いや

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
嫌 厭 (uncommon) 厭や (uncommon)

Possibly onomatopoeia as a general expression of disgust. Compare similar terms in many different languages, such as English yuck, Finnish yök, Arabic يَع (yaʕ), Turkish ıy, Thai ยี้ (yíi).

Alternative forms

• (informal) や (ya), やー (yā)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いや [ìyáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ija̠]

Adjective

いや • (iya) -na (adnominal いやな (iya na), adverbial いやに (iya ni))

1. disagreeable, unpleasant, disgusting, offensive, abhorrent

   嫌(いや)な顔(かお)をする

   iya na kao o suru

   to make weird faces

   嫌(いや)な女(おんな)

   iya na onna

   unpleasant woman → bitch

   嫌(いや)なことを言(い)う

   iya na koto o iu

   to say awful things

   ぞっとするほど嫌(いや)な目(め)に合(あ)った。

   Zotto suru hodo iya na me ni atta.

   They met with a shockingly abhorrent experience.

Usage notes

いや (iya) sounds more masculine than やだ (yada), which has the same meaning but is more feminine.

Inflection

Inflection of いや

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	いやだろ	iya daro
Continuative (連用形)	いやで	iya de
Terminal (終止形)	いやだ	iya da
Attributive (連体形)	いやな	iya na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	いやなら	iya nara
Imperative (命令形)	いやであれ	iya de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	いやではない いやじゃない	iya de wa nai iya ja nai
Informal past	いやだった	iya datta
Informal negative past	いやではなかった いやじゃなかった	iya de wa nakatta iya ja nakatta
Formal	いやです	iya desu
Formal negative	いやではありません いやじゃありません	iya de wa arimasen iya ja arimasen
Formal past	いやでした	iya deshita
Formal negative past	いやではありませんでした いやじゃありませんでした	iya de wa arimasen deshita iya ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	いやで	iya de
Conditional	いやなら（ば）	iya nara (ba)
Provisional	いやだったら	iya dattara
Volitional	いやだろう	iya darō
Adverbial	いやに	iya ni
Degree	いやさ	iyasa

Derived terms

• いやいや (iyaiya)
• 嫌(いや)がる (iyagaru): to dislike something; to be reluctant to do something
• 嫌(いや)がらせ (iyagarase): harassment, nuisance
• 嫌(いや)む (iyamu): to dislike something, to hate something
• 嫌(いや)み (iyami): sarcasm; something sarcastic or snide; disagreeability
• 嫌(いや)らしい (iyarashii): disagreeable, unpleasant, disgusting (less strong than plain 嫌 (iya)); vulgar, indecent, lascivious

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

1. yuck, ew

See also

• やだ (yada), やーだ (yāda)
• いやん (iyan), いやーん (iyān)

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
否

From the same origin as 嫌(いや) (iya, “disagreeable; unpleasant”) above.

Alternative forms

• (repeated) いやいや (iya iya), いやいやいや (iya iya iya)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いや [ìyáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ija̠]

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

1. no, incorrect

   いや、違(ちが)うだろ。

   Iya, chigau daro.

   No, that's definitely not it.

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• いやあ (iyā), いやぁ (iyā), いやー (iyā)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いや [ìyáꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ija̠]

Interjection

いや • (iya) 

1. Exclamation of surprise in contrast to expectations.

   いやぁ、驚(おどろ)いたな。

   Iyā, odoroita na.

   What a surprise.

2. Exclamation used when one finds it difficult to onboard.

   いやぁ、そう言(い)われてもなぁ。

   Iyā, sō iwaretemo nā.

   I mean, even if you say so [tell me to, etc.], it's just… [somewhat difficult].

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling
礼

/wiya/ → /iya/.

Old Japanese. Probably a variant of うや (uya).

Compound of 居(ゐ) (i, “existence”) and 弱(や) (ya, “weak”). 弱(や) (ya) may be related to the following; 弱(よわ)い (yowai, “weak”), 止(や)む (yamu, “to stop”), 柳(やなぎ) (yanagi, “willow”), 和(やわ)らぐ (yawaragu, “soft”).

病(や)む (yamu, “sick”) may also be 弱(や) (ya, “weak”)'s wanderwort.

References

• 「うや(敬・礼)」・「うやうやし」・「うやまひ(敬ひ)」の語源

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ija̠]

Noun

いや • (iya) ^{←ゐや (wiya)?}

1. the act of respecting one; reverence

Derived terms

• 礼(いや)ぶ (iyabu, “to show respect; to honor”)
• 敬(いやま)う (iyamau, “to show respect; to honor”)
• いやいやしい (iyaiyashii, “polite; respectful”)

See also

• 礼(れい)をする (rei o suru)

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN