i-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "i"

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English i-, y-, ȝe-, from Old English ġe-, from Proto-West Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱó-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, near, by, along”). Cognate with Dutch ge-, Low German ge-, je-, e-, German ge-.

Prefix

i-

1. (obsolete) Used to form past participles of verbs. Alternative spelling of y-

Etymology 2

From Latin ī-, assimilated form of in- used before g-.

Prefix

i-

1. A form of the prefix in-, used before gn, as in ignoble, ignominy, and ignore.

Synonyms

• (not): a-, an-, dys-, il-/im-/in-/ir-, mal-, non-, un-

Etymology 3

Prefix

i-

1. (Jamaica) Used to transform English words into words used by Rastafarians with a special meaning.

See also

• Rastafarian on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Rastafarian I words on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 4

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁en-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Italic *ənter

Latin inter

Latin inter-bor.

English inter-

Proto-Indo-European *neHd-der.

Proto-Germanic *natją

Proto-West Germanic *nati

Old English nett

Middle English net

English net

Proto-Indo-European *werǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *wérǵom

Proto-Germanic *werką

Proto-West Germanic *werk

Old English weorc

Middle English werk

English work

English network

English internetwork

English Internet

English i-

From Internet. Popularized in the name of the iMac line of computers (1998).

Prefix

i-

2. Alluding to the Internet.

   Coordinate terms: cyber-, e-

4. Alluding to digital devices and computer programs, especially those that are cutting-edge or fashionable, and those from Apple.

   ‎i- + ‎pod → ‎iPod

   ‎i- + ‎phone → ‎iPhone

   ‎i- + ‎Mac → ‎iMac

   • 1999 November 1, Melissa August, “Ad Infinitum”, in Time, volume 154, page 39:

     I-WHAT?! Seems everyone's ripping off the iMac idea. Take this parody ad for the fruity-colored “iBrator” at sleeplessknights.com.

   • 2011, Scotty Smith, Everyday Prayers: 365 Days to a Gospel-Centered Faith, Baker Books, →ISBN, page 178:

     In our “iWorld” of new gadgets and cool widgets, help us to ponder the reality that over half of the population on the earth exists on three of our American dollars, or less, a day.

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with i-

Choctaw

Pronunciation

• (first-person, we): IPA^(key): /iː/

Prefix

ī- (before vowels il-, class I first-person plural)

1. the subject of an active transitive verb

   we

2. the subject of an active intransitive verb

   we

Inflection

Choctaw Person Markers

			class I			class II		class III		class N		imperative
			+s	+C	+V	+C/i	+a/o	+C	+V	+C	+V	+C	+V
first-person	singular	initial	-li			sa-	si-	a̱-	am-	ak-		n/a
		medial						-sa-	-sam-
	paucal		ī-		il-	pi-		pi̱-	pim-	kī-	kil-
	plural					hapi-		hapi̱-	hapim-
second-person	singular		is-	ish-		chi-		chi̱-	chim-	chik-		∅
	plural		has-	hash-		hachi-		hachi̱-	hachim-	hachik-		ho-	oh-
third-person			∅			∅		i̱-	im-	ik-

Curripaco

Prefix

i-

1. second person plural agent marker

References

• Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo, Agreement in two Arawak languages, in The Typology of Semantic Alignment (edited by Mark Donohue, Søren Wichmann) (2008, →ISBN, page 398

Esperanto

Etymology

The i vowel common to other correlatives, such as ki- and ti-, without the defining consonant.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

i-

1. Any-, some-. (Indeterminate correlative prefix.)

Derived terms

Esperanto terms prefixed with i-

• iu (“some individual, someone, somebody”)
• io (“some object, something”)
• ia (“some kind of”)
• ies (“belonging to some person, someone's”)
• iel (“some manner/degree, somehow”)
• ie (“some place, somewhere”)
• iam (“some time, sometime”)
• iom (“some quantity, some of”)
• ial (“for some reason”)

