ي

See also: ى [U+0649 ARABIC LETTER ALEF MAKSURA], ی [U+06CC ARABIC LETTER FARSI YEH], ې [U+06D0 ARABIC LETTER E], ۍ [U+06CD ARABIC LETTER YEH WITH TAIL], ئ [U+0626 ARABIC LETTER YEH WITH HAMZA ABOVE], ے [U+06D2 ARABIC LETTER YEH BARREE], and ۓ [U+06D3 ARABIC LETTER YEH BARREE WITH HAMZA ABOVE]

ي U+064A, ي ARABIC LETTER YEH ← ى [U+0649] Arabic ◌ً → [U+064B]

ﻱ U+FEF1, ﻱ ARABIC LETTER YEH ISOLATED FORM ← ﻰ [U+FEF0] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻲ → [U+FEF2]

ﻲ U+FEF2, ﻲ ARABIC LETTER YEH FINAL FORM ← ﻱ [U+FEF1] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻳ → [U+FEF3]

ﻳ U+FEF3, ﻳ ARABIC LETTER YEH INITIAL FORM ← ﻲ [U+FEF2] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻴ → [U+FEF4]

ﻴ U+FEF4, ﻴ ARABIC LETTER YEH MEDIAL FORM ← ﻳ [U+FEF3] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻵ → [U+FEF5]

Arabic

Etymology 1

From the Nabataean letter 𐢍 (l, “yodh”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤉 (l, “yodh”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓂝. See also Classical Syriac ܝ (l, “yodh”), Hebrew י (l, “yodh”), Ancient Greek Ιいおた (I), Latin I and Latin J.

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jaːʔ/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/, /iː/ (in Literary Arabic)
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/, /i(ː)/, /e(ː)/ (in Arabic dialects and loanwords)

Letter

ي / ي‍ـ‍ / ‍ـي‍ـ / ـي • (yāʔ)

1. The twenty-eighth and final letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by و (w).

Usage notes

• After kasra it is pronounced as a long ī /iː/ or y /j/ after fatḥa, ḍamma and before other vowels.
• In the final position alif maqṣūra ألف مقصورَة "restricted alif" is always written without dots (ـى). alif maqṣūra always follows a fatḥa and is transliterated as ā; see ى for its pronunciation. It is also called alif layyina (ألف لينَة) "flexible alif"
• The traditional usage remains in Egypt and Sudan, for which the final yāʾ is written without dots and is visually identical to alif maqṣūra.

Descendants

• Persian: ی

Symbol

ي / ي‍ـ‍ / ‍ـي‍ـ / ـي • (yāʔ)

1. The tenth letter in traditional abjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals). It is preceded by ط (ṭ) and followed by ك (k).

Etymology 2

Compare Biblical Hebrew ־ִי (-i).

Suffix

ـِي or ـِيَ or ـيَ • (-ī or -iya or -ya)

1. bound object pronoun: me, my

   ‎لِـ (li-, “to”) + ‎ـِي (-ī) → ‎لِي (lī, “to me”)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 7:105:

     قَدْ جِئْتُكُم بِبَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعِيَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

     qad jiʔtukum bibayyinatin min rabbikum faʔarsil maʕiya banī ʔisrāʔīla

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

أَنَا (ʔanā) has four enclitic forms which are employed in different contexts and are generally not interchangeable. The enclitic forms ـنِي (-nī) and ـنِيَ (-niya) are attached to prepositions ending in نْ (n) with no final vowel (e.g., مِنْ (min) and عَنْ (ʕan)) and to verbs. They may also be added to the class of particles traditionally called "the sisters of إِنَّ (ʔinna)" (except لَعَلَّ (laʕalla)).

The forms ـِي (-ī) and ـيَ (-ya) are used elsewhere mostly interchangeably, though restrictions in metrical poetry often determine which variant is used. All short case endings before the suffix are elided (that is, those of the singular, the broken plural, and the so-called sound feminine plural), as in قَوْلِي (qawlī, “my speech (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”), أَصَابِعِي (ʔaṣābiʕī, “my fingers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”), and مُعَلِّمَاتِي (muʕallimātī, “my female teachers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”).

In cases where ـِي (-ī) would be preceded by a long vowel, as when suffixing sound masculine plural nouns, only ـيَ (-ya) is used. If the word ends in a long close vowel (that is, -ū or -ī), the long close vowel assimilates to /i/ and the suffix is geminated, thus producing ـِيَّ (-iyya), as in مُعَلِّمِيَّ (muʕallimiyya, “my teachers (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”) (from مُعَلِّمُو (muʕallimū, “(the) teachers of (nominative)”) or مُعَلِّمِي (muʕallimī, “teachers of (accusative or genitive)”)) and قَاضِيَّ (qāḍiyya, “my judge (nominative, accusative, or genitive); my judges (nominative, accusative, or genitive)”) (from قَاضِي (qāḍī, “(the) judge of (nominative)”) or from قَاضُو (qāḍū, “(the) judges of (nominative)”) or قَاضِي (qāḍī, “(the) judges of (accusative or genitive)”)). Therefore, when suffixed, such nouns, like nouns with short endings, are described as indeclinable in traditional Arabic grammar. However, the last long vowel is retained if it is open (that is, -ā), as in إِصْبَعَايَ (ʔiṣbaʕāya, “my two fingers (nominative)”) (from إِصْبَعَا (ʔiṣbaʕā, “(the) two fingers of (nominative)”). If the word ends in the diphthong -aj, ـيَ (-ya) is used, /j/ is elided, and the suffix is geminated, as in إِصْبَعَيَّ (ʔiṣbaʕayya, “my two fingers (accusative or genitive)”) (from إِصْبَعَيْ (ʔiṣbaʕay, “(the) two fingers of (accusative or genitive)”). Thus, suffixed dual nouns are distinguishable in case, unlike all the other forms.

Derived terms

Arabic terms suffixed with ي (pronoun)

Related terms

Arabic personal pronouns
Isolated nominative1 pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		أَنَا (ʔanā)	نَحْنُ (naḥnu)
2nd person	m	أَنْتَ (ʔanta)	أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā)	أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum)
	f	أَنْتِ (ʔanti)		أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna)
3rd person	m	هُوَ (huwa)	هُمَا (humā)	هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)2
	f	هِيَ (hiya)		هُنَّ (hunna)
Isolated accusative pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya)	إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā)
2nd person	m	إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka)	إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā)	إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum)
	f	إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki)		إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna)
3rd person	m	إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu)	إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā)	إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum)
	f	إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā)		إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)3	ـنَا (-nā)
2nd person	m	ـكَ (-ka)	ـكُمَا (-kumā)	ـكُم (-kum)
	f	ـكِ (-ki)		ـكُنَّ (-kunna)
3rd person	m	ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)4	ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)3	ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)4
	f	ـهَا (-hā)		ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)3
1. Also used to emphasize attached pronouns and as a copula. 2. هُمْ (hum) becomes هُمُ (humu) before the definite article الـ (al--). 3. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya, “my”) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي (-ī) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʔinnī)). 4. ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw).

Etymology 3

Compare Akkadian -ī and Biblical Hebrew ־ִי (-i).

Suffix

ـِيّ • (-iyy)

2. The nisba suffix, an extremely productive suffix used to derive adjectives (with the meaning “related to ...”) or nouns (with the meaning “person related to ...”) from other nouns: for instance, فَنِّيّ (fanniyy, “artistic, artist”) derived from فَنّ (fann, “art”), عِرَاقِيّ (ʕirāqiyy, “Iraqi, an Iraqi”) derived from عِرَاق (ʕirāq, “Iraq”).

Derived terms

Arabic terms suffixed with ي (nisba)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jaː/

Particle

يَٰـ • (yā-)

1. (Classical Arabic) Alternative spelling of يَا (yā) (vocative particle)

Usage notes

See يا#Usage notes for details.

See also

• (Arabic script letters) ا (ʔalif), ب (bāʔ), ت (tāʔ), ث (ṯāʔ), ج (jīm), ح (ḥāʔ), خ (ḵāʔ), د (dāl), ذ (ḏāl), ر (rāʔ), ز (zāy), س (sīn), ش (šīn), ص (ṣād), ض (ḍād), ط (ṭāʔ), ظ (ẓāʔ), ع (ʕayn), غ (ḡayn), ف (fāʔ), ق (qāf), ك (kāf), ل (lām), م (mīm), ن (nūn), ه (hāʔ), و (wāw), ي (yāʔ)
• ى
• ئ (ʔ)
• ی (Persian ye, Urdu ćho.tī yé)
• Search for entries beginning with ي
• Search for entries beginning with ى

Hijazi Arabic

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jaːʔ/
• (phonemes): IPA^(key): /j/, /iː/, /eː/, /i/ (word-final)

Letter

ي • (jāʔ)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by و (wāw).

