jå

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• jo (spelling variant)

Etymology

From Middle High German ja, from Old High German ja, jā (“yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes”), from Proto-Indo-European *yē (“already”). Cognates include German ja (“yes”), Yiddish יאָ (yo, “yes”), Dutch ja (“yes”), English yea (“yes, yea”), Spanish ya (“already”), and Latin iam (“already”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɒː/, /jɔː/

Adverb

jå

1. yes; yea, yeah, aye

   Woi ma des? - Jå. ― Do we want that? - Yes.

   Owa jå! ― Yes, of course!

2. (intensifier) obviously; certainly; of course; really; just; as you know; as is generally known (indicates and emphasises that one is expressing a known fact)

   Synonym: do

   Es ko jå ned oiwei so bleibn. ― It obviously cannot always remain so.

   Du bist jå ned gånz gscheid. ― You obviously are not quite in your right mind!

   I bi jå ned auf der Brennsuppn dåhergschwumma. ― I certainly wasn't born yesterday.

   D'Mama woar jå gestern krånk. ― Mum was sick yesterday, as you know.

   As Ungarische is jå ka indogermanische Språch. ― Hungarian is not an indoeuropean language, as is generally known.

Usage notes

• (yes): Jå is used to indicate agreement with a positive statement. To contradict a negative statement (where English would use “yes”), doch is used instead.
• (obviously): Jå means roughly the same as English obviously or as you know, but given its shortness it is used much more frequently. Jå is used in most statements of facts already known to the one addressed.

Interjection

jå

1. yes

   Antonym: naa