y-

English

Alternative forms

• a- (Devon)

Etymology

From Middle English y-, from Old English ġe- (perfective and associative prefix); see those entries for more. Cognate with German ge-, Yiddish גע־ (ge-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪ/

Prefix

y-

1. (not productive, obsolete) Used with past participle conjugations to form past participles (this prefix does not occur independently and is no longer productive).

   ybarred, yclept, yclad, ybaptized, yslain, yronne

Derived terms

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j/

Prefix

y-

1. Used together with the suffix -i to create masculine agent nouns.

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 118

Kamba

Alternative forms

• ya-
• a-

Prefix

y-

1. he or she (used for conjugating verbs to the subjective or nominative case of the personal pronoun)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ȝe- (early), i-

Etymology

From Old English ġe- (perfective and associative prefix), from unstressed Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with”). Cognate with Old Frisian e-, Central Franconian je-, Old Saxon gi-, Dutch ge-, Old High German ga- (German ge-), Old Norse g-, Gothic 𐌲𐌰- (ga-). See also ker-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/, (early) /jə/

Prefix

y-

1. Added to verbs as a perfective prefix or intensifier.
2. Used to form nouns of association similar to English co-.
3. Used with past participle conjugations to form past participles.

Usage notes

• Not productive in Modern English.
• This prefix represents a common Germanic collective prefix, as well as a perfective prefix which was used to form past participles. Already by the Old English period such participles could be used with or without it, and as it passed into Middle English forms y-, i-, and ȝe-, it became less productive. The prefix was later adopted as a conscious archaism by some writers such as Edmund Spenser, who prepended it to existing past participles.

Derived terms

Descendants

• English: y-, a-, i- (obsolete)
• Yola: ee-

See also

• ẏ, Middle English abbreviation for ye
• Middle English, y- (prefix) is often confused with ye (“you”) or with ye, alternative form of þe (“the”) due to typographic variation:
• ȝe- / y- is pronounced /jə/, /i/, consistent with the Old English pronunciation of ge- as /je/; it is usually dropped in Modern English except in archaisms (though note enough)
  • In contrast, the standalone Middle English definite article ye (not to be confused with the pronoun ye) is pronounced /ðeː/, /ðɛ/, /ði/ and is effectively an alternative spelling of þe (“the”).

Navajo

Prefix

y-

1. a marker for the third person object

Tooro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /j-/

Prefix

y-

1. Form used before a verb affixed with -a- or subjunctive -e- of a-

   ‎y- + ‎efubike (“to cover oneself”) → ‎yefubike (“may he/she cover himself/herself”)

2. Form used before a verb affixed with -a- or subjunctive -e- of e-

   ‎y- + ‎efubike (“to cover oneself”) → ‎yefubike (“may they (class 4) cover themselves; may it (class 9) cover itself”)

Ye'kwana

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• ∅-, ü-, u- (allomorphs)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Prefix

y-

1. Marks a noun as having a first-person possessor.
2. Marks a postposition as having a first-person object.
3. Marks a transitive verb as having a first-person patient/object when the agent/subject is of third person with verb forms that take series I markers.
4. Marks a transitive verb as having a first-person patient/object when the agent/subject is unspecified with verb forms that take series II markers.
5. Marks an intransitive verb with patient-like argument as having a first-person argument/subject with verb forms that take series I markers (excepting a few verbs that take w-) and on all intransitive verbs with verb forms that take series II markers.
6. Marks a verb form derived with n- and -dü or -'jüdü as having a first-person agent/subject.

Usage notes

The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:

• y- if the first syllable begins with a vowel.
• ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the first syllable begins with a consonant.
• ü- if the first syllable begins with two consonants, e.g. as a result of syllable reduction.
• u- if the first syllable begins with two consonants and its vowel is u.

In addition, if the first syllable is an open syllable and not reduced, then its vowel is lengthened, even in the case where the prefix itself disappears.

Inflection

Etymology 2

The allomorphs ∅- and i- are direct descendants of the original Proto-Cariban *i-, used before consonants. However, Proto-Cariban had ∅- on vowel-initial stems; the Ye'kwana forms y- and ch- are innovations that it shares with certain other Cariban languages. For the former, compare Apalaí, Bakairí, and Chaima y-. The latter, meanwhile, derives from an earlier form *it- also found in several languages of the Venezuelan Cariban branch.

Alternative forms

• d- (Cunucunuma River dialect)
• ch-, ∅-, i- (allomorphs)
• chö- (allomorph with postpositions only)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Prefix

y-

1. Marks a noun as having a third-person possessor.
2. Marks a postposition as having a third-person object.
3. Marks a transitive verb as having a third-person patient/object with verb forms that take series II markers.
4. Marks an intransitive verb as having a third-person argument/subject with verb forms that take series II markers.
5. Marks a verb as having third-person arguments when marked with the admonitive -'no, prohibitive -i, or uncertain future -tai suffixes.

Usage notes

The form taken by this prefix depends on the first syllable of the stem it attaches to:

• y- if the first syllable begins with a vowel other than ö.
• ch- if the first syllable begins with a vowel ö.
• ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the first syllable begins with a consonant. The initial consonant is also palatalized.
• But, with postpositions only, chö- instead if the first syllable begins with a consonant j, n, w, or y.
• i- if the first syllable begins with two consonants, e.g. as a result of syllable reduction.

In addition, if the first syllable is an open syllable and not reduced, then its vowel is lengthened, even in the case where the prefix itself disappears.

In the Cunucunuma River dialect, the forms taken and their distribution are somewhat different:

• ∅- (i.e. the prefix disappears) if the reference is deictic, referring to a specified object.
• d- if the first syllable begins with a vowel other than ö.
• ch- if the first syllable begins with a vowel ö.
• i- if the first syllable begins with a consonant. The initial consonant is also palatalized.
• But, with postpositions only, chö- instead if the first syllable begins with a consonant (unclear if limited to j, n, w, and y).

Inflection

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon, pages 168–169, 172–174, 176–177, 186–188, 190–191, 212
• Hall, Katherine Lee (1988) “”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University, pages 284, 293–295, 298–299