jo
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /dʒoː/
Noun
jo (plural jos)
- (Scotland) Darling, sweetheart.
- 1711, traditional, published by James Watson, Old Long Syne:
- On Old long syne my Jo,
on Old long syne,
That thou canst never once reflect,
on Old long syne.
- On Old long syne my Jo,
- My Jo Janet (traditional Scottish song)
- Keek into the draw-well, Janet, Janet;
There ye'll see your bonnie sel',
My jo, Janet.
- Keek into the draw-well, Janet, Janet;
- 1711, traditional, published by James Watson, Old Long Syne:
Anagrams
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *nio (“not, no”), from Proto-Indo-European *nĕ, *nē (“negative particle”). Compare Latin ne, Welsh neu, Old English na, Lithuanian ne (“not”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jɔ/
Audio (file)
Determiner
jo
Related terms
Basque
Verb
jo
- to hit, strike, punch
- (music) to play
- Gitarra jo nahi dut. - I want to play the guitar.
- to knock, rap
- Gizon itsusi batek etxeko atea jo du. - An ugly man knocked on the door.
- to crash
- to head, go
- (wind) to blow
Conjugation
| perfect stem | jo |
|---|---|
| imperfect stem | jotzen |
| future stem | joko |
| short stem | jo |
| verbal noun | jotze |
Synonyms
- (to blow): ibili
Bavarian
Adverb
jo
Catalan
Etymology
From Old Occitan eu, from Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego, from Proto-Italic *egō, from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂; akin to Greek εγώ (egó), Sanskrit अहम् (aham), all from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂.
Pronunciation
Pronoun
jo (strong)
Declension
Synonyms
- mi (after most prepositions)
Noun
jo m (uncountable)
Further reading
- “jo” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Czech
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Particle
jo
Synonyms
Antonyms
Dalmatian
Etymology
From Latin ubi. Compare Romanian iuo, Italian ove, French où, Old Spanish o.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo/
Adverb
jo
Danish
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Middle Low German jo. Used like Swedish ju, German ja.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jo] (unstressed in context)
Adverb
jo
- as you know or should know; sometimes vaguely translatable as after all or obviously
- 2015, Henriette E. Møller, Jelne, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN
- Jeg ved ikke, hvad de talte om, hendes sind blev så mørkt, jeg kunne jo ikke rigtigt snakke med hende.
- I do not know of what they spoke, her mind became so dark, I could not really talk with her, as you should be able to see.
- Jeg ved ikke, hvad de talte om, hendes sind blev så mørkt, jeg kunne jo ikke rigtigt snakke med hende.
- 2009, Sven Arvid Birkeland, I krigens kølvand: danske skæbner efter 2. verdenskrig, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN, page 479
- Han gik jo ikke i krig i håb om, at det skulle blive den store sejr
- After all, he did not go to war in the hopes of achieving great victory.
- Han gik jo ikke i krig i håb om, at det skulle blive den store sejr
- 2016, Anita Krumbach, Dorte Lilmose, Hanne Kvist, Helle Perrier, Iben Mondrup, Louis Jensen, Ronnie Andersen, Sissel Bergfjord, Svend Åge Madsen, Tomas Lagermand Lundme, Det du ikke ved: Noveller for unge, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN
- Jeg mener, at selv ens eget navn eller alder KAN man jo ikke være 100 procent sikker på er Dennis/17, vel?
- I mean, one obviously cannot even be 100% sure that one's own name or age are Dennis and 17, can one?
- Jeg mener, at selv ens eget navn eller alder KAN man jo ikke være 100 procent sikker på er Dennis/17, vel?
- 2015, Henriette E. Møller, Jelne, Gyldendal A/S →ISBN
Conjunction
jo
- the
- Jo mere jeg løber, desto trættere bliver jeg.
- The more I run, the more tired I become.
- Jo mere jeg løber, desto trættere bliver jeg.
Usage notes
jo ... desto ..., jo ... des ... are common constructions.
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈjɔʊ̯ˀ]
Interjection
jo
- yes (used to contradict a negative statement or negatively phrased question) (often followed by I do, he is, etc. in English to indicate contradiction rather than affirmation); identical in usage to the French si. Contrasts with ja which confirms positive statements or positively phrased questions.
- Du elsker mig ikke, gør du vel? — Jo!
- You don't love me, do you? — Yes, I do!
- Jeg har ikke gjort noget! — Jo!
- I didn't do anything! — Yes, you did!
Usage notes
Negatively phrased questions like Kommer du ikke?, Du kommer ikke, vel?, Du kommer ikke? ("Are you not coming?", "You are not coming, are you?", "You are not coming?") must be answered with jo to indicate that the speaker is, in fact, coming; they cannot be answered with ja ("yes").
References
- “jo” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Etymology
Interjection
jo
- hi
- Ey! - Jo! - Hey! - Hi!
- bye
- Later! - Jo! - Later! - Bye!
- you too
- Fijn weekend! - Jo! - Have a nice weekend! - You too!
Esperanto
Noun
jo (accusative singular jo-on, plural jo-oj, accusative plural jo-ojn)
See also
- (Latin-script letter names) litero; a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, ŝo, to, u, ŭo, vo, zo
Finnish
Etymology
Cognate with Estonian ju. According to EES ultimately borrowed from Proto-Germanic *ju, compare Gothic 𐌾𐌿 (ju, “already”), Old High German ju (“already”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈjo/
- Rhymes: -o
- Hyphenation: jo
Adverb
jo
See also
Friulian
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego.; akin to Greek εγώ (egó), Sanskrit अहम् (aham), all from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂.
Pronoun
jo
See also
German
Alternative forms
- joa
Etymology 1
Alteration of ja (“yes”) or the respective dialectal cognates.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jɔː/
Interjection
jo
Etymology 2
From the respective dialectal words for yes in about half of Northern and Central Germany and all of Western Germany (compare Low German ja, jo). Possibly from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes, thus, so”), possibly from an unrecorded root. The form with /oː/ must have existed in the middle ages already, since the word often partakes in the same sound shifts as words with /oː/ from other sources, cf. Swedish jo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /joː/
Interjection
jo
- (colloquial) yes; expresses firm agreement.
Ingrian
Adverb
jo
Italian
Pronoun
jo
- Obsolete form of io.
Japanese
Romanization
jo
- Rōmaji transcription of じょ
- Rōmaji transcription of ジョ
- Rōmaji transcription of ぢょ
- Rōmaji transcription of ヂョ
Karelian
Adverb
jo
Kashubian
Interjection
jo
Konabéré
Pronunciation
Noun
jo
Alternative forms
Further reading
- Beatrice Tiendrébéogo, Rapport Sociolinguistique sur la Langue Bobo Madaré (SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2007-005: 55), page 44
- Chiara Alfieri, Bernard Taverne, Ethnophysiologie, règles et précautions chez les Bobo Madare et les Mossi
Latvian
Conjunction
jo
Particle
jo
Lithuanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jo]
Determiner
jo
- his (3rd person singular masculine possessive)
Pronoun
jo m
- (third-person singular) genitive form of jis.
Particle
jo
- (colloquial) yes
Livonian
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
Perhaps borrowed from Latvian jo (“because, yet (more)”), /juo/.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo/
Preposition
jo
- more; used with adjectives to form comparatives
- Tiit-Rein Viitso, Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz, Tartu, Rīga: TÜ, LVA
- pitkā, jo pitkā
- long, longer
- pitkā, jo pitkā
- Tiit-Rein Viitso, Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz, Tartu, Rīga: TÜ, LVA
Etymology 2
Perhaps borrowed from Latvian jau (“yet, already, after all”). However, compare also Finnish jo (“already”), thus ultimately a common Finnic borrowing from Proto-Germanic [Term?] that has likely been contaminated by the more figurative senses of Latvian jau, with the latter ultimately a distant cognate of the initial Germanic borrowing.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /jo/
Preposition
jo
- yet, already, after all
- Tiit-Rein Viitso, Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz, Tartu, Rīga: TÜ, LVA
- mōnigļikizt, ne jo lǟbõd mōzõ
- bumblebees, they are already migrating to their burrows (lit. "going inside of earth")
- amād jo ītist äb peļļõt
- not everyone makes the same [amount of money] (lit. "everyone after all doesn't earn the same")
- mōnigļikizt, ne jo lǟbõd mōzõ
- Tiit-Rein Viitso, Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz, Tartu, Rīga: TÜ, LVA
Usage notes
- LĒL only lists jo without listing any instances of juo. Livonian-Latvian-Livonian dictionary, in turn, only lists juo for the comparative forming preposition sense.
