Where does “Yay” come from?

Yay (English) comes from English yea, from Middle English yë, from Old English ġē, from Proto-Germanic jahw, from Proto-Germanic -hw, from Proto-Germanic -hwe, from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe — and; Forms distributives from interrogatives.

Yay (English): A branch of the Tai language family, spoken by the Bouyei and Giáy people

Definitions

  1. A branch of the Tai language family, spoken by the Bouyei and Giáy people

Ancestry of “Yay”, step by step

Yay traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English yea

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishyeaYes; Thus, so; Or even, or more like, nay
2Middle EnglishAlternative form of eie
3Old Englishġēye
4Proto-Germanicjahwand, also
5Proto-Germanic-hwand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
6Proto-Germanic-hwe
7Proto-Indo-European-kʷeand; Forms distributives from interrogatives

via Vietnamese Giáy

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1VietnameseGiáyGiáy, an ethnic group of Vietnam

Words derived from “Yay

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe
Yay — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer