| Letname: | Yodh |
| Previouslink: | Teth |
| Previousletter: | Teth |
| Nextlink: | Kaph |
| Nextletter: | Kaph |
| Archar: | ي[note] |
| Sychar: | ܝ |
| Hechar: | י |
| Gechar: | የ |
| Grchar: | Ι |
| Lachar: | I, J |
| Cychar: | І, Ј |
| Ipa: | pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/, pronounced as /ink/ |
| Num: | 10 |
| Gem: | 10 |
Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician yōd, Hebrew yud, Aramaic yod, Syriac yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic yāʾ . Its sound value is pronounced as /link/ in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as a long vowel, representing pronounced as /link/.
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Iota (Ι),[1] Latin I and J, Cyrillic І, Coptic (Ⲓ) and Gothic eis .
The term yod is often used to refer to the speech sound pronounced as /link/, a palatal approximant, even in discussions of languages not written in Semitic abjads, as in phonological phenomena such as English "yod-dropping".
Yod originated from a hieroglyphic "hand", or
.
| Yāʾ | |
| Letter: | ي |
| Script: | Arabic script |
| Type: | Abjad |
| Language: | Arabic language |
| Phonemes: | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ |
| Alphanumber: | 4 |
| Direction: | Right-to-left |
The letter Arabic: ي is named (Arabic: يَاء). It is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:
It is pronounced in four ways:
As a vowel, yāʾ can serve as the "seat" of the hamza: Arabic: ئ
Yāʾ serves several functions in the Arabic language. Yāʾ as a prefix is the marker for a singular imperfective verb, as in Arabic: يَكْتُب "he writes" from the root Arabic: ك-ت-ب K-T-B ("write, writing"). Yāʾ with a shadda is particularly used to turn a noun into an adjective, called a nisbah (Arabic: نِسْبَة). For instance, Arabic: مِصْر (Egypt) → Arabic: مِصْرِيّ Miṣriyy (Egyptian). The transformation can be more abstract; for instance, Arabic: مَوْضَوع mawḍūʿ (matter, object) → Arabic: مَوْضُوعِيّ mawḍūʿiyy (objective). Still other uses of this function can be a bit further from the root: Arabic: اِشْتِرَاك ishtirāk (cooperation) → Arabic: اِشْتِرَاكِيّ ishtirākiyy (socialist). The common pronunciation of the final pronounced as //-ijj// is most often pronounced as pronounced as /ar/ or pronounced as /ar/.
A form similar to but distinguished from yāʾ is the (Arabic: أَلِف مَقْصُورَة) "limited/restricted alif", with the form Arabic: ى. It indicates a final long pronounced as //aː//.
In Arabic, alif maqṣūrah is the letter yāʼ without its two dots, and it is thus written as:However, this letter cannot be used medially in Arabic. The alif maqṣūrah with hamza is thus written as:
In the Persian alphabet, the letter is generally called ye following Persian-language custom. In its final form, the letter does not have dots (Persian: ی), much like the Arabic or, more to the point, much like the custom in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes Maghreb. On account of this difference, Perso-Arabic ye is located at a different Unicode code point than both of the standard Arabic letters. In computers, the Persian version of the letter automatically appears with two dots initially and medially: (Persian: یـ ـیـ ـی).
In Kashmiri, it uses a ring instead of dots below (ؠ) .
In different calligraphic styles like the Hijazi script, Kufic, and Nastaʿlīq script, a final yāʾ might have a particular shape with the descender turned to the right, called ("returned, recurred yāʾ"),[2] either with two dots or without them.[3]
In Urdu this is called baṛī 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 own code point in Unicode. Nevertheless, its initial and medial forms are not different from the other ye (practically baṛī ye is not used in these positions).
Hebrew spelling: Hebrew: יוֹד
colloquial Hebrew: יוּדIn both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, Yod represents a palatal approximant (pronounced as /link/). As a mater lectionis, it represents the vowel pronounced as /link/. At the end of words with a vowel or when it is marked with a sh'va nach, it represents the formation of a diphthong, such as pronounced as //ei//, pronounced as //ai//, or pronounced as //oi//.
In gematria, Yod represents the number ten.
As a prefix, it designates the third person singular (or plural, with a Vav as a suffix) in the future tense.
As a suffix, it indicates first person singular possessive; av (father) becomes avi (my father).
"Yod" in Hebrew signifies iodine. Iodine is also called يود yod in Arabic.
Two Yods in a row designate the name of God Adonai and in pointed texts are written with the vowels of Adonai, which is done as well with the Tetragrammaton.
As Yod is the smallest letter, much kabbalistic and mystical significance is attached to it. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus mentioned it during the Antithesis 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 a mater 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.
Much kabbalistic 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]
In Yiddish,[7] the letter yod is used for several orthographic purposes in native words:
In traditional as well as in YIVO 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.