يعني

See also: یعنی‎

Arabic

Etymology

Non-past of عَنَى‎ (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”).

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /jaʕ.niː/

Verb

يَعْنِي • (yaʕnī) (form I)

  1. third-person masculine singular non-past active indicative of عَنَى‎ (ʕanā)

Interjection

يَعْنِي • (yaʕnī)

  1. (adverbial, conjunctive, prepositional, or adjectival) in other words, actually, namely, to wit, kind of, somewhat, id est, that is, meaning, you know
  2. (filler) er, so, uh, well

Descendants

  • Gulf Arabic: يعني‎ (yaʕni)
  • North Levantine Arabic: يعني‎ (yaʕni)
  • South Levantine Arabic: يعني‎ (yaʕni)
  • → Armenian: յանի (yani)
  • → Azerbaijani: yəni
  • → Bashkir: йәғни (yäğni)
  • → Hebrew: יעני‎
  • Hindustani:
    → Hindi: यानी (yānī)
    → Urdu: یعنی‎
  • → Indonesian: yakni
  • → Kalasha: yani
  • → Kazakh: яғни (äğni)
  • → Northern Kurdish: yenî
  • → Ottoman Turkish: یعنی‎ (yani)
  • → Persian: یعنی‎ / яъне (yaʾne)
  • → Swahili: yaani
  • → Uzbek: ya'ni

Verb

يَعْنِيَ • (yaʕniya) (form I)

  1. third-person masculine singular non-past active subjunctive of عَنَى‎ (ʕanā)

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

Non-past of Arabic عَنَى‎ (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”).

Verb

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)

  1. (transitive) [he/she/it] means

Usage notes

  • In the past tense, كان معناته is used, which means "its meaning was".

Interjection

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)

  1. (adverbial) kind of, somewhat
    ‏كان حلو الفلم ؟
    يعني بس مو وايد .
    ‎‎
    Was the movie good?
    Kind of, but not so much.

Usage notes

  • The expression is only used when answering questions.

North Levantine Arabic

Conjunction

يعني • (yaʿni)

  1. so
    ‏عملنا اللي فينا نعملو، يعني رح نشوف شو بيصير‎
    ʿMilna lli fīna naʿmlu, yaʿni raḥ nšūf šu biṣīr.
    We’ve done what we could, so we’ll see what happens.

Adverb

يعني • (yaʿni)

  1. namely; that is; in other words
    ‏لازم نسألو، يعني المعلم‎
    Lāzim nisʾalu, yaʿni li-mʿallim.
    We have to ask him, I mean the teacher.

Interjection

يعني • (yaʿni)

  1. well; you know; er; uh
    ‏يعني... الموضوع أصعب من هيك‎
    Yaʿni... l-mawḍūʿ ʾaṣʿab min hayk.
    Well... the affair is more complicated than that.
  2. kind of; I guess
    ‏كان حلو الفلم؟ — يعني، بس توقعتو أحلى‎
    Kān ḥilu l-film? — Yaʿni, bas twaʾʾaʿtu ʾaḥla.
    Was the film good? — I guess, but I’d expected it to be better.
  3. (postpositioned) really; seriously; man; come on; used for emphasis
    ‏ما في فرق كبير. هو نفس الشي تقريبا، يعني‎
    Ma fi fariʾ kbīr. Huwi nafs iš-ši taʾrīban, yaʿni.
    There’s no big difference. It’s roughly the same thing, really.
    ‏هيدا مش معقول، يعني‎
    Hayda miš maʿʾūl, yaʿni.
    This is crazy, man.

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ع ن ي‎

Etymology

From Arabic يَعْنِي‎ (yaʕnī).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jaʕ.ni/, [ˈjaʕ.ni]
  • (file)

Interjection

يعني • (yaʕni)

  1. so, well, you know
  2. I guess, I suppose
  3. does that mean...? (in a question)
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