The twenty-eighth letter of the alphabet: called يَآءٌ. It is one of the letters termed soft, or weak, and is a letter of prolongation and of augmentation. As a numeral it signifies Ten.

A2: ى for يا frequently occurs in the phrase يَرَسُولَ اللّٰهِ, and in يَأَيُّهَا.

b2: ى inserted to give fulness of sound to kesreh, see art. ا.

b3: Used لِلإِنْكَارِ, see الف الاستنكار in art. ا.

b4: ى with sheddeh followed by ة converts a part. n. into a quasi-inf. n., as المَضْرُوبِيَّةُ, “the being beaten. ”

So, by the relative ى, يَآءُ النِسْبَةِ, substs. and even particles are converted into abstract nouns of quality, as اِسْمِيَّةٌ and كَيْفِيَّةٌ.

A3: يَا is the most common of vocative particles, used in calling to him who is near; [like O!]; and to him who is distant; [like Ho there! Holloa!]; and to him who is between near and distant; [like ho! what ho!]; (Ibn-el-Kátib, in the Káfiyeh, cited in TA, art. أَيَا.) Pronounced

with imáleh, see art. إِمَّا.

b2: يَالَ for يَا آلَ, see ل.

b3: يَايَا and يَايَهْ, see art. أَيَا.