آغا

Iraqi Arabic

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish آغا (aġa, “lord”).

Noun

آغا (āḡa) m

1. lord, master
2. agha, an honorific title of address; Mr., sir

   شلونك آغاتي؟

   šlonak āḡāti?

   How are you Sir?

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• (provincial) آقا (aka)

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *āka (“elder (brother)”). Possibly related to Proto-Mongolic *aka (“elder brother”) and Proto-Tungusic *ake (“elder brother”), whence Mongolian ах (ax) and Nanai ага (aga).

Noun

آغا • (ağa)

1. lord, master
2. eldest brother
3. eldest paternal uncle
4. head of household
5. head male servant
6. agha, an honorific title of address; Mr., sir
7. agha, a title of various military and civil officers

Descendants

• Turkish: ağa
• → Armenian: աղա (aġa), Աղասի (Aġasi)
• → Bulgarian: ага (aga)
• → Iraqi Arabic: آغا
• → Laz: აღა (ağa)
• → Romanian: agă

References

• Tokat, Feyza (2014) “On the Common Words in Mongolian and the Turkish Dialects in Turkey”, in The Journal of International Social Research (Uluslararası Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi)‎^[1], volume 7, number 32, →ISSN, pages 185-198.

Persian

Alternative forms

• آغای (āġāy)
• (Dari, colloquial) آغه (âġa), آغی (âġay)
• (some senses) آقا (âqâ), آقای (âqây)

Etymology

Borrowed from Turkic. Compare Azerbaijani ağa.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔaː.ɣaː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣɑː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣɑː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.ɣä]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔɔː.ɣä]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɒː.ʁɒː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɔ.ʁɔ]

Readings
Classical reading?	āġā
Dari reading?	āġā
Iranian reading?	âġâ
Tajik reading?	oġo

• Homophones: آقا (only in Iran)

Noun

آغا • (âġâ)

1. eunuch
2. synonym of آقا (âqâ):
   1. (Classical Persian, dated) sir, mister, Mr.; nobleman
   2. (Iran) nonstandard spelling of آقا (âqâ).
   3. agha, aga
3. (chiefly Dari, Tajik, often endearing) a term for an older male: grandpa, father, brother
4. (usually Iran) lady, madam, Mrs.
5. (Hazaragi, endearing) sister

Usage notes

• In Classical Persian the term was chiefly a respectful term used to refer to refer to men. Though the term has shifted somewhat in modern varieties:
  • In Iran, it maintained a respectful connotation, but has become the semantically feminine form of آقا (âqâ, “Mr., sir”). However, آقا (âqâ) and آغا (âġâ) are homophones in most Iranian dialects, and are only ever distinguished in writing.
  • In other dialects, the term has come to have a somewhat more endearing than respectful connotation; But it typically (but not always) still has a more masculine connotation.

See also

واژِگانِ لَهْجِه‌هایِ فارْسیِ ایرانی بَرایِ خویشاوَنْدانِ نَسَبی ― vâžegân-e lahje-hâ-ye fârsi-ye irâni barâ-ye xišâvandân-e nasabi ― Iranian Persian dialectal kinship term

Family member	Standard Iranian Persian	Tehrani dialect	Abadani dialect	Kashani dialect	Shirazi dialect
mother	مادر (mâdar)	مامان (mâmân)	ننه (nene)		مامو (mâmo)
grandmother	مادربزرگ (mâdar-bozorg)	مامان‌بزرگ (mâmân-bozorg) مامان‌جون (mâmân-jun) (more childish)	بی‌بی (bi-bi)	ماجون (mâjun)	بی‌بی (bi-bi)
father	پدر (pedar)	بابا (bâbâ)	دده (dede)	بابا (bâbâ)	بابو (bâbo)
grandfather	پدربزرگ (pedar-bozorg)	بابابزرگ (bâbâbozorg) باباجون (bâbâjun) (more childish)			بو‌بزرگ (bovobozorg) آقوبزرگ (âġobozorg)
sister	خواهر (xâhar)	آبجی (âbji)	دده (dade)	—	آباجی (âbâji)
older sister	خواهربزرگ (xâhar-bozorg)	آق‌‌باجی (âġ-bâji)	—	باجی (bâji)	شاباجی (šâbâji)
brother	برادر (barâdar)	داداش (dâdâš)	کا (kâ)	وردار (vardâr)	کاکو (kâko) داچی (dâčči) (younger brother)
older brother	برادربزرگ (barâdar-bozorg)	—			آکاکو (âkâko)
maternal aunt (mother's sister)	خاله (xâle)
maternal uncle (mother's brother)	دایی (dâyi)		خالو (xâlu)	—	دئی (do'i) خان‌دوی (xân-doy) (more respectful)
paternal aunt (father's sister)	عمه (amme)
paternal uncle (father's brother)	عمو (amu)		آمو, عامو (âmu)	—	آمو, عامو (âmu)

1. When referring to older family members, both بزرگ (bozorg) and کلان (kalân) are correct, but the former is more common in Iran.

Dari Persian dialectal kinship terms

Family member	Standard Dari	Kabuli dialect	Hazaragi dialect
mother	مادر (mādar)	ننه (nana)	آبه (āba)
grandmother	مادرکلان (mādar-kalān)	بی‌بی (bī-bī)	آجه (āja), بی‌بی (bī-bī)
father	پدر (padar)	بابا (bābā)	آته (āta)
grandfather	پدرکلان (padar-kalān)	آغا (āġā)	بابا (bābā)
sister	خواهر (xāhar)	خوار (xwār, xār)
older sister	خواهرکلان (xāhar-kalān)	—	آغا (āġā), باجی (bājī)
brother	برادر (barādar)	بیادر (biyādar)	برار (birār)
older brother	برادرکلان (barādar-kalān)	لالا (lālā)
maternal aunt (mother's sister)	خاله (xāla)
maternal uncle (mother's brother)	ماما (māmā)		ماما (māmā), تغایی (taġāyī)
paternal aunt (father's sister)	عمه (amma)
paternal uncle (father's brother)	کاکا (kākā)

1. When referring to older family members, both بزرگ (buzurg) and کلان (kalān) are correct, but the latter is more common in Afghanistan.
2. In many dialects, cases of word final ـا (-ā) may be shortened to ـه (-a).
3. In many dialects, all family names ending in ـه (-a) may have an epenthetic ـی (-y) added, e.g. عمه (amma) -> عمی (ammay) (unrelated to ezafe).

Further reading

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “آغا”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• “آغا”, in قاموس کبیر افغانستان [qāmūs-i kabīr-i afġānistān, The Great Dictionary of Afghanistan] (in Persian), Afghan Dictionary, 2023
• Malistani, Tariq (1993) “آغا”, in فرهنگ ابتدائی ملی هزاره [farhang-i ibtidā'ī millī-yi hazāra]‎^[2] (PDF), SIL International

Urdu

Alternative forms

• آقا (āqā)

Etymology

From Classical Persian آغا (āġā), from Turkic. Compare Turkish ağa and Bengali আগা (aga).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɑː.ɣɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

آغا • (āġā) m (Hindi spelling आग़ा)

1. Mr.
2. sir, gentleman
3. master
4. owner
5. lord