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Yodh | |
---|---|
Phoenician | 𐤉 |
Hebrew | י |
Aramaic | 𐡉 |
Syriac | ܝ |
Arabic | ي[note] |
Phonemic representation | j,i,e |
Position in alphabet | 10 |
Numerical value | 10 |
Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician | |
Greek | Ι |
Latin | I,J |
Cyrillic | І,Ј |
Yodh (also spelledjodh,yod, orjod) is the tenthletter of the Semiticabjads, includingPhoenicianyōd 𐤉,Hebrewyudי,Aramaicyod 𐡉,Syriacyōḏ ܝ, andArabicyāʾي. Its sound value is/j/ in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as along vowel, representing/iː/.[citation needed]
The Phoenician letter gave rise to theGreekIota (Ι),[1]LatinI andJ,CyrillicІ,CopticIauda (Ⲓ) andGothiceis.
The termyod is often used to refer to the speech sound[j], apalatal approximant, even in discussions of languages not written in Semitic abjads, as in phonological phenomena such as English "yod-dropping".
Yod originated from ahieroglyphic "hand", or*yad.
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Before the late nineteenth century, the letter yāʼ was written without its two dots, especially those in theLevant.
Yāʾ | |
---|---|
ي | |
Usage | |
Writing system | Arabic script |
Type | Abjad |
Language of origin | Arabic language |
Sound values | [j],[iː] |
Alphabetical position | 4 |
Other | |
Writing direction | Right-to-left |
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
The letterي is namedyāʼ (يَاء). It is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ |
It is pronounced in four ways:
As a vowel, yāʾ can serve as the "seat" of thehamza:ئ
Yāʾ serves several functions in the Arabic language. Yāʾ as a prefix is the marker for a singularimperfective verb, as inيَكْتُبyaktub "he writes" from the rootك-ت-ب K-T-B ("write, writing"). Yāʾ with ashadda is particularly used to turn a noun into an adjective, called anisbah (نِسْبَة). For instance,مِصْرMiṣr (Egypt) →مِصْرِيّMiṣriyy (Egyptian). The transformation can be more abstract; for instance,مَوْضَوعmawḍūʿ (matter, object) →مَوْضُوعِيّmawḍūʿiyy (objective). Still other uses of this function can be a bit further from the root:اِشْتِرَاكishtirāk (cooperation) →اِشْتِرَاكِيّishtirākiyy (socialist). The common pronunciation of the final/-ijj/ is most often pronounced as[i] or[iː].
A form similar to but distinguished from yāʾ is theʾalif maqṣūrah (أَلِف مَقْصُورَة) "limited/restrictedalif", with the formى. It indicates a final long/aː/.
In Arabic,alif maqṣūrah is the letteryāʼ without its two dots, and it is thus written as:
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ى | ـى | ـىـ | ىـ |
However, this letter cannot be used initially or medially in Arabic. Thealif maqṣūrah withhamza is thus written as:
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ئ | ـئ | ـئـ | ئـ |
Pashto alphabet |
---|
ﺍﺏپﺕټﺙﺝچﺡﺥڅځﺩډﺫﺭړﺯژږﺱﺵښﺹﺽﻁﻅﻉﻍﻑﻕکګﻝﻡﻥڼﻭهۀيېیۍئ |
Persian alphabet |
---|
ابپتثجچحخدذرزژسشصضطظعغفقکگلمنوهی |
In thePersian alphabet, the letter is generally calledye followingPersian-language custom. In its isolated and final forms, the letter does not have dots (ی), much like the ArabicAlif maqṣūrah or, more to the point, much like the custom in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes Maghreb. On account of this difference, Perso-Arabicye is located at a differentUnicodecode point than both of the standard Arabic letters. In computers, the Persian version of the letter automatically appears with two dots initially and medially: (یـ ـیـ ـی).
Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Naskh glyph form: (Help) | ی | ـی | ـیـ | یـ |
Nastaʿlīq glyph form: | ی | ــــی | ــــیــــ | یــــ |
InKashmiri, it uses a ring instead of dots below (ؠ) (ؠ ؠـ ـؠـ ـؠ).
