ܗܘ

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Pronunciation

• ܗܲܘ:
  • (Standard) IPA^(key): [ʔawaː]
  • (Nineveh Plains) IPA^(key): [ʔaːw]

    (Bakhdede) IPA^(key): [ʔaːhu]

• ܗܵܘ:
  