אַבי

ETYMOLOGY

Polish abу; ukr. аби.
{Astraukh]
{The word was possibly borrowed from Ukrainian, since the Ukrainian form has similar stress (though not the same vowel quality). Perhaps Old Ukrainian had the same vowel quality /i/. But why would it become long /iː/? Perhaps a stressed open final vowel must be long in CY?]
A contamination of two similar sounding Polish words: aby '(in order) to' and oby 'may' (< Old Polish o byś! 'may you'). Indeed, אַבי functions as both a conjunction and as an exponent of optativity.
{Geller 2023: 120}
Beider suggests that the long vowel (cf. CY abī) could be either I₂ or I₃. {How relevant?]
cf. Polish aby; Ukrainian аби́; Belarusian абы.

CENTRAL

nɔr, abi kajnɛ zɔɬ nᵻʃ't visn נאָר אַבי קיינער זאָל נישט וויסן {Warsaw, Geller 2001: 207}
- abᵻ x-ᵻn nɔx tsᵻ bɬaːbm nadlitʃbɔvɔ אַבי איך קען נאָר {?] צו בלײַבן נאַדליטשבאָוואָ (Polish nadliczbowo 'extra, as reserve') {p. 251}
- m-ɔt zᵻ giɛjbm abᵻ... ᵻbɛtsᵻlɛjbm dɛm tuk מע האָט זיי געגעבן אַבי... איבערצולעבן דעם טאָג {p. 299}

HASIDIC

EUROPE

abi gəzɩnt אַבי געזונט {Vienna, Eidel Malowicki]