y French · revision 16214

+ {{homograph|1|letter}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=grc υ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (letter, name): /i.ɡʁɛk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''y''' ''m'' (invariable), called ''i grec''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The letter “y” is [[bor|la|y]], the letter the Romans took late from the Greek alphabet, [[grc|υ|tr=u|t=upsilon]], to write words taken from Greek.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992) Its French name “i grec” “Greek i” contrasts it with the Latin “i”.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon names it ''y griu'' in his ''Comput'' (1119).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''y'' was at first used to write rare words and proper names.^(DHLF 1992) In the 13th century, when Gothic script made letters like ''n'', ''m'', ''u'' and ''i'' hard to tell apart, ''y'' came to be used as a variant of ''i'', to mark the Greek upsilon and to keep letters apart.^(DHLF 1992) Spanish and Italian kept ''i''.^(DHLF 1992) The letter stands for a fork in a road in 1832, and in algebra for the second unknown from 1846.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The 25th letter of the French alphabet, written for [i] or the semivowel [j]: ''cycle'', ''yeux''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' The second [[m|en|unknown]], or a function of ''x''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ {{homograph|2|there}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century|origins=la hic}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /i/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''y''' (adverbial)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The pronoun “y” is [[inh|fro|i]], [[inh|la|hīc|t=here]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|4, 423a) It eliminated Old French [[m|fro|iv]] “there”, found in the Strasbourg Oaths (842), from [[m|la|ibī|t=there]], which influenced its sense.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Littré derived “y” from “ibī” itself, but Wiktionary notes that this is difficult phonetically.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[ca|hi]], [[pro|i]] and [[it|vi]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The pronoun is recorded from the 10th century; the Strasbourg Oaths (842) still have the older ''iv'' in ''non li iu er'' “I will not be there for him”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “there”, of the place where one is or goes, ''y'' came to stand for any complement introduced by ''à'' (''j'y pense'' “I'm thinking about it”), in contrast with [[en]], which stands for one with ''de''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) It is part of fixed phrases such as ''il y a'' “there is” and ''y compris'' “including”.^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|there]]: at or to the place mentioned: ''j'y vais'', ''il y habite''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # Stands for a complement with ''à'': to it, about it, in it: ''j'y pense'', ''il y tient''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # In fixed phrases: ''il y a'', ''y compris'', ''ça y est''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en]]

+ * [[ici]]

+ * [[la|hīc]]

+ * [[la|ibī]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In popular speech ''y'' also stands for ''il'' (''c'est-y pas malheureux'', ''y chiale''), a spelling of the popular pronunciation recorded from the early 19th century.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}