yn

See also: YN, yN, -yn, yn-, and ŷn

Contents

Manx

Alternative forms

• y

Etymology

From Old Irish in (compare Scottish Gaelic and Irish an).

Article

yn

1. the

Related terms

• ny

References

• C. Marstrander, E. G. Quin et al., editors (1913–76), “1 in”, in Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English inn.

Noun

yn

1. Alternative form of in (“inn”)

Etymology 2

From Old English in.

Preposition

yn

1. Alternative form of in (“in”)

Etymology 3

From Old English inne.

Adverb

yn

1. Alternative form of in (“in”)

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Middle Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ən/

Etymology 1

Particle

yn

1. grammatical particle used in conjunction with bot (“to be”) to mark adjectival, nominal, or verbal complements
   • Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet:

     Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet a oed yn arglwyd ar seith cantref Dyuet.

     Pwyll Prince of Dyfed was lord of the seven cantrefs of Dyfed

2. grammatical particle used to change an adjective into an adverb

Etymology 2

From Proto-Brythonic *ɨn, from Proto-Celtic *eni.

Preposition

yn

1. in

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• an

Determiner

yn

1. our

Descendants

• Welsh: ein

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Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ən/

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• ’n (used after a vowel)

Particle

yn

1. grammatical particle used in conjunction with bod (“to be”) to mark adjectival, nominal, or verbal complements

   Mae Tom yn darllen.

   Tom is reading.

   Mae Tom yn gysglyd.

   Tom is sleepy.

   Mae Tom yn fachgen.

   Tom is a boy.

2. grammatical particle used to change an adjective into an adverb

   yn dda ― well

   yn fawr ― greatly

   yn wir ― truly

Usage notes

This particle causes the soft mutation (lenition) in all consonant sounds except for /r̥/ (spelt <rh>) and /ɬ/ (<ll>) in nouns and adjectives following it, but not in verbs. Thus in the above examples, cysglyd (an adjective meaning "sleepy") and bachgen (a noun meaning "boy") have been mutated to gysglyd and fachgen, but darllen (a verb meaning "to read") has not been mutated.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Brythonic *ɨn, from Proto-Celtic *eni.

Preposition

yn

1. in (definite nouns)

   Mae hi'n byw yng Nghaerdydd.

   She lives in Cardiff.

   Ydyn ni'n astudio yn y Brifysgol ym Mangor

   We're studying in the University in Bangor.

Usage notes

• This preposition causes the nasal mutation. Before g and c it becomes yng, before p, b and sometimes m it becomes ym. In some areas the spoken language applies a soft mutation rather than a nasal one to the following word, but in written language the nasal is constant.
• Yn is used with definite nouns. Its equivalent for indefinite nouns is mewn.

Inflection

Personal forms

	Singular	Plural
First person	yna, yno, yndda, ynddo i	ynon, ynddon ni
Second person	ynat, ynot, ynddat, ynddot ti	ynoch, ynddoch chi
Third person	yno, ynddo fe/fo m yni, ynddi hi f	ynyn, ynddyn nhw

Alternative forms

• ym (used before m, mh)
• yng (used before ng, ngh)

Related terms

• mewn

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West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian in, from Proto-Germanic *in, from Proto-Indo-European *en.

Preposition

yn

1. in
2. into

Derived terms

• ynkringe
• ynwenje

Further reading

• “yn”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011