Adam lay ybounden. Any ys around these days?

Question

Thanks for pointing out the similar question. Great, but note that I'm trying to find ...

• is there any SPECIFIC examples/evidence around of yword yusage TODAY?

• other than jokey usage, is there any fresh and real usage?

• nobody has explained, simply what period was it popular? (if at all - or was it just an artifact or something?)

• and indeed, what ywere the Top Three Yword greatest hits?

Cheers!

I made an ybounden the other day,

and it brought to mind the questions:

These days, are there any words which use the y- prefix?

What is the origin of this prefix?

In what period was it popular?

What were, at that time, other popular words with the y- prefix?

Is it perhaps today still popular in other (European?) languages - which?

Is the whole thing just a typo/artifact? What's the deal?

But mostly ........ are there any ywords popular today?

Among hundreds of Middle English words it formed are yfallen, yhacked ("completely hacked," probably now again useful), yknow, ymarried, ywrought. (Etymonline) — , Jun 18 '16 at 12:06
Possible duplicate of What we've gelost — why doesn't English use the prefix "ge-"? Per OED, [the y-* prefix] represents Old English ge-, earlier (and Northumb.) gi-,* etc., etc. — FumbleFingers, Jun 18 '16 at 12:09
Related, possible duplicate of: http://english.stackexchange.com/q/232693/14666 — Kris, Jun 18 '16 at 13:19
@DanBron I don't think I've ever used "yclept" but it was the first thing that came to mind when I read the question. Do I qualify as a jerk? — Andreas Blass, Jun 19 '16 at 04:22
To see those Y words in action, read The Canterbury Tales in the original language, of course. — GEdgar, Jun 19 '16 at 12:53
@JoeBlow 1. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/04/a_looming_moral_dilemma.html 2. ACRONYM stands for Alphabetically Condensed Representation of Neologically Yclept Magniloquence https://www.allacronyms.com/ACRONYM/Alphabetically_Condensed_Representation_of_Neologically_Yclept_Magniloquence ... — Kris, Jun 20 '16 at 07:30
... 3. "And IBM, yclept Dr. Watson, an Aesculapian bean-counter enlightened by AI, is injecting itself into medicine. As the temperance folk asked after banishing demon rum, "What could go wrong?"" http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh072715-story04.html 4. https://pjmedia.com/diaryofamadvoter/2015/12/30/sex-lies-clinton-and-trump/ 5. http://www.nationalmemo.com/bernie-sanders-meets-pope-in-vatican-city/ AND all these in the past year alone. — Kris, Jun 20 '16 at 07:36
that's a pretty decisive answer, @Mitch, perhaps it would be ywise to put it in? — Fattie, Jun 20 '16 at 15:55
@JoeBlow As annoyed as people might be by an answer in a comment, that comment is essentially what is answered at the duped question. I just don't like anyone to go away upset for being closed. Also, yusing one omre 'y-' to yprefix everything is going to make me ybarf... ybleurgh — Mitch, Jun 20 '16 at 17:24
I just want to say I've really enjoyed this question and the answers. I would've answered it myself if Mitch hadn't come through. :D — TaliesinMerlin, Jan 07 '19 at 18:56

Mitch · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-08T16:27:12.730

Many of your questions are answered tangentially by What we've gelost — why doesn't English use the prefix "ge-"?. But you ask some new questions about current usage.

For usage nowadays in all varieties of Modern English, no, none of 'y-', 'ge-', or their derivatives are used at all as a prefix for past participle (or for any prefix). It might appear modified in some ossified phrases or words (eg handiwork, or in rare regionalisms as 'a-'.
'ge-' is entirely a Germanic past participle marker (it appears in no other Indo-European language (sumelic will surely correct me here if otherwise)) and has been lost in many Germanic ones as well (enumerated in other answers here).
For the time span: OE (up to 1066) used 'ge-', ME (~1150 - ~1500) used 'y-' or not at all, EModE use 'y-' very rarely ('yclept'), and Modern Standard English never. (all dates extremely vague and labels oversimplified!). There may be various holdovers in regional dialects. But note that the descendents of 'ge-' would have to be past participles; "Froggy's gone acourtin'" is an entirely different anachronistic 'a-', not from 'ge-'.
the top three archaic words that are sometimes used are 'yclept' for 'called', 'yclad' for 'clothed', ... and .. really, 'ybounden'? I've never heard that outside the hymn (and even then the memory is pretty hazy (end even then I don't really know what it means)). As to popularity, sure, some people use 'yclept' in a faux medieval cant, along with 'methinks', 'betwixt', and 'ye'.

What's really a word? It's obvious when it is and obvious when it isn't, but near the borderline it's not obvious. If it is in your Scrabble dictionary... sigh ... that's a game that has to have arbitrary rules. Sure, go wild and use 'y-' in Scrabble (if your reference dictionary allows), at your local Renaissance Fayre, or to signal to your local Morris Dancing group that you are kindred spirits. Just recognize the use as very ... particular.

Also, the OED (use your local US/UK library site to connect, sorry everyone else) has an excellent entry on 'y-' (prefix 2), and answers all these questions in depth. Note that that entry has no citations, implying that it is ... not really a thing anymore.

LOL and excellent. :) Say, what about "a-wooing" mentioned by New User amanda? — Fattie, Jan 07 '19 at 17:02
@Fattie That was covered in pt three about timing; the 'a-' in 'a-X-ing' is not from 'y-' but from 'on'. To be a descendent of 'ge-', the rest of the verb needs to be a past participle. — Mitch, Jan 07 '19 at 17:14
Ybounden does actually mean bound: the carol affirms that Adam (mankind) was bound by sin until freed by Christ, whose coming was necessary because of the original sin of taking the apple. — Andrew Leach, Jan 08 '19 at 21:26
@AndrewLeach oh sure, It's not too hard to figure out. But it sure is unexpected. — Mitch, Jan 08 '19 at 21:34
Enjoy that bounty! (It's good to see new users without many points getting a start right? :-) ) — Fattie, Jan 11 '19 at 13:45

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 07 '19 at 15:11

6

The closest examples are with the prefix "a-" in the likes of "a frog he would a-wooing go", which is from "ge-", and the "I" in "handiwork", also from "ge-". The meaning of "ge-" in Old English wasn't ybounden to the verb or universal as it is nowadays in German, although that also has other examples too, but is more a sense of being completed or gathered together, as with "ywis" - certainly, so the "i" is a valid example.

answered Jan 07 '19 at 15:11

Amanda McIntyre Ure

61

Welcome new user. That is a fantastic example - THANKS – Fattie Jan 07 '19 at 15:14
As said here, "closest ..." Do note @Mitch 's answer though. – Fattie Jan 07 '19 at 17:22

GEdgar · Answer 3 · 2019-01-11T13:47:01.620

To see those Y words in action, read The Canterbury Tales in the original language, of course. published 1386

For example, line 1149, in The Knyghtes Tale,

For which thou art ybounden as a knyght

As explained in a more complete answer, if you know that in German the past participle is formed with prefix ge-, then you can recognize the similarity with these past participles formed in Chaucer's English with y-.

In this picture, we can see the line

That whilom was ycleped Scithia,

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 18 '16 at 23:44

shorter Oxford Eng Dict lists 4 yclad, yclept, ypent, ywroken but are all described as archaic. It also includes a dozen obsolete y- words which apparently derive from the germanic→Old Englsih words with the prefix ge- (and are perhaps identical to the latin co-). Did you really mean to call English a Romance language??? Same source says most of those words were lost by the late Middle English period, but some survived as intentional archaicisms and mentions the above two as well as yravish. Here is the one's I spotted:yblent, yborn, ybound, ybrent, yclepped, ydred, yfere, ygo, ypight, ysame, ysprung, ywhere.

P. O. · Answer 5 · 2016-06-20T16:07:36.390

0

Actually, I think there are words where Y as prefix replaced Ge and still very very much currently in use:

YES

Middle English, from Old English gēse Old English gēse, from iā sīe meaning may it be;

and also

YEA

Old English gē a; related to Old Frisian jē, Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old High German jā, Gothic jai

and for the third one

YOU

** Old English ēow, dative and accusative of gē ye;

Definitions taken form Collins and Webster

edited Jun 20 '16 at 16:07

answered Jun 20 '16 at 14:11

P. O.

4,096

1

It seems to me the "ge/y" in all of these words is completely unrelated to the prefix in "ybounden." – herisson Jun 20 '16 at 17:12
it seems to me that they are:Y denote the completion of something, as in a verb on participle, here from the verb Be, yes= so be it/it's done/indeed . For Gea =Yea = "completely always" It's more disputable for you. But I may be wrong. – P. O. Jun 20 '16 at 18:59
2

The prefix "ge/y" that denotes completion is reconstructed as Proto-Germanic ga-, thought to be from Proto-Indo-European kom-. "Yes"/"yea" are from a separate root, reconstructed as Proto-Germanic ja. "You" is from yet another root, Proto-Germanic jūz/izwiz. Consider that the German prefix ge- which is cognate to the English prefix y- is not used with the words "ja" (yes) and "ihr" (you). – herisson Jun 21 '16 at 02:25
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That's why I say that they don't seem related. The word "you" just does not have a prefix. "Yes" and "yea" may have originated as compound words, but the first word in these compounds is unrelated to the "y-" prefix found in "ybounden." – herisson Jun 21 '16 at 02:29
Compare Ger. genau "exactly", apparently *ge- + *nou(we), used in place of ja occasionally; And genug "enough", cognate ME ynough, OE genog, from *ge- + *nogaz. – vectory Jan 08 '19 at 02:27
@sumelic, consider that g~j is a Low German dialectical variation and compare southern Ger. "gell?" "yea?", related to gelten "to be valid", which is acceptable, but only moves the problem there with Geld "money", and yield, etc, which is considerable if comparing "Gehalt". Geld has only Germanic and Slavic cognates in Pokorny, while the root *ghel- found elsewhere doesn't explain much and is obviously comparable to variations with k, cp. call and yell. I think I'm trying to say that PGem *ja might be wrong or not all the story, compared to the weird Fr oui. Also see gay. – vectory Jan 08 '19 at 04:04

Adam lay ybounden. Any ys around these days?

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