ای

See also: ـای, ایی, آیی, إي, آی, and أي

Brahui

Pronoun

ای (ī)

1. I

Kashmiri

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /kaʃi zeːr/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /iː/

Letter

ای • (ī)

1. a vowel of Kashmiri.

Forms

The vowel ای in its initial form is اﻳٖ , middle form ـيٖـ and final form ی

See also

• Previous vowel: اِ (i)
• Next vowel : إ (ụ)

Ottoman Turkish

Interjection

ای • (ey)

1. oh
2. eh
3. well
4. hey
   • 1927 October, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Nutuk‎^[1], page 627:

     ای تورك كنجلكی!

     Ey Türk gençliği!

     O Turkish youth!

Persian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle Persian ʾy (ay).

Adverb

ای • (ay)

1. that is to say

Etymology 2

From اگر (agar).

Pronunciation

• (dialectal: Shiraz, Abadan) IPA^(key): /æj/
• (dialectal: most Southern dialects of Persian) IPA^(key): /ej/

Conjunction

ای • (ay, ey)

1. (dialectal) if

   ای وه‌ش گفتی نه خسته می‌گو بشی تا کولتاوم.

   Éy vaš gófti na xáste migú béši tâ kúlet-awom. (Proverb, Dashtestan)

   If you tell him don't bother (more power to your elbow), he would say let me ride on your shoulder.

   روز مرگُم باشه ای یی رو بفَمَم که اَزُم سیر شده وُ دوسُم نداره.

   Ruze margom baše ay yey ru befāmam ke azom sir šode o dusom nadâre. (Shiraz)

Etymology 3

Onomatopoeia. Compare Ottoman Turkish ای (ey). Commonly followed by a noun bearing the vocative suffix -â.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔaj]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäj]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäj]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔäj]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔäj]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ej]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔäj]

Readings
Classical reading?	ay
Dari reading?	ay
Iranian reading?	ey
Tajik reading?	ay

Interjection

Dari	ای
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ай

ای • (ey)

1. O, hey

   Synonym: یا

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 883:

     من نبینم روی خود را ای شمن
     من ببینم روی تو تو روی من

     man na-bīnam rōy-i xwad rā ay šaman
     man bi-bīnam rōy-i tū tū rōy-i man

     O idolater (dualist), (if) I do not behold my own face (reality),
     I behold thy face and thou beholdest mine.

Derived terms

• ای بابا (ey bâbâ)

Etymology 4

Inherited from Middle Persian ʾyd (ēd, “this”).

Determiner

ای • (i)

1. (dialectal, Kabuli, Mashhad, Shiraz, Kazerun, Dashtestan, Bushehr) this

Etymology 5

Borrowed from English ay.

Noun

ای • (ey)

1. Transliteration of the name of the Latin-script letter a in English and other European languages.

Derived terms

• دی‌ان‌ای (di-en-ey)