Where does “ya” come from?
Ya derives from English you, which traces through Proto-Indo-European éǵh₂, yē, h₁eyHweh₂, h₂ekʷeh₂, and (s)ker-, though the specific sense development remains unclear.
ya (English): Nonstandard spelling of you; Yeah; yes; yea; yes
Definitions
- Nonstandard spelling of you; Yeah; yes; yea; yes
Ancestry of “ya”, step by step
ya traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Malay ya
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malay | ya | yes; Vocative particle; grammatical particle for... |
| 2 | English | yea | Yes; Thus, so; Or even, or more like, nay |
| 3 | Middle English | yë | Alternative form of eie |
| 4 | Old English | ġē | ye |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | jahw | and, also |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -hw | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -hwe | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -kʷe | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |