や

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や U+3084, や
HIRAGANA LETTER YA
← ゃ
 		Hiragana ゅ →

Japanese

Stroke order
3 strokes

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

Syllable

や • (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

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

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 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 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.
    はよせーや！ ― hayo sē ya! ― (dialect) Hurry the hell up!
    まあ、ぼちぼちやなあ。
    Mā, bochibochi ya nā.
    Well, things are slow. (a stereotypical Ōsaka expression)
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

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of や – see the following entry.
【矢】2
(archery, weaponry) an arrow
a wedge used to break hard objects such as wood or stone
a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various designs of arrows
a place name
(This term, や (ya), 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
house
shop, establishment
someone who sells or does that thing; -ist
someone with that characteristic
Alternative spelling
家
(This term, や (ya), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as や, see Category:Japanese kanji read as や.)

(The following entry is uncreated: 家.)

Etymology 7

For pronunciation and definitions of や – see the following entry.
【八】1
eight
(This term, や (ya), 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

Noun

や • (ya) ←や (ya)?

  1. spoke (of a wheel)
    Synonym: スポーク (supōku)
    Coordinate term: こしき (koshiki, “hub”)

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Okinawan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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
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