ye

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ye" and үе

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yūs, *yū́ (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”). See also you.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: yē, IPA^(key): /jiː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

ye (personal pronoun)

1. (archaic outside Northern England, Cornwall, Ireland, Newfoundland) You (the people being addressed).
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonby, OCLC 932900760, book VI, canto XII, stanza 17, page 512:

     My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.

   • 1671, Elisha Coles, chapter 6, in ΧΡΙΣΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ: Or, a Metrical Paraphraſe on the Hiſtory of Our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt : Dedicated to His Univerſal Church‎^[1]:

     Queſtion me then no more; whate'er ye want, / Ask in my Name, and God ſhall ſurely grant. / You've asked nothing yet for Jesus sake : / Ask and receive, and of my joyes partake.

   • 1995, Elizabeth II, “Legal Notice 247 of 1996”, in Hong Kong Government Gazette‎^[2], page B1096:

     Know Ye that We have declared and by these Presents do declare our Will and Pleasure as follows— […]

2. (archaic) You, refers to one person addressed.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick‎^[3], chapter 23:

     Know ye now, Bulkington? Glimpses do ye seem to see of that mortally intolerable truth; that all deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea; [...]

Usage notes

Ye was originally used only for the nominative case (as the subject), and only for the second-person plural. Later, ye was used as a subject or an object, either singular or plural, which is the way that you is used today. In modern Hiberno-English usage, ye is used as a subject or an object in the plural, to contrast with you (singular).

Synonyms

• (second-person plural): See Thesaurus:y'all

Derived terms

• d'ye
• hear ye
• ye'd
• ye gods
• ye'll
• ye're
• yere
• yeres
• ye've

 

References

• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [4]

Verb

ye (present participle yeyn)

1. (obsolete) Address a single person by the use of the pronoun ye instead of thou.
   • 1511, Promptorium Parvulorum (de Worde), sig. M.iiiᵛ/2

     Yeyn or sey ye with worshyp, viso.

Synonyms

• (address by the pronoun ye): yeet (obsolete)

Antonyms

• (address by the pronoun ye): thou (obsolete)

Etymology 2

From Middle English þe. Early press typographies lacked the letter þ (“thorn”), for which the letter y was substituted due to their resemblance in blackletter hand (etymological y was for a while distinguished by a dot, ẏ). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.

Alternative forms

• y^e, yͤ

Pronunciation

• Traditionally pronounced the same as the, but now often mispronounced with the ordinary sound of ⟨y⟩: IPA^(key): /jiː/

Article

ye

1. (archaic, definite) the
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Timothy 1:17, column 2:

     Now vnto yͤ king eternal, immortall, inuiſible, the onely wiſe God, be honour and glory for euer ⁊ euer. Amen.

   • 1647, The old deluder, Satan, Act. (cited in American Public School Law, K. Alexander, M. Alexander, 1995)

     It being one cheife proiect of y^e ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of Scriptures, as in form^r times by keeping y^m in an unknowne tongue, so in these latt^r times by perswading from y^e use of tongues, y^t so at least y^e true sence & meaning of y^e originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, y^t learning may not be buried in y^e church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting o^r endeavo^rs,—

   Ye Olde Medicine Shoppe

Derived terms

• ye olde

Etymology 3

Shortened from yes or yeah.

Interjection

ye

1. (slang) Yes, yeah.

Etymology 4

From Russian е (je).

Noun

ye (plural yes)

1. The Cyrillic letter Е, е, featured in various Slavic and Turkic languages.

Translations

Е

• Russian: е (ru) n (je)

Anagrams

• -ey, ey

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Asturian

Verb

ye

1. third-person singular present indicative of ser

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Azerbaijani

Verb

ye

1. second-person singular imperative positive degree of yemək

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Bambara

Etymology 1

Postposition

ye

1. at, towards
2. for

   N ye nin kɛ Madu ye

   I did this for Madou

3. with

   N bɛ n ko ni safunɛ ye

   I wash myself with soap

Etymology 2

Verb

ye (auxiliary)

1. (verbal auxiliary for transitive verbs) marks an action which is accomplished

   Ne ye moto san

   I bought a motorbike

Etymology 3

Verb

ye

1. (transitive) to see

   Ne m'a ye fɔlɔ

   I haven't seen him yet

Derived terms

• yebali
• yecogo
• yeli
• yeta

 

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Catawba

Noun

ye

1. man (adult male human), men
2. person, people
3. Native American Indian(s)

Usage notes

• Catawba nouns do not inflect for number.
• Many of Catawba's names for tribes incorporate this word, e.g. yę iswa (“the Catawba”, literally “people of the river”), yę manterą (“the Cherokee”, literally “people born in/on the land”).
• The vowel of this word is generally nasalized; this is reflected in different ways or not at all in different transcriptions: ye, yę, yeⁿ. Sometimes, an initial i, also nasalized, is found: iⁿyeⁿ / įyę.

References

• 1858, Oscar M. Lieber, Vocabulary of the Catawba Language
• 1900, Albert S. Gatschet, Grammatic Sketch of the Catawba Language (published in the American Anthropologist)
• 1942, Frank G. Speck and C. E. Shaeffer, Catawba Kinship and Social Organization
• 1945, Frank T. Siebert, Jr., Linguistic Classification of Catawba (published in the International Journal of American Linguistics)

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Fula

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Particle

ye

1. so, therefore
2. truly
3. not at all

References

• Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

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Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French est (“is”), third person singular of the indicative present of être (“to be”).

Verb

ye

1. Form of se used at the end of a phrase, after the predicate and the subject, in that order; to be.

   Kimoun ou ye? (“Who are you?”, literally “Who you are?”)

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Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto je.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /je/, /jɛ/

Preposition

ye

1. to, at, by (preposition used when no other fits the meaning)

   Lu kaptis la kavalo per lazo ye la kolo.

   He/she captured the horse by a lasso to the neck.

   Ye la angulo di la strado.

   At the corner of the street.

   Ilu prenis elu ye la tayo.

   He took her by the waist.

Noun

ye (plural ye-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter Y/y.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

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Japanese

Romanization

ye

1. Rōmaji transcription of いぇ
2. Rōmaji transcription of イェ
3. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛀁 (link to non-kana entry)
4. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of エ
5. (obsolete) Rōmaji transcription of 𛄡 (link to non-kana entry)

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Mandarin

Romanization

ye

1. Nonstandard spelling of yē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of yé.
3. Nonstandard spelling of yě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of yè.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English ġē, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́ (with the nominative ending added). Compare the second-person dual pronoun ȝit.

Alternative forms

• yee, ȝe, ȝee, yeȝ, yhe, ȝhe, ge, iye, yie, ȝie, gie, hye, hie, ȝeo, geo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jeː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Pronoun

ye (accusative yow, genitive youres, youren, possessive determiner your)

2. Second-person plural pronoun: ye, you (plural).
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[5], published c. 1410, Matheu 16:15, page 9r, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     iheſus ſeide to hem / but whom ſeyn ȝe me to be .·?

     Jesus said to them, "But who do you say I am?"

3. (formal) second-person singular pronoun: you (singular).
   • a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Book II”, in Troilus and Criseyde, line 22-28:

     Ȝe knowe ek that in fourme of ſpeche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand ȝeer, and wordes tho /That hadden pris now wonder nyce and ſtraunge /Us thenketh hem, and ȝet thei ſpake hem so / And ſpedde as wel in loue as men now do / Ek forto wynnen loue in ſondry ages / In ſondry londes, ſondry ben vſages […]

     You also know that the form of language is in flux; / within a thousand years, words / that had currency; really weird and bizarre / they seem to us now, but they still spoke them / and accomplished as much in love as men do now. / As for winning love across ages and / across nations, there are lots of usages […]

Usage notes

The formal singular usage, following the T-V distinction, was used to address one's superiors, elders or others to whom one might wish to show politeness or respect.

Descendants

• English: ye, yee
• Scots: ȝe, ye

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

• “yẹ̄, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 16 May 2018.

Etymology 2

From Old English gēa, from Proto-West Germanic *jā, from Proto-Germanic *ja.

Alternative forms

• yie

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɛː/

Adverb

ye

1. yes, yea

Descendants

• English: yea
• Yola: yee

References

• “yē, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

yë (plural yën)

1. Alternative form of eie
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Prologues”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868, lines 9–10:

     And smale foweles maken melodye, / That slepen al the nyght with open yë.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

ye

1. (chiefly Northern) Alternative form of þe (“thee”)

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Norn

Etymology

From Old Norse eigi.

Adverb

ye

1. (Orkney) not

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Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• 𑀬𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• ये (Devanagari script)
• যে (Bengali script)
• යෙ (Sinhalese script)
• ယေ (Burmese script)
• เย (Thai script)
• ᨿᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ເຍ or ເຢ (Lao script)
• យេ (Khmer script)

Pronoun

ye

1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ya (“who (relative)”)

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Scots

Alternative forms

• you

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jiː/, /jɪ/

Pronoun

ye (second person, singular or plural; possessive determiner yer, possessive pronoun yers, singular reflexive yersel, plural reflexive yersel)

1. you

See also

Scots personal pronouns

			personal pronoun			possessive pronoun	possessive determiner
			subjective	objective	reflexive
first person	singular		A I, ik	me mei	masel mysel	mines	ma my
	plural		we	us, we's hus	oorsels, oorsel wirsels, wirsel	oors wirs	oor wir
second person	singular	standard (formal)	ye you, yow	ye you, yow	yersel yoursel	yers yours	yer your
		Insular (informal)	thoo	thee	thysel, theesel	thines	thy, thee, thees
	plural		ye, yese you, youse	ye, yese you, youse theer	yesels yoursels	yers yours	yer your
third person	singular	masculine	he, e	him, im	himsel, hissel	his, is	his, is
		feminine	she	her, er	hersel	hers	her, er
		neuter	it hit	it hit	itsel hitsel	its hits	its hits
		genderless, nonspecific (formal)	ane	ane	–	–	ane's
	plural		thay	thaim	thaimsel, thaimsels	thairs	thair

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Spanish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝe/, [ˈɟ͡ʝe]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝe/, [ˈɟ͡ʝe]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃe/, [ˈʃe]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒe/, [ˈʒe]

Noun

ye f (plural yes)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y.

   Synonym: i griega

Usage notes

"Ye" was recommended by the Real Academia Española as a simpler name for the more common i griega (literally “Greek i”). Adoption of it has been slow.

Further reading

• “ye” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

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Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /je/

Etymology 1

Noun

ye

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Y.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian یه‎ (ye).

Noun

ye

1. Last letter of the Arabic alphabet: ي

• • Previous: و‎

Etymology 3

Verb

ye

1. second-person singular imperative of yemek

Antonyms

• yeme

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Uzbek

Verb

ye

1. imperative of yemoq

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Volapük

Conjunction

ye

1. however

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Yola

Contraction

ye

1. Alternative form of yeeit

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Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jè/

Noun

yè

1. (Idanre, Ondo) mother

   Synonyms: ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé, ùyá, abiyamọ

2. (Idanre, Ondo) a term of endearment or respect for an older woman or female relative

   Synonyms: mà, àǹtí, ìyá, màmá, mọ́mì, yèyé, iye, èyé

   A jọ̀ọ́, yè i ― Please, auntie

Usage notes

• (term of endearment): usually used with mi (“third-person singular possessive pronoun”).
• (both senses): follow greetings and pleasantries.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. (transitive) to understand

   Ṣó yé yín? ― Do you understand?

   Kò yé mi ― I don't understand

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. to stop; to cease

   Yé ṣe bẹ́ẹ̀! ― Stop doing that!

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jè/

Verb

yè

1. (intransitive) to survive

   Ògún yè, mo yè ― Ogun survives, I survive

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jé/

Verb

yé

1. (transitive) to lay (eggs)

   Adìẹ mi ti yé ẹyin ― My hen's laid eggs

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Zulu

Pronoun

-ye

1. Combining stem of yena.