THE USE OF "YA" IN IGBO

In Igbo language 'ya' can mean "something, it, a person, the person, his, hers" or it can equally mean him or her depending on how you say it. Like other words in Igbo Language, when 'ya' is used, the name of the person, the item or the thing should be said first to show or present that a particular thing is what you are referring to.

Let us assume for instance Uche and ​Christopher are having arm wrestling.  

For example in English: Uche and ​Christopher are having arm wrestling. In Igbo language you would say: Uche na ​Christopher mega aka mgba.
In English: Uche is black and his hand is the black one. In Igbo: Uche di ojii, aka ya di ojii.
In English: Christopher is white and his hand is the white one. In Igbo: Christopher di ocha, aka ya di ocha.

Other ways of using ya:
In English: This is his hat. In Igbo: nka bụ okpu ya
In English: Leave him. In Igbo: hapụ ya; rapụ ya
In English: Leave him alone. In Igbo: rapụ ya aka; hapụ ya aka
In English: Her name is Ngozi. In Igbo: aha ya bụ Ngozi
In English: Give him food. In Igbo: nye ya nri
In English: He should come in. In Igbo: ya bata
The above is to demonstrate how “ya” is used in various sentences.

Now what do I mean by the following:
aka ya = This means his or her hand (if you look at the human parts, aka means hand).
ụgbo ala ya = This means his or her car (if you look at the chart or drawing ụgbọ ala means car).
nye ite = This means give pot (if you look at names of items you will see ite as pot).
Mazi Obi bata (ya bata) = This means Mr Obi should come in or he should come.
azu ya = This means his/her or their fish and can equally mean his or her back.
uwe ya = This means his or her clothe.
nye ya na John azu = This means give him, her or them and John fish.
Clearly you can see how “ya” is used in various sentences and how important it is in Igbo Language.

In this section, you have learnt the following:
aha ya bụ Ngozi
aka ya
hapụ ya
hapụ ya aka
ụgbo ala ya
nye ite
nye ya ri
okpu ya
rapụ ya
rapụ ya aka
ya
ya bata