A Dictionary of Cont..

Yiddish 566
already, but not in a statement. He hasn’t seen
it already is not literary English. The word yet
is required here.
Yet, used as an adverb of time, indicates an
indefinite period preceding a particular moment.
It encroaches on the meanings of still and
already. Like these words, it cannot be used
with a simple past, present, or future tense verb
unless this is understood in a continuing or progressive
sense. When used with a progressive
tense verb in an affirmative sentence, yet is
equivalent to still, as in he is thinking about it
yet. In this sense yer is a bookish word and still
is generally preferred. When used with a pro
gressive tense verb in a negative sentence, yet
is the counterpart of already. Unlike already, it
may follow the verb in a negative statement, as
in he isn’t thinking about it yet, as well as in
a question or an if clause. When used with a
perfect tense verb, yet is always the counterpart
of already. It can be used in a negative or an
affirmative question or if clause, and in a negative
statement, such as he hasn’t seen it yet, but
in an affirmative statement, such as he has seen
it yet, it is meaningless.
Yet may be used to qualify the comparative
form of an adjective or adverb, as in louder yet.
Here it has the same meaning as still.
It may also be used as a connective or loose
conjunction to introduce a contrast or contradiction.
When used as a connective it stands
immediately before the contrasting word or
phrase, as in he is old yet energetic. Thissmay
be a full sentence, as in yet I believe what he
says.
Yiddish; Hebrew. Yiddish is a language used by
many Jews, but it is not linguistically related
to the Hebrew language. Yiddish is actually a
group of closely similar High German dialects,
with vocabulary admixture from Hebrew and
Slavic, written in Hebrew letters, spoken mainly
by Jews in countries east of Germany and by
Jewish emigrants from these regions, and now
the official language of Biro-Bidjan, an autonomous
Jewish region in the southeast part of the
Soviet Union in Asia. Hebrew is the name of
a Semitic language, the language of the ancient
Hebrews, which although not a vernacular after
100 B.C. was retained as the scholarly and liturgical
language of the Jews and now is used as
the language of Israelis. See also Hebrew;
Israelite.
yoke. When this word means a pair of draft
animals, it has the same form in the singular
and the plural, as in a yoke of oxen, five
hundred yoke of oxen. Yoke cannot be treated
as a numeral. It cannot be placed immediately
before a following noun but must be joined to
it by of.
yonder may be used as an adjective, as in on
yonder hill there lives a maiden, or as an adverb,
as in but, as I live, yonder comes Moses.
The word is archaic in either construction.
Yorick. See Alas, poor Yorick!
you; ye. At one time, normal everyday English
had four related words, thou, thee, ye, and you,
which corresponded to the four related words
I, me, we, and us. Today, of the first group,
only the one form you is in general use.
In the thirteenth century the plurals ye and
you were used in speaking to a single person,
as a mark of respect. This is still the practice in
many European languages. But in England this
courtesy was gradually extended to everybody,
even one’s own children, and the singular forms
thee and thou disappeared entirely. (See thee;
thou.) We are paying for this excessive politeness
today by not having any way to distinguish
between a singular and a plural you. For a time
a plural verb was used in speaking to several
people, as in you were there, and a singular
verb, in speaking to only one person, as in you
was there. But this distinction is no longer
standard and yore is now always used with a
plural verb. In Ireland the old ye is sometimes
used to indicate a plural, but this is not standard
English. In the Southern United States you all
is an accepted and respectable plural of you.
But in literary English the mural cannot be
shown except -by adding some other word, as
in you ladies, you people.
Of the two plural forms, ye was the subjective
pronoun comparable to I and you the objective
pronoun comparable to me. The difference in
use is seen in ye shall know the truth and the
truth shall make you free. But by the year 1600,
you was generally used for the subject as well
as the object of a verb and ye disappeared from
natural English. If grammar books had not
become so popular a hundred years or so later,
the same thing might have happened to the
other subjective pronouns, I, we, he, and so on,
and questions about case, such as when to use
I and when to use me, would no longer exist.
The pronoun you may also be used indefinitely
in the sense of “one” or “anyone,” as in at
that time you had to have property to vote. This
is good, literary English. But the construction
must be handled with care. If it is at all possible
to apply the word you to oneself, somebody is
going to do it, and general statements such as
when you think how insignificant you are or
when you have had too much whiskey are likely
to be taken in the wrong way.
When used as a term of abuse you may
appear after the principal word as well as
before it, as in you fool you, you traitor you.
you took the (very) words (right) out of my mouth,
as a way of saying that someone has anticipated
you in expressing a thought or has said what
you were about to say, is a cliche.
young; youthful. Young is the general word for
that which is undeveloped, immature, and in the
process of growth (The young trees must be protected
from the strong west winds. Bliss was it
in that dawn to be alive,/ But to be young was
very heaven!). Young may be applied not only
to persons but to things and institutions (Young
hares are called leverets. We’re living in a
young country, don’t forget that!). Youthful
has connotations suggesting the favorable
characteristics of youth, such as vigor, enthusiasm,
hopefulness, and freshness and physical
grace (How do you keep your youthful figure?).
Only the young are young, but we all long to
be youthful.