أي

See also: إي‎, آی‎, ای‎, and اي‎

Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

أَيُّ or أَيَّ or أَيِّ or أَيٌّ or أَيًّا or أَيٍّ • (ʾayyu or ʾayya or ʾayyi or ʾayyun or ʾayyan or ʾayyin) ?

1. which ...? what ...? what kind of ...? (followed by a noun in the genitive or a personal suffix)

   ‏مِنْ أَيِّ بَلَدٍ أَنْتَ؟‎‎

   min ʾayyi baladin ʾanta?

   From which country are you?

2. whichever

   ‏أَيَّ كِتَابٍ تَقْرَأْ يُفِدْكَ‎

   ʾayya kitābin taqraʾ yufidka

   Whichever book you read, it'll benefit you.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 17:110:

     ‏أَيًّا مَّا تَدۡعُوا۟ فَلَهُ ٱلۡأسۡمَاۤءُ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ‎

     ʾayyam mā tadʿū fa-lahu l-ʾasmāʾu l-ḥusnā

     [... by] whatever [name] you call upon [Him], to Him belongs the best names.

Derived terms

• أَيٌّ مَا‎ (ʾayyun mā)

Etymology 2

Adverb

أَيْ • (ʾay)

1. that is to say, namely, i.e.

References

• “أي” in J.A. Haywood and H.M. Nahmad (1965), A new Arabic grammar (second edition), London: Lund Humphries, →ISBN