yigh

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jaɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ

Interjection

yigh

1. (UK, dialect, Lancashire) yes, used when contradicting.

   I can't do it.

   Yigh, thou can.

   Taken from page 206 in Shorrocks (1999).

Usage notes

Shorrocks compares the Lancastrian word yigh to the German doch or the French si.

Joseph Wright classified yigh as a variant of yea. In addition to Lancashire, Wright lists yigh for west Yorkshire, Hampshire and the North Country. (See page 573 in volume 6 of English Dialect Dictionary).

References

Shorrocks, Graham (1999). A Grammar of the Dialect of the Bolton Area. Pt. 2: Morphology and Syntax. Bamberger Beiträge zur englischen Sprachwissenschaft; Bd. 41. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. →ISBN.