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Yodh (also spelled jodh, yod, or jod) is the tenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Yōd /𐤉, Hebrew Yōd , Aramaic Yod , Syriac Yōḏ ܝ, and Arabic . Its sound value is in all languages for which it is used; in many languages, it also serves as a
long vowel In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, f ...
, representing . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Iota (Ι), Latin I and J,
Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...
І,
Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...
(Ⲓ) and
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
eis Eis or EIS may refer to: Education * Eastern Independent Schools of Melbourne, in Australia * Educational Institute of Scotland, a trade union * Ekamai International School, in Bangkok, Thailand * English for Integrated Studies, a program in T ...
. The term yod is often used to refer to the speech sound , a
palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic no ...
, even in discussions of languages not written in Semitic abjads, as in phonological phenomena such as English "
yod-dropping The phonological history of the English language includes various changes in the phonology of consonant clusters. H-cluster reductions The H-cluster reductions are various consonant reductions that have occurred in the history of English, inv ...
".


Origins

Yod originated from a hieroglyphic “hand”, or *yad.


Hebrew Yod

Hebrew spelling: ; colloquial ;The letter appears with or without a hook on different sans-serif fonts, for example: * Arial, DejaVu Sans, Arimo, Open Sans: י * Tahoma, Alef, Heebo: י


Pronunciation

In both Biblical and modern Hebrew, Yod represents a
palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic no ...
(). As a mater lectionis, it represents the vowel . At the end of words with a vowel or when marked with a sh'va nach, it represents the formation of a
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
, such as , , or .


Significance

In gematria, Yod represents the number ten. As a
prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
, it designates the third person singular (or plural, with a Vav as a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
) in the future tense. As a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
, it indicates first person singular possessive; ''av'' (father) becomes ''avi'' (my father). "Yod" in the Hebrew language signifies
iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
. Iodine is also called يود ''yod'' in Arabic.


In religion

Two Yods in a row designate the name of God
Adonai Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is th ...
and in pointed texts are written with the vowels of Adonai; this is done as well with the Tetragrammaton. As Yod is the smallest letter, much
kabbalistic Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
and mystical significance is attached to it. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus mentioned it during the
Antithesis of the Law Matthew 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount, the other portions of which are contained in chapters 6 and 7. Portions are similar to the Sermon on the Pl ...
, 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 Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
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.


Yiddish

In
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
, the letter yod is used for several orthographic purposes in native words: * Alone, a single yod י may represent the vowel or the consonant . When adjacent to another vowel, or another yod, may be distinguished from by the addition of a dot below. Thus the word ''Yidish'' 'Yiddish' is spelled ייִדיש. The first yod represents []; the second yod represents [] and is distinguished from the adjacent [] by a dot; the third yod represents [] as well, but no dot is necessary. * The digraph (orthography), digraph יי, consisting of two yods, represents the diphthong []. * A pair of yods with a horizontal line (''patach, pasekh'') under them, ײַ, represents the diphthong [] in standard Yiddish. * The digraph consisting of a Waw (letter), vov followed by a yod, וי, represents the diphthong []. Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic in Yiddish are spelled as they are in their language of origin.


