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ya

Pronunciation: /ˈja/

“ya” is an Indonesian word. Its 6 meanings in English:

interjection

  1. used to show agreement or acceptance; yes, yea, yup
  2. used to reinforce a question; huh, right, (UK) innit, eh
  3. used to emphasize curiosity about a question.
  4. used to indicate a request; okay

conjunction

  1. well, so

particle

  1. the vocative particle, used for direct address; O, Oh

Etymology

Inherited from Malay ya, of uncertain origin. Theories * Borrowed from Dutch ja (“yes”), from Middle Dutch ja, from Old Dutch *jā, from Proto-Germanic *ja. Cognate with German ja and English yea. * Clipping of saya or sahaya (“yes”, literally “I, me”); from Sanskrit सहाय (sahāya). * From Dialectical Arabic يَه (yah, “yes”), (while Standard Arabic نَعَم (naʕam)). * First attested in the Laguna…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.