Information about Yodh

Yodh
Arabic	Syriac	Hebrew	Aramaic	Phoenician
ﻳ,ﻱ	ܝ	‎
Phonemic representation (IPA):				j, i, e
Position in alphabet:				10
Gematria/Abjad value:				10

Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew ‎, Syriac ܝ and Arabic י transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">yāʼ י (in abjadi order, 28th in modern order). Its sound value is IPA: [j] in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as a long vowel, representing IPA: [iː].

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Iota (Ι), Latin I, Cyrillic (Ukrainian and Belarusian) І, Coptic iauda (Ⲓ) and Gothic eis (��).

Origins

Yodh is thought to have originated with a pictograph of a hand (in Modern Hebrew and Modern Arabic, yad). It may be related to the Egyptian hieroglyphic of an arm (see Hieroglyphs). <hiero>a</hiero>

Arabic yāʼ

Arabic alphabet
י     ﺍ     ﺏ     ﺕ     ﺙ     ﺝ
ﺡ     ﺥ     ﺩ     ﺫ     ﺭ     ﺭ
?     ﺵ     ﺹ     ﺽ     ﻁ     ﻅ
ﻉ     ﻍ     ﻑ     ﻕ     ﻙ
ﻝ     ﻡ     ﻥ     ه‍     ﻭ
History · Transliteration Diacritics · Hamza ﻱ Numerals · Numeration  •  • [ e]

The letter is named yāʼ, and is written is several ways depending in its position in the word:

glyph
stand alone	at the beginning	in the middle	at the end
ي	ي?	ـي?	ـي

Yāʼ is pronounced in two ways. As a consonant, it is pronounced as a palatal approximant /j/, typically at the beginnings of words. In the middle and end of words, the yāʼ usually (though not always) becomes a long close front unrounded vowel /iː/.

As a vowel, yāʼ can serve as the "seat" of the hamza: ئ.

Yāʼ serves several functions in the Arabic language. Yāʼ with a shadda is particularly used to turn a noun into an adjective, for instance مصر Miṣr (Egypt) → مصري Miṣriyy (Egyptian). The transformation can be more abstract; for instance, موضوع mawdū` (matter, object) → موضوعي mawdū`iyy (objective). Still other uses of this function can be a bit further from the root: شتراك ishtirāk (cooperation) → إشتراكي ishtirākiyy (socialist); this is often used for creation of native terms for political philosophies: ḥurr (free) becomes ḥurriyy (liberal); muḥāfaẓa (guarding, preservation) becomes muḥāfaẓiyy (conservative).

A form similar to but distinguished from yāʼ is the ʾalif maqṣūra (broken alif), with the form ى. It indicates a final long open front unrounded vowel /aː/.

Typically, Egyptians do not use dots under final yāʼ, both in handwriting and in print, resulting in substantial confusion with alif maqṣūra to those not accustomed to the practice

Persian Ye

Persian alphabet
ﺍ     ﺍ     ﺏ     پ     ﺕ      ﺙ     ﺝ
چ     ﺡ     ﺥ     ﺩ     ﺫ     ﺭ     ﺯ
ژ     ﺱ      ﺵ     ﺹ     ﺽ     ﻁ
ﻅ     ﻉ     ﻍ     ﻑ     ﻕ     ک
گ     ﻝ     ﻡ     ﻥ     هـ     ﻭ
History · Transliteration Diacritics · Hamza ﻱ Numerals · Numeration

In the Persian alphabet "Yodh" is written and pronounced a bit different from Arabic and has a different code in Unicode. Yodh in Persian is called Ye; in its final form, the letter does not have dots (ی), similar to but distinguished from the Arabic ʾalif maqṣūra.

Hebrew Yodh

Pronunciation

In both Biblical and modern Hebrew, Yodh represents as a palatal approximant (IPA: [j]).

Variations

Hebrew alphabet
ء‎    א‎    ב‎    ג‎    ד‎    ה‎
ו‎    ז‎    ח‎    ט‎    י‎
כך‎    ל‎    מם‎    נן‎    ס‎    ע‎
פף‎    צץ‎    ק‎    ר‎    ש‎
History Transliteration Niqqud Dagesh Gematria Cantillation Numeration

Yodh is a mater lectionis, like Aleph, He, and Vav. At the end of words with a vowel, it represents the formation of a diphthong, such as /ei/, /ai/, or /oi/.

Significance

In gematria, Yodh 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).

In Judaism

Two yodhs in a row designate the name of God Adonai and in pointed texts are written with the vowels of Adonai; this is done as well with the Tetragrammaton.

As Yodh 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 Yodh; it was often overlooked by scribes because of its size and position as a mater lectiones. In modern Hebrew, the phrase "tip of the Yodh" refers to a small and insignificant thing, and someone who "worries about the tip of a Yodh" 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. See The Mystical Significance of the Hebrew Letters - Yodh

External links

Syriac alphabet
	ܐ	ܒ	ܓ	ܕ
ܗ	ܘ	ܙ	ܚ	ܛ	ܝ
ܟܟ	ܠ	ܡܡ	ܢܢ	ܣ	ܥ
ܦ	ܨ	ܩ	ܪ	ܫ	ܬ

• The Mystical Significance of the Hebrew Letters: Yud
• Background of Yod on Balashon