- LĒL doesn't explicitly list the second sense that seems to exactly mirror Latvian jau (including the more figurative applications.) Such a function, however, is inferred from the many usage examples available in the dictionary. As a translation of Latvian jau (strictly in its temporal sense) LĒL lists jõbā (“already”), cf. Estonian juba.
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [jɔ]
Particle
jo
- yes (word used to show agreement or acceptance)
Verb
jo
- third-person singular present of byś
Pronoun
jo
- accusative of wóno
Alternative forms
- njo (after preposition)
Luxembourgish
Pronunciation
Adverb
jo
See also
Verb
jo
- second-person singular imperative of joen
Northern Sami
Adverb
jo
Norwegian
Alternative forms
- jau (Nynorsk)
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Adverb
jo
- yes; in disagreement with the last speaker's negative statement.
- Du har ikke pusset tennene vel? - Jo, det har jeg.
- You haven't brushed your teeth, have you? - Yes, I have.
- yes or no; expressing doubt. (colloquial)
- Vil du være med? - Jo...
- Do you want to join? - I'm not sure...
Usage notes
Ja can be interpreted as an agreement with the person replied to. Jo is used instead of ja if this agreement could cause ambiguity. In example 1, agreement with the person asking the question would be the opposite of a confirmation that one actually did brush the teeth. As such ja would be ambiguous. The answer jo removes the possibility of agreement with the speaker.
Related terms
Occitan
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʒu/, /ju/
Etymology 1
From Old Occitan eu, from Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego. Compare Catalan jo, Old French jeo.
Pronoun
jo
Etymology 2
From Old Occitan (compare Catalan jou), from Latin jugum, iugum (compare French joug, Italian giogo), from Proto-Italic *jugom, from Proto-Indo-European *yugóm.
Noun
jo m
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego.
Pronoun
jo
Old Frisian
Pronoun
jō
Declension
Plautdietsch
Adverb
jo
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /xo/
Interjection
¡jo!
- stop, woah (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof)
Etymology 2
Euphemistic clipping of joder.
Interjection
¡jo!
- Used to express surprise, amazement, or confusion.
- ¡Jo!
- I never heard anything like that before.
- ¡Jo!
- Are you serious?
- ¡Jo!
- Boy!
- ¡Jo!
Further reading
- “jo” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
Swedish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /juː/
Interjection
jo
- yes; used as a disagreement to a negative statement or a negatively phrased question.
- Du har inte borstat tänderna, eller hur? - Jo, det har jag.
- "You haven't brushed your teeth, have you? - Yes, I have."
Usage notes
Ja (yes) can be interpreted as an agreement with the person replied to. Jo is used instead of ja if this agreement could cause ambiguity. In the example above agreement with the person asking the question would be the opposite of a confirmation that one actually did brush the teeth. As such ja would be ambiguous. The answer jo removes the possibility of agreement with the speaker.
In northern Sweden it is however not uncommon for the word jo to be used in place of ja in all cases, at least in spoken language.
Anagrams
Veps
Etymology
Related to Finnish jo.
Adverb
jo
References
- Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “уж, уже”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian jū, from Proto-Germanic *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Compare English you, Dutch jou, u, Low German jo, ju, German euch.
Pronoun
jo
Usage notes
Though it is a singular pronoun, jo takes the plural conjugation of verbs.