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ي	ـي	ـيـ	يـ

Kazakh

Alternative scripts
Arabic	ي
Cyrillic	И, и/Й, й
Latin	I, i/İ, i
Yañalif	I, i/I, i

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ja ˌʲeki noˈqat/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /əj/ (back)
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ij/, /ɘj/ (front)
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/ (consonantal)

Letter

ي • (ï, y)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Kazakh in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter И, Й or sometimes ий, ый.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ي	ـي	ـيـ	يـ

Usage notes

• Represents the back vowel dipthong /əj/, unless a small ء (hamza) was placed in the beginning of the word. In Kazakh the Hamza marks that all vowels in the following word are fronted.
• The letter ي cannot act as a vowel in the beginning of a word or when it is written proceeding another vowel. When ي is unable to make a vowel sound, it becomes the consonant sound /j/.

See also

• Previous letter: ى
• (Arabic script letters) ا, ب, پ, ت, ج, چ, ح, د, ر, ز, س, ش, ع, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, ە, ھ, و, ۇ, ۋ, ۆ, ى, ي.

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [jɐ]
• (Phoneme, Consonant) IPA^(key): [j]
• (Phoneme, Vowel) IPA^(key): [i], [e], [ɛ]
• (Phoneme, Vowel, Closed ultima, Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): [e], [ɛ]

Letter

ي / ي‍ـ / ‍ـي‍ـ / ـي

1. The thirty-fourth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• (Arabic script letters) ا,‎ ب,‎ ت,‎ ة,‎ ث,‎ ج,‎ چ,‎ ح,‎ خ,‎ د,‎ ذ,‎ ر,‎ ز,‎ س,‎ ش,‎ ص,‎ ض,‎ ط,‎ ظ,‎ ع,‎ غ,‎ ڠ,‎ ف,‎ ڤ,‎ ق,‎ ک,‎ ݢ,‎ ل,‎ م,‎ ن,‎ و,‎ ۏ,‎ ه,‎ ء,‎ ي,‎ ى,‎ ڽ ^[edit]

Pashto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ˈklaka je/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/, /i/

Letter

ي • (klaka ye)

1. The forty-first letter of the Pashto alphabet. At the end of a verb, it indicates the verb is in third person plural present form. At the end of nouns and adjectives it indicates that the word is masculine in the singular oblique case or plural direct case. It also used in the non-declining adjective class.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ي	ـي	ـيـ	يـ

See also

• Previous letter: ۀ
• Next letter: ې

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic ـِي (-ī).

Suffix

ـي • (-i after consonant, -y after vowel) m or f

2. Enclitic form of أنا (ʔana)
3. I, me, my

Usage notes

• This form is only used attached to nouns, prepositions and conjunctions. After verbs, the form ـني (-nee) is used instead.

See also

South Levantine Arabic enclitic pronouns
		Singular		Plural
		after consonant	after vowel
1st person	after verb	ـني (-ni)		ـنا (-na)
	else	ـِي (-i)	ـي (-y)
2nd person	m	ـَك (-ak)	ـك (-k)	ـكُم (-kom) / ـكو (-ku)
	f	ـِك (-ek)	ـكي (-ki)
3rd person	m	ـُه (-o)	ـه (-h)	ـهُم (-hom)
	f	ـها (-ha)

Etymology 2

From Arabic ـِي (-ī).

Suffix

ـي • (-i) m (feminine ـيّة (-iyye), plural ـيّين (-iyyīn))

1. Nisba suffix turning nouns into adjectives or nouns for people related to

Uyghur

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /je/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

ي • (ye)

1. The thirty-second and final letter of the Uyghur alphabet.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ي	ـي	ـيـ	يـ

See also

• Previous letter: ئى (i)

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /jí/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

ي (y)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Yoruba alphabet in the ajami script, equivalent to Latin script y.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ي	ـي	ـيـ	يـ

See also

• Previous letter: و