يعني

Non-past of عَنَى (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”). Compare Hebrew יען (ya'en, “because of, since”).

IPA^(key): /jaʕ.niː/

يعني (form I)

1. يَعْنِي (yaʕnī) /jaʕ.niː/: third-person masculine singular non-past active indicative of عَنَى (ʕanā)
2. يَعْنِيَ (yaʕniya) /jaʕ.ni.ja/: third-person masculine singular non-past active subjunctive of عَنَى (ʕanā)

يَعْنِي • (yaʕnī)

1. (adverbial, conjunctive, prepositional, or adjectival) in other words, actually, namely, to wit, kind of, somewhat, id est, that is, meaning, you know
2. (filler) er, so, uh, well

يعني (form I)

1. يَعْنِي (yaʕnī) /jaʕ.niː/: third-person masculine singular non-past active indicative of عَنَى (ʕanā)
2. يَعْنِيَ (yaʕniya) /jaʕ.ni.ja/: third-person masculine singular non-past active subjunctive of عَنَى (ʕanā)

Non-past of Arabic عَنَى (ʕanā, “to mean, to concern”).

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)

1. (transitive) [he/she/it] means

• In the past tense, كان معناته is used, which means "its meaning was".

يَعْنِي • (yaʿnī)

1. (adverbial) kind of, somewhat

   كان حلو الفلم ؟
   يعني بس مو وايد . ― Was the movie good?
   Kind of, but not so much.

• The expression is only used when answering questions.

Inherited from Arabic يَعْنِي (yaʕnī, literally “it means”), a conjugation of عَنَى (ʕanā, “to mean”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈjaʕ.ni/
• (conjugated verb) IPA^(key): /ˈjiʕ.ni/ [je-]
• (regional, Lebanon) IPA^(key): /ˈjaʕ.ne/, (conjugated verb) /ˈjiʕ.ne/ [je-]

يَعْنِي • (yaʕni)

1. (copulative, defective) mean, means

   شو يعني إسمك؟ ― šū yaʕni ʔismak? ― What does your name mean?

   لاء يعني لاء ― lāʔ yaʕni lāʔ ― No means no

• Does not conjugate, not even periphrastically.

يِعْنِي or يَعْنِي • (yiʕni or yaʕni)

1. (defective) to mean

   موافقتك ما بتعنيلي شي

   mwāfaʔtak ma btiʕnīli šī

   Your agreement doesn't mean anything to me

• Synonymous with the above fully defective form. This variant conjugates for person and mood, but only in the imperfective. A periphrastic كَان (kān, literally “it was”) is used to form the perfective.

يَعْنِي • (yaʕni) (conjunctive)

1. so; meaning

   عملنا اللي علينا، يعني رح نشوف هلأ شو بيصير

   ʕmilna lli ʕlayna, yaʕni raḥ nšūf hallaʔ šu biṣīr.

   We’ve done what we could, meaning we’re going to see what happens now.

2. namely; that is; in other words

   عم قطّف توت وعنب يعني إشيا حلوة

   ʕam ʔaṭṭif tūt w ʕinab yaʕni ʔišya ḥilwe

   I'm picking mulberries and grapes... in other words, sweet things

   ما في فرق كتير. تقريبا نفس الشي يعني

   ma fī farʔ ktīr. taʔrīban nafs š-šī yaʕni

   There’s not much of a difference. It’s almost the same thing, that is

يَعْنِي • (yaʕni)

1. well; you know; er; uh

   الموضوع يعني... أصعب من هيك

   l-mawḍūʕ yaʕni... ʔaṣʕab min hayk.

   The matter is, well... more complicated than that.

2. like; I mean
4. kind of; I guess; so-so; meh

   كان حلو الفلم؟ — يعني، بس توقعتو يكون أحلى

   kān ḥilu l-film? — yaʕni, bas twaʔʔaʕto ykūn ʔaḥla.

   Was the film good? — I guess, but I expected it to be better.

• Sense 3 (“so-so”) is said in a singsongy intonation with the first syllable taking the higher pitch.

From Arabic يَعْنِي (yaʕnī).

• IPA^(key): /jaʕ.ni/, [ˈjaʕ.ni]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

يعني • (yaʕni)

1. so, well, you know
2. I guess, I suppose
3. does that mean...? (in a question)