Italian

Etymology

Assimilated form of in-, before s- + consonant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/
• Hyphenation: i-

Prefix

i-

1. Alternative form of in-

Japanese

Romanization

i-

1. Rōmaji transcription of い

Japhug

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Prefix

i-

1. (Kamnyu) our (plural possessive)

Derived terms

Japhug terms prefixed with i-

See also

Japhug (Kamnyu) personal pronouns and possessive prefixes
Number	Person	Possessive prefixes	Free pronoun	Genitive
Singular	1st	a-	aʑo, aj	aʑɯɣ
	2nd	nɤ-	nɤʑo, nɤj	nɤʑɯɣ
	3rd	ɯ-	ɯʑo	ɯʑɤɣ
Dual	1st	tɕi-	tɕiʑo	tɕiʑɤɣ
	2nd	ndʑi-	ndʑiʑo	ndʑiʑɤɣ
	3rd		ʑɤni	ʑɤniɣɯ
Plural	1st	i-	iʑo, iʑora, iʑɤra	iʑɤɣ, iʑɤra ɣɯ
	2nd	nɯ-	nɯʑo, nɯʑora, nɯʑɤra	nɯʑɤɣ, nɯʑɤra ɣɯ
	3rd		ʑara	ʑaraɣ, ʑara ɣɯ
Generic		tɯ-	tɯʑo

Kambera

Pronoun

i-

1. Alternative form of mi-

See also

Kambera pronominal clitics

	Nominative	Genitive	Accusative	Dative
1sg	ku-	-nggu	-ka	-ngga
2sg	mu- (u-)	-mu	-kau	-nggau
3sg	na-	-na	-ya	-nya
1pl.incl	ta-	-nda	-ta	-nda
1pl.excl	ma-	-ma	-kama	-nggama
2pl	mi- (i-)	-mi	-kami (-kai)	-nggami (-nggai)
3pl	da-	-da	-ha	-nja

Latin

Etymology

Assimilated form of in-, before gn-.

Prefix

i-

1. Alternative form of in-

Malagasy

Prefix

i-

1. prefix element of i- -ana

See also

• an-

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English ġe-, from Proto-Germanic *ga-.

Prefix

i-

1. Alternative form of y-

Mohawk

Prefix

i-

1. translocative, indicating motion away from the speaker
2. epenthetic vowel added to certain verb forms
3. Alternative form of ka- (before o- and on-stems)

References

• Gunther Michelson (1973) A thousand words of Mohawk, University of Ottawa Press, page 11
• Nora Deering, Helga H. Delisle (1976) Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, pages 105, 173

Northern Ndebele

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

Contracted from earlier ili-, from Proto-Bantu *dɪ́-, plus augment. Originally the pronominal and verbal concord, it displaced the older Bantu noun prefix *ì-. The tone was lowered by analogy with other noun prefixes.

Prefix

i-

1. Class 5 noun prefix; form of ili- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

Etymology 4

Prefix

i-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with l, m or n.

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *iz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iː/

Prefix

Ī-

1. same, selfsame

Derived terms

Old English terms prefixed with i-

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Prefix

I-

1. Alternative form of ġe-

Phuthi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ̀-n-.

Prefix

i-

1. Class 9 noun prefix.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

Etymology 4

Prefix

i-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with l, m or n.

Portuguese

Prefix

i-

1. Alternative form of in-, used before l, m and n.

Southern Ndebele

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

Spanish

Prefix

i-

1. Alternative form of in-, used before l.

Swahili

Other scripts
Ajami	اِيْـ

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́- and Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i-

1. it, they; mi class_(IV)/n class_(IX) subject concord
   • 18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, Al-Inkishafi‎^[1], translation from R. Allen (1946) “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, in African Studies, volume 5, number 4, →DOI, pages 243–249, stanza 12:

     هُيُوِ دُنِيَ اِيْنَ غُرُرِ ، دِيَ زَتَتَسِ هُزَدَمَيِْ،

     Huyui dunia ina ghururi? ndia za-tatasi huzandamaye?

     This world is deceitful, why follow its ways?

   • 1973, Mohammed S. Abdulla, Duniani kuna watu, page 3:

     Ilikuwa kiasi cha saa moja-unusu ya usiku […]

     It was about half past seven in the night […]

2. verb-initial form of -i- (“it, them; mi class_(IV)/n class_(IX) object concord”)

See also

Swahili verbal concords (third person)

Class	Subject concord		Object concord	Relative
	affirmative	negative
m(I)	a-, yu-	ha-, hayu-	-m-, -mw-, -mu-	-ye
wa(II)	wa-	hawa-	-wa-	-o
m(III)	u-	hau-	-u-	-o
mi(IV)	i-	hai-	-i-	-yo
ji(V)	li-	hali-	-li-	-lo
ma(VI)	ya-	haya-	-ya-	-yo
ki(VII)	ki-	haki-	-ki-	-cho
vi(VIII)	vi-	havi-	-vi-	-vyo
n(IX)	i-	hai-	-i-	-yo
n(X)	zi-	hazi-	-zi-	-zo
u(XI)	u-	hau-	-u-	-o
ku(XV/XVII)	ku-	haku-	-ku-	-ko
pa(XVI)	pa-	hapa-	-pa-	-po
mu(XVIII)	m-, mw-, mu-	ham-, hamw-, hamu-	-mu-	-mo
For a full table including first and second person, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns.

Swazi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

Tagalog

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *i-.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔi/ [ʔɪ]
• Syllabification: i-

Prefix

i- (Baybayin spelling ᜁ)

1. benefactive trigger: to perform the action of the verb for someone or something (expresses various kinds of actions)

   ‎i- + ‎bili (“buy”) → ‎ibili (“to buy something for someone”)

   Ibili mo ako ng saging.

   Buy me bananas.

2. object trigger: to do something to a person or a thing (expresses various kinds of actions)

   ‎i- + ‎tapon (“throw”) → ‎itapon (“to throw”)

   Itapon mo iyan sa basurahan.

   Throw that to the garbage.

3. instrumental trigger: to use something for a certain purpose (expresses various kinds of actions)

   ‎i- + ‎sulat (“write”) → ‎isulat (“to use something for writing”)

   Isulat mo ng listahan ang lapis.

   Use the pencil to write a list.

Derived terms

Tagalog terms prefixed with i-

Further reading

• https://learningtagalog.com/grammar/verbs/verb_affixes/i_1.html
• https://learningtagalog.com/grammar/verbs/verb_affixes/i_2.html

Taos

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔi/

Prefix

i-

1. (transitive) First person plural subject + third person singular object.
2. (transitive) Second person singular subject + third person inverse number object.
3. (transitive) Third person singular subject + third person inverse number object.
4. (transitive) Third person plural subject + third person singular object.
5. (formative) Third person plural subject.

Ternate

Pronoun

i- (Jawi إ-)

1. (non-human) third-person singular clitic, it
2. (human) third-person plural clitic, they
3. (masculine) third-person singular possessive prefix, his

   Synonym: ai-

See also

Ternate personal pronouns

	independent			subject proclitic		possessive
	Informal	Formal
1st person singular	ngori	fangarem, fajaruf		to		ri
2nd person singular	ngana	ngoni, jou ngoni		no		ni
3rd person singular	unam, minaf			om, mof, inh		im, mif, manh
1st person plural inclusive	ngone			fo		na, nga
1st person plural exclusive	ngomi	fangare ngomim, fajaru ngomif, fara ngomi1		mi		mi, mia
2nd person plural	ngoni			ni		na, nia
3rd person plural	anah, enanh			ih, nh, yoh, †, yanh, †		nah, ngah, manh

• unmarked pronouns are gender non-specific
• m - masculine, f - feminine, h - human, nh - non-human
• 1 - for mixed-gender groups
• † - archaic

References

• Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Tocharian A

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *jä-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to move”). Compare Tocharian B i-.