Arabic yāʼ

The letter is named ' (). It is written in several ways depending on its position in the word: It is pronounced in four ways: * As a consonant, it is pronounced as a
palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic no ...
, typically at the beginnings of words in front of short or long vowels. *A
long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
usually in the middle or end of words. In this case it has no diacritic, but could be marked with a kasra in the preceding letter in some traditions. *A
long Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
In many dialects, as a result of the monophthongization that the diphthong underwent in most words. * A part of a
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
, . Then, it has no diacritic but could be marked with a sukun in some traditions. The preceding consonant could have no diacritic or have sign, hinting to the first vowel in the diphthong, i.e. . As a vowel, yāʾ can serve as the "seat" of the
hamza Hamza ( ar, همزة ') () is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters and owes its existence to historical inconsistencies in the standard writing system. It is derived from ...
: Yāʾ serves several functions in the Arabic language. Yāʾ as a prefix is the marker for a singular
imperfective The imperfective (abbreviated or more ambiguously ) is a grammatical aspect used to describe ongoing, habitual, repeated, or similar semantic roles, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. Although many languages have a gen ...
verb, as in ' "he writes" from the root K-T-B ("write, writing"). Yāʾ with a shadda is particularly used to turn a noun into an adjective, called a ''nisbah'' (). For instance, ' ( Egypt) → ''Miṣriyy'' (Egyptian). The transformation can be more abstract; for instance, ''mawḍūʿ'' (matter, object) → ''mawḍūʿiyy'' ( objective). Still other uses of this function can be a bit further from the root: ''ishtirāk'' (cooperation) → ''ishtirākiyy'' ( socialist). The common pronunciation of the final is most often pronounced as or . A form similar to but distinguished from yāʾ is the ' () "limited/restricted
alif Alif may refer to: Languages * Alif (ا) in the Arabic alphabet, equivalent to aleph, the first letter of many Semitic alphabets ** Dagger alif, superscript alif in Arabic alphabet * Alif, the first letter of the Urdu alphabet * Alif, the eighth ...
", with the form . It indicates a final long . In Egypt, Sudan and sometimes the Maghreb, the final form is always (without dots), both in handwriting and in print, representing both final and . representing final ( DIN 31635 transliteration: ) is less likely to occur in Modern Standard Arabic. In this case, it is commonly known as, especially in Egypt, ' . In Egypt, it is always short if used in Egyptian Arabic and most commonly short in Modern Standard Arabic, as well.


Alif maqṣūrah

The ' (, 'limited/restricted alif'), commonly known in Egypt as ' (, 'flexible alif'), looks like a dotless (final ) and may appear only at the end of a word. Although it looks different from a regular ''alif'', it represents the same sound , often realized as a short vowel. When it is written, ' is indistinguishable from final Persian '' ye'' or Arabic ' as it is written in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes elsewhere. The letter is transliterated as in
Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...
representing the vowel / ə/. ' is transliterated as in ALA-LC, in DIN 31635, in ISO 233-2, and in ISO 233. In Arabic, ''alif maqsurah'' is not used initially or medially, and it is not joinable initially or medially in all fonts. However, the letter is used initially and medially in the
Uyghur Arabic alphabet The Uyghur Arabic alphabet ( ug, ئۇيغۇر ئەرەب يېزىقى, translit=Uyghur Ereb Yëziqi UEY) is a version of the Arabic alphabet used for writing the Uyghur language, primarily by Uyghurs living in China. It is one of several Uyghu ...
and the Arabic-based
Kyrgyz alphabet The Kyrgyz alphabets ( ky, Кыргыз алфавити, translit=Kyrgyz alfaviti, , Yañalif: ''Qьrƣьz alfaviti'', ) are the alphabets used to write the Kyrgyz language. The Kyrgyz language uses the following alphabets: *The Cyrillic script ...
, representing the vowel / ɯ/: ().


Perso-Arabic ye

In the
Persian alphabet The Persian alphabet ( fa, الفبای فارسی, Alefbâye Fârsi) is a writing system that is a version of the Arabic script used for the Persian language spoken in Iran ( Western Persian) and Afghanistan (Dari Persian) since the 7th cent ...
, the letter is generally called ''ye'' following Persian-language custom. In its final form, the letter does not have dots (), 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: (). In
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
, it uses a ring instead of dots below (ؠ) ().


Returned yāʾ

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''"), either with two dots or without them. In Urdu this is called ''
baṛī ye Baṛī ye ( ur, "greater ye") is a letter in the Urdu alphabet (and other Indic language alphabets based on the Nastaʿliq script) directly based on the alternative "returned" variant of the final form of the Arabic letter ye/yāʾ Yodh ...
'' ("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).


Character encodings


References


External links

{{Northwest Semitic abjad Phoenician alphabet Hebrew letters Vowel letters