Etymology Explorer › Malay

Where does “ya” come from?

ya (Malay) 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.

ya (Malay): yes; Vocative particle; grammatical particle for...

Definitions

  1. yes; Vocative particle; grammatical particle for...

Ancestry of “ya”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishyeaYes; Thus, so; Or even, or more like, nay
2Middle EnglishyëAlternative 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
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe →