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yow in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology 1
Noun
yow (plural yows)
- Alternative form of yowe
Etymology 2
Interjection
yow
- Expression of pain; ouch.
Yow! I dropped it on my toe!
- Expression of humorous surprise or emphasis.
You've been divorced four times? Yow!
Synonyms
Anagrams
Huave
Noun
yow
- water
Derived terms
References
- Stairs Kreger, Glenn Albert, Scharfe de Stairs, Emily Florence, Olvaries Oviedo, Proceso, Ponce Villanueva, Tereso, Comonfort Llave, Lorenzo (1981) Diccionario huave de San Mateo del Mar (Serie de vocabularios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 24) (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 184–185
Middle English
- yowe, you, youe, yo, yoe, yogh, yaw, yew, yhu, yu, yw, yhow, ȝou, ȝow, ȝouȝ, ȝowȝ, ȝo, ȝowe, ȝu, ȝw, ȝue, ȝiow, ȝeu, ȝew, ȝewe, ȝaw, ȝhow, ȝhowe, ȝiu, ȝeow, ȝehw, ȝuw, gow, gu, giu, geu, geau, eou, eow, eo, eowe, eu, euwȝ, ou, ow, æu, owe, hou, heou, heu
Etymology
From Old English ēow, from Proto-West Germanic *iwwiz, from Proto-Germanic *izwiz. Initial /j/ is by analogy with ye.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
yow (nominative ye)
- Second-person plural object pronoun: you (plural).
- c. 1395, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Clerk's Tale", Canterbury Tales, Ellesmere manuscript (c. 1410):
certes lord / so wel vs liketh yow / And al youre werk / and euere han doon / þat we / Ne koude nat vs self deuysen how / We myghte lyuen / in moore felicitee [...].- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (formal) second-person singular object pronoun: you (singular).
Descendants
See also
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
|
1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual 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.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
Scots
Etymology
Uncertain; most likely from Old English ēow.
Pronoun
yow (personal, emphatic)
- (Southern Scots) you
See also
Whitesands
Noun
yow
- turtle
References
Wolof
Pronunciation
Pronoun
yow
- you (second-person singular subject pronoun)
See also
Yapese
Pronunciation
Pronoun
yow
- Third-person dual pronoun; they two
See also
Yapese personal pronouns
|
Singular
|
Dual
|
Plural
|
First*
|
inclusive
|
|
gadow
|
gadaed
|
exclusive
|
gaeg
|
gamow
|
gamaed
|
Second
|
guur
|
gimeew
|
gimeed
|
Third
|
qiir
|
yow
|
yaed
|
Other expressions
|
Partitive**
|
|
bagyow
|
bagyaed
|
* The first person can be inclusive (I/we and you) or exclusive (I/we and not you). This differentiation is meaningful only in the dual and in the plural. ** Partitive pronouns are used in expressions such as one of them two (dual) or one of them (plural).
|
References
- Jensen, John Thayer (1977) Yapese Reference Grammar, Honolulu: The University press of Hawaii, pages 132-135