South Levantine Arabic

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Probably formed أَيّ (ʔayy) + swearing وَ (wa), the former as well used in Palestinian Arabic in the sense “let’s go”, “styll” etc. and with أَيّ نَعَم (ʔayy naʕam), possibly arbitrarily chosen for its onomatopoeic properties like Urban British English aye, as well as High Arabic هَيَّا (hayyā).

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ʔaj.wa/, [ˈʔaj.wa]
  • Audio (Ramallah):(file)

Particle

edit

أيوى (ʔaywa)

  1. yes, yep, yeah