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Yea, pronounced "Yay," is an archaic form of "yes" that one finds in old writings like the King James Bible:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. [Psalm 23:4]"
One also encounters it in parliamentary set phrases like: "Call the yeas and nays."
It tends to stick in the mind because it rhymes very nicely. "Yea" and "nay," despite having different spellings, rhyme perfectly. In modern English, it's only used in formal situations, although the related word "Yay!" can be used as an enthusiastic interjection, just as a crowd of sport fans might cry out "Yes!" when someone scores a winning goal.
It's closely related to the German "Ja," as in "Ja, ja."*
Du, du liegst mir im Herzen.
Du, du liegst mir im Sinn.
Du, du machst mir viel Schmerzen.
Weisst nicht wie gut ich dir bin.
Ja, ja, ja, ja,
Weisst nicht wie gut ich dir bin.
Yeah, on the other hand, sometimes seen as "yeh," is a slangy and informal pronunciation of "yes" that rhymes with "Feh!" or "Meh."
Parent: Please mow the lawn.
Child: Yeah, yeah, in a minute...
They're not the same.
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* Despite the close similarity in sound, the German "Ja, ja" has no relation to the lovely book by Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and is not a synonym of coslopus.
We are the mighty Ya-Ya Priestesses. Let no man put us under.
--- Viviane Joan "Vivi" Abbott Walker
Comments
Ja
The german example is not the best one, at least with the current usage...
"Ja" just means "yes" but "Ja ja/jaja" is most times used in a context of "Yeah, whatever!" or in german "Leck mich am Arsch..." (I don't translate this ;-)
M
Martina
Tell Me Y
What is it with "Y" words. And, it's not just Yiddish (Yada, Yada, Yada). We have everything from the Philadelphian "Yo" to the Scandanavian "Yumpin' Yiminy". Ours is not to question "Y"; ours is simply to Yield.
Not to Yap or Yak, but to pitch in my own Yah. We must Yammer on regarding the Yoke of Yin in our Life, while giving no mention of the Yang, and certainly not to Yo-Yo between the two. As we sail through BC we must Yaw with the best and always be Yare. If You (or Yew if You're bushed) are accused of being a Yokel, look Yonder with Yearning with Yeoman-like diligence before Yawning at the scurrilous Yarn certainly started by a Yellow Yenta. Yep, surely as the Y-Axis will rise in the Yeast it does no good to Yelp. For even if You're Young and live in a Yurt while practicing Yoga and eating nothing but Yogurt, Your life can be Yummy.
Here's hoping I gave you a few Yocks.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Yeppers
Yo ho ho and a bottle of Yoo-Hoo, you're the Yoda of Y.
What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
And then of course there's, -
YANK!
Growing old disgracefully.
Alternatively, yeah can
sound like nah (may have slightly less nasal intonation) or like the ya in yak (or vice versa), at least in the midwest US...
Maybe I am mishearing meh as me in medical or Mehdi? How strange, I pronounce nah the wrong way according to the Cambridge dictionary site, where they pronounce it like gnaw in american english :P
Maybe there is no proper way to pronounce anything, only understanding of it in written form
Diana
Pronounced 'Affirmative'
Westerners and Southerners tend to say 'Yeah" as two syllables or at least with a dipthong.
That's an odd word, btb, dipthong. It's obviously two of something but what does a single pthong sound like?
What is the sound of one pthong flapping?
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
The Proper Way
Well, since "yeah" is a sort of lazy slurring of "yes," this raises the interesting philosophical question of whether there are "proper" ways to mispronounce things or not. Perhaps the whole problem at the Tower of Babel was merely sloppy diction. Perhaps we're all speaking Slovakian right now, but very very badly.
Cheers,
Puddin'
When you tell a story
Amorous or gory
You can tell it best if you gesticulate
--- Kismet
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Puddin'
That German is really sweet. Who wrote it?
It's a very famous and lovely folk song
Wiki Story
In Performance (A little heavy on the reverberation)
My high school German teacher, Herr Harlowe (an Anglo-Saxon name, but he was born in Sacramento. California, and used to tell a funny story about his army service in Italy, where "Sacramento!" is a terrible curse word) made me learn it. I used to be pretty good at it, and didn't need nearly as much echo...
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Thank you
Anglo---Schleswig-Holstein
Saxon--all the way down the Elbe.
How I loved the ride from Holland through the whole cline of language to Norway and back through Scots to English. It's a linguist thing.
French
I should add that the same thing happens in other languages. The French word for 'yes', which is a really deep historolinguistic story, is oui, pronounced 'wee'
The standard French conversational word is oueh, pronounced 'weh'
Difference in local dialects?
I've always seen "Yeah" pronounced more to rhyme with "nah" or "blah." A stressed "A" sound, ya know?
Melanie E.
hmm... yeah...
...trying to figure how to write the pronunciation here. The closest I can get after a brief ponder is a slightly drawled...yehrr. Stress on the Y and draw out the ehr sound slightly and gently cut it off. Shrug, language is an odd beast. I sometimes wonder how a word or sound that I know well is interpreted by a reader. I suspect sometimes I'd be surprised, in a blink..really.. type way. So it goes huh.
Kristina