)[1]

Etymology 3

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Article

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ye

  1. Alternative form of a (“the”)[1]
    • 1867, “CASTEALE CUDDE'S LAMENTATION”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 1, page 102:
      Ye nyporès aul, come hark to mee,
      Ye neighbours all, come hark to me,
    • 1867, “Prologue”, in CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114:
      Ye soumissive Spakeen o'ouz Dwelleres o' Baronie Forthe, Weisforthe.
      The humble Address of the Inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, Wexford.
    • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114, lines 6-7:
      wi vengem o' core t'gie oure zense o' ye gradès whilke be ee-dighte wi yer name;
      to pour forth from the strength of our hearts, our sense of the qualities which characterise your name,
    • 1927, “THE FORTH MAN'S GRACE AFTER A SCANTY DINNER”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 137, line 2:
      When ye Lord plaase, He ma mend this,
      [When the Lord please, He may mend this,]
    • 1927, “THE FORTH MAN'S GRACE AFTER A SCANTY DINNER”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 137, line 4:
      God save ye Kinge, hev awaa ye platter."
      [God save the King, heave away the platter.]
    • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 14[2]:
      Thou liest valse co secun that thou an ye thick,
      You lie false, said the second, that you and your kid,

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, pages 80, 94 & 114
  2. ^ Kathleen A. Browne (1927) “THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series)‎[2], volume 17, number 2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 129

Yoruba

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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yè

  1. (Idanre, Ondo) mother
    Synonyms: ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé, ùyá, abiyamọ
  2. (Idanre, Ondo) a term of endearment or respect for an older woman or female relative
    Synonyms: mà, àǹtí, ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé
    A jọ̀ọ́, yè i ― Please, auntie
Usage notes
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  • (term of endearment): usually used with mi (“third-person singular possessive pronoun”).
  • (both senses): follow greetings and pleasantries.

Etymology 2

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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yé

  1. (transitive) to understand
    Ṣó yé yín? ― Do you understand?
    Kò yé mi ― I don't understand

Etymology 3

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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yé

  1. to stop; to cease
    Yé ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀! ― Stop doing that!

Etymology 4

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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yè

  1. (intransitive) to survive
    Ògún yè, mo yè ― Ogun survives, I survive

Etymology 5

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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yé

  1. (transitive) to lay (eggs)
    Adìẹ mi ti yé ẹyin ― My hen's laid eggs

Zulu

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Pronoun

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-ye

  1. Combining stem of yena.
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