Verb

i-

1. to go

Tocharian B

Etymology

From Proto-Tocharian *jä-, whence also Tocharian A i-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to move”). Cognate with Latin eō and Polish iść, both of the same meaning. The preterite form of this term, mäs-, is from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- (“to move”), and as such the term is suppletive in conjugation.

Verb

i-

1. to go

Derived terms

• imāne (possibly)
• yalle
• yalñe
  • yalñetstse
  • yalñeṣṣe

Further reading

• Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “i-”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 65-66

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Pronoun

i-

1. third-person singular clitic, he, she, it

   ico ― he sees

   pala ne ilamo ― this house is large

Xhosa

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

Prefix

i-

1. Class 5 noun prefix; form of ili- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

i- (medial yi-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

Ye'kwana

Variant orthographies

ALIV	i-
Brazilian standard	i-
New Tribes	i-

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [i-]

Prefix

i-

1. (Caura River dialect) allomorph of y- (third-person prefix) used for stems that begin with two consonants
2. (Cunucunuma River dialect) allomorph of dh- (third-person prefix) used for non-deictic stems that begin with a consonant
3. forms part of the circumfix allomorphs of various adverbializers, i- -jai, i- -'da, and i- -emje, used for stems that begin with two consonants

Inflection

Ye'kwana personal markers

	pronoun	noun possessor/ series II verb argument		postposition object		series I verb argument
						transitive patient	intransitive patient-like		intransitive agent-like	transitive agent
first person	ewü	y-, ∅-, ü-, u-1						w-, wi-
first person dual inclusive	küwü	k-, kü-, ku-, ki-								k-, kii-, ki-1
second person	amödö	ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh-							m-, mi-
first person dual exclusive	nña	y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-1			chö-	∅-	n-, ni-
third person	tüwü					n-, ni-
distant past third person		—				kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini-
coreferential/reflexive	—	t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te-				—
reciprocal	—	—	öö-
With following vowel lengthened if in an unreduced open syllable.

	series I verb argument: transitive agent and transitive patient
first person > second person	mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni-
first person dual exclusive > second person
second person > first person	k-, kü-, ku-, ki-
second person > first person dual exclusive
third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person	see person X in the chart above

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• ù- in Southeast Yorùbá and some Central Yorùbá dialects such as Èkìtì and Ìjẹ̀ṣà.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ì/

Prefix

ì-

1. abstract or instrument nominalizing prefix

Usage notes

Forms both abstract and concrete nouns:

• ì + ṣe "to do" → ìṣe "action"
• ì + gbálẹ̀ "to sweep floor" → ìgbálẹ̀ "broom"

Derived terms

Yoruba terms prefixed with i- (nominalizing prefix)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• u- in Southeast Yorùbá and some Central Yorùbá dialects such as Èkìtì and Ìjẹ̀ṣà.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ī/

Prefix

i-

1. non-gerundive nominalizing prefix

Derived terms

Yoruba terms prefixed with i-

Zulu

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *gɪ́-.

Prefix

í- (medial yí-)

1. they; class 4 subject concord.

Etymology 2

Contracted from earlier íli-, from Proto-Bantu *dɪ́-, plus augment. Originally the pronominal and verbal concord, it displaced the older Bantu noun prefix *ì-. The tone was lowered by analogy with other noun prefixes.

Prefix

î-

1. Class 5 noun prefix.

Etymology 3

Prefix

í-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with l, m or n.

Etymology 4

From Proto-Bantu *jɪ́-.

Prefix

í- (medial yí-)

1. he, she, it; class 9 subject concord.

References

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “i-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “i-”