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ؠ | ـؠ | ـؠـ | ؠـ |
In different calligraphic styles like theHijazi script,Kufic, andNastaʿlīq script, a finalyāʾ might have a particular shape with the descender turned to the right (ـے), calledal-yāʾ al-mardūdah/al-rājiʿah ("returned, recurredyāʾ"),[2] either with two dots or without them.[3]
InUrdu this is calledbaṛī ye ("big ye"), but is an independent letter used for /ɛː, eː/ and differs from the basic ye (choṭī ye, "little ye"). For this reason the letter has its owncode point in Unicode. Nevertheless, its initial and medial forms are not different from the otherye (practicallybaṛī ye is not used in these positions).
Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Naskh glyph form: (Help) | ے | ـے | ـے | ے |
Nastaʿlīq glyph form: | ے | ــــے | ــــے | ے |
Orthographic variants | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Various print fonts | Cursive Hebrew | Rashi script | ||
Serif | Sans-serif | Monospaced | ||
י | י | י | ![]() | ![]() |
Hebrew spelling:יוֹד;[4][5] colloquialיוּד
In bothBiblical andModern Hebrew, Yod represents apalatal approximant ([j]). As amater lectionis, it represents the vowel[i]. At the end of words with a vowel or when it is marked with ash'va nach, it represents the formation of a "diphthong", such as/ej/,/aj/,/oj/, or/uj/ .
Ingematria, Yod represents the number ten.
As aprefix, it designates the third person singular (or plural, with aVav as asuffix) in the future tense.
As asuffix, it indicates first person singular possessive;av (father) becomesavi (my father).
"Yod" inHebrew signifiesiodine. Iodine is also called يودyod in Arabic.
Two Yods in a row (יי) designate the name of GodAdonai and in pointed texts are written with the vowels of Adonai, which is done as well with theTetragrammaton.
As Yod is the smallest letter, muchkabbalistic and mystical significance is attached to it. According to theGospel of Matthew,Jesus mentioned it during theAntithesis of the Law, when he says: "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Jot, or iota, refers to the letter Yod; it was often overlooked by scribes because of its size and position as amater lectionis. In Modern Hebrew, the phrase "tip of the Yod" refers to a small and insignificant thing, and someone who "worries about the tip of a Yod" is someone who is picky and meticulous about small details.
Muchkabbalistic and mystical significance is also attached to it because of its gematria value as ten, which is an important number in Judaism, and its place in the name of God.[6]
InYiddish,[7] the letter yod is used for several orthographic purposes in native words:
In traditional as well as inYIVO orthography,Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic in Yiddish are spelled as they are in their language of origin. In Soviet orthography, they are written phonetically like other Yiddish words.
Position in word | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glyph form: (Help) | ܝ | ـܝ | ـܝـ | ܝـ |
Preview | י | ي | ی | ܝ | ࠉ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | HEBREW LETTER YOD | ARABIC LETTER YEH | ARABIC LETTER FARSI YEH | SYRIAC LETTER YUDH | SAMARITAN LETTER YUT | |||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 1497 | U+05D9 | 1610 | U+064A | 1740 | U+06CC | 1821 | U+071D | 2057 | U+0809 |
UTF-8 | 215 153 | D7 99 | 217 138 | D9 8A | 219 140 | DB 8C | 220 157 | DC 9D | 224 160 137 | E0 A0 89 |
Numeric character reference | י | י | ي | ي | ی | ی | ܝ | ܝ | ࠉ | ࠉ |
Preview | 𐎊 | 𐡉 | 𐤉 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | UGARITIC LETTER YOD | IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER YODH | PHOENICIAN LETTER YOD | |||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 66442 | U+1038A | 67657 | U+10849 | 67849 | U+10909 |
UTF-8 | 240 144 142 138 | F0 90 8E 8A | 240 144 161 137 | F0 90 A1 89 | 240 144 164 137 | F0 90 A4 89 |
UTF-16 | 55296 57226 | D800 DF8A | 55298 56393 | D802 DC49 | 55298 56585 | D802 DD09 |
Numeric character reference | 𐎊 | 𐎊 | 𐡉 | 𐡉 | 𐤉 | 𐤉 |