yo
Translingual
English
Etymology 1
As a greeting first attested in 1859, attested first as a cry of sailors and huntsmen (first attested in the 1400s; compare e.g. huzzah, giddyup). Originally from Middle English yo, io, ȝo, yeo, yaw, variant forms of ya, ye (“yes, yea”), from Old English ġēa (“yes, yea”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”), from Proto-Indo-European *yē (“already”); or perhaps from Old English ēow (“Wo!, Alas!”, interjection). Compare Danish, Swedish, German, Norwegian jo (“yes (flexible meaning)”), Dutch jow (“hi, hey”) and Dutch jo (“hi, hey”). More at yea, ow, ew.
Modern popularity apparently dates from World War II (claimed to be a common response at roll calls; see definition 4), and then most intensely attested in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it thence spread globally from American dominance of pop culture post-WWII.
Interjection
yo
- (slang) A greeting similar to hi.
- (slang) An interjection similar to hey.
- Synonyms: ahoy, oi; see also Thesaurus:hey
- Yo, check this out!
- Check this out, yo!
- (slang) An expression of surprise or excitement.
- Yo, that's crazy, but I don't remember asking.
- 2021 October 2, Mason Cannon, “Don't Feel Pressured To Declare Your Major Right Away”, in Study Breaks:
- I have quickly acclimated myself to the standard form of greeting on campus: "Oh hey what’s your name? … Yeah, nice to meet you, what're you studying? … Yo that’s sick!" A script to recite, nearly verbatim, 10 times a day or more.
- (military slang) Present! Here!
- Sergeant: Smith?
Private Smith: Yo!
- Sergeant: Smith?
- (chiefly African-American Vernacular) Emphatic conclusion to a statement.
- 2010, "Kafkaesque" (Breaking Bad TV series, season 3, episode 9)
- JESSE: That is messed up, yo.
- 2010, "Kafkaesque" (Breaking Bad TV series, season 3, episode 9)
Alternative forms
Determiner
yo
- (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of your.
- Yo sandwich has only bacon in it. Want some ketchup on that?
Pronoun
yo
- (Baltimore) third-person singular, familiar
- Yo was tuckin' in his shirt! (Stotko and Troyer 2007)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jɒ/
Derived terms
- yoficator
Afar
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjo/
Usage notes
- The form yóo is used when the pronoun isn't followed by a clitic.
See also
References
- E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “yo”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
Aragonese
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin eo. Akin to Spanish yo and Portuguese eu.
Asturian
Etymology
From Old Leonese yo, from Vulgar Latin eo (attested from the 6th century), from Latin ego.
Chavacano
Danish
Interjection
yo
- (slang) yo
- 2016, Lisbeth Zornig; Mikael Lindholm, Bundfald, Art People, →ISBN:
- “Yo!” Mathias så op.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /joː/
- Hyphenation: yo
- Rhymes: -oː
Guerrero Amuzgo
Haitian Creole
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Usage notes
This word is only used in its article sense when it modifies a plural noun.
See also
- a
- an
- la
- lan
- nan
- sa a (emphatic value)
- yon (indef. art.)
Indonesian
Etymology 1
A shortening of "ayo" (come on)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /joː/
- Hyphenation: yo
- Rhymes: -oː
Interjection
yo
- (slang) Template:id (informal greeting, interjection similar to hey)
.
Kristang
See also
Kristang personal pronouns (edit) | ||
---|---|---|
Person | Singular | Plural |
First | yo | nus |
Second | bos | bolotu |
Third | eli | olotu |
References
- 2010, Ladislav Prištic, Kristang - Crioulo de Base Portuguesa, Masaryk University, page 26.
Lashi
Etymology 1
From Proto-Lolo-Burmese *hja, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *hja. Cognates include Jingpho yi.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo˧/, [ju˧˩]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo˧/
Etymology 3
From Proto-Lolo-Burmese [Term?], from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-ja. Cognates include Jingpho kăya.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /joː˧/, [jɔ˧˨]
Lingala
Lower Tanana
References
- James Kari, Lower Tanana Athabaskan Listening and Writing Exercises (1991)
Mandarin
Romanization
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 喲/哟, 哟.
- Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嚛, 𪠸.
yo
- Nonstandard spelling of yō.
Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Maquiritari
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɟo]
Norman
Etymology
From Old French yaue, ewe, euwe, egua (“water”), from Latin aqua (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water, flowing water”).
Pali
Alternative forms
Spanish
Etymology
From Old Spanish yo, from Vulgar Latin eo (attested from the 6th century), from Latin ego, from Proto-Italic *egō; akin to Greek εγώ (egó), Sanskrit अहम् (aham), all from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂. Akin to Italian io, Sicilian iu, Catalan jo, Aragonese and Asturian yo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝo/ [ˈɟ͡ʝo]
- IPA(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃo/ [ˈʃo]
- IPA(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒo/ [ˈʒo]
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -o
- Syllabification: yo
Usage notes
See also
nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first person | singular | yo | me | mí1 | |||
plural | masculine2 | nosotros | nos | nosotros | |||
feminine | nosotras | nosotras | |||||
second person | singular | tuteo | tú | te | ti1 | ||
voseo | vos | vos | |||||
formal3 | usted | le, se4 | lo/la5 | usted | |||
plural | familiar6 | masculine2 | vosotros | os | vosotros | ||
feminine | vosotras | vosotras | |||||
formal/general3 | ustedes | les, se4 | los/las5 | ustedes | |||
third person | singular | masculine2 | él | le, se4 | lo | él | |
feminine | ella | la | ella | ||||
neuter | ello7 | lo | ello | ||||
plural | masculine2 | ellos | les, se4 | los | ellos | ||
feminine | ellas | las | ellas | ||||
reflexive | — | se | sí1 |
- Not used with con; conmigo, contigo, and consigo are used instead, respectively
- Like other masculine Spanish words, masculine Spanish pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
- Treated as if it were third-person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity
- If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g., Se lo dije instead of Le lo dije)
- Depending on the implicit gender of the object being referred to
- Used primarily in Spain
- Used only in rare circumstances
Descendants
- Chavacano: yo
- → Interlingue: yo
Further reading
- “yo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo/
Xhosa
Yoruba
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jó/
Verb
yó
Derived terms
- Àwòyó (“a nickname for the orisha Yemọja”)