Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word يا. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word يا, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say يا in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word يا you have here. The definition of the word يا will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofيا, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
O; hey; you; vocative particle preceding a noun used in direct address, only rarely omitted in such contexts
يَا كَرِيمُ... ― yā karīmu... ― (Hey) Kareem, ...
يَا حِمارُ! ― yā ḥimāru! ― You idiot!
1971, “زَهْرَةُ المَدَائِن(zahratu l-madāʔin) [The Flower of Cities]”, in Said Akl (lyrics), The Rahbani Brothers (music), القُدْسْ فِي البَال(al-quds fī l-bāl) [Jerusalem in My Heart], performed by Fairuz:
O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, O city of prayer... I pray
Usage notes
If the noun following يَا describes a certain person and is singular, sound feminine plural or broken plural, it governs the nominative case in the construct state. If it describes a certain person and is sound dual or sound masculine plural, it governs the nominative case in the indefinite state.
يَا مُحَمَّدُ! ― yā muḥammadu! ― O Muhammad!
يَا مُحَمَّدُ! ― yā muḥammadu! ― O Muhammad!
يَا طَبِيبُ دَاوِنِي! ― yā ṭabību dāwinī! ― O doctor, treat me! (addressing a certain doctor)
يَا مُوَظِّفُونَ! ― yā muwaẓẓifūna! ― O employees!
يَا نَاسُ! ― yā nāsu! ― O people!
If the noun following يَا is meant in general and isn't meant to address a certain person, it governs the accusative case in the indefinite state.
يَا طَبِيبًا دَاوِنِي! ― yā ṭabīban dāwinī! ― O any doctor, treat me! (calling for a doctor)
يَا فَاهِمًا اِلدَّرْسَ اِشْرَحْهُ لَنَا! ― yā fāhiman id-darsa išraḥhu lanā! ― O anyone who understands the lesson, explain it to us!
If the noun following يَا is in a genitive construction, it governs the accusative case in the construct state.
يَا مُدَرِّسَ ٱلْفَصْلِ نَظِّمْ فَصْلَكَ! ― yā mudarrisa l-faṣli naẓẓim faṣlaka! ― O teacher of the class, organise your class!
يَا مُوَظِّفِي هٰذِهِ ٱلشَّرِكَةِ ― yā muwaẓẓifī hāḏihi š-šarikati ― O employees of this company!
يَا أَبَانَا! ― yā ʔabānā! ― O our father!
يَا حَبِيبِي! ― yā ḥabībī! ― O my dear!
If we want to use the noun following يَا in the definite state, we must use another particle أَيُّهَا(ʔayyuhā) (masculine) or أَيَّتُهَا(ʔayyatuhā) (feminine) together with يَا.
يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلطَّبِيبُ دَاوِنِي! ― yā ʔayyuhā ṭ-ṭabību dāwinī! ― O you doctor, treat me!
يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ! ― yā ʔayyuhā n-nāsu! ― O you people.
In Qur'anic and to some degree Classical orthography, يَا(yā) was written يَٰـ and joined to the following word. Compare the following verse (Surat al-Baqara 55, translation Muhammad Asad).
(original orthography) وَإِذۡ قُلۡتُمۡ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نُّؤۡمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ نَرى ٱللَّهَ جَهۡرَةࣰ فَأَخَذَتۡكُمُ ٱلصَّـٰعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمۡ تَنظُرُونَ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
(modernized orthography) وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَى لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّى نَرَى ٱللّٰه جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّاعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
And when you said, "O Moses indeed we shall not believe thee unto we see God face to face!" - whereupon the thunderbolt of punishment overtook you before your very eyes.
Learned borrowing from Arabicـِيًّا(-iyyan), the indeterminate accusative of the adjective-forming ـِيّ(-iyy) (whence ـي(-i)). The indeterminate accusative denotes adverbial usage in the literary language.
This is only used in a slightly higher register, otherwise, adjectives are used adverbially with no change in the word's form, and nouns are often times prefixed with بـ(bi-).
This is one of the only morphemes in colloquial Egyptian Arabic that still uses tanwin.
accusative particle, used with pronominal suffixes to express English object pronouns, like me, him, etc.
شو بدك ياني قول؟
šū baddak yāni ʔūl?
What do you want me to say?
رح فرجيك ياهن.
raḥ farjīk yāhun.
I'll show them to you.
ما فيني اشرحلك ياه.
mā fīni ʔišraḥ-lak yā.
I can't explain it to you.
Usage notes
Used with false verbs (example 1) and in double accusative constructions (example 2). Optionally used after verbs that are already suffixed with an indirect-object pronoun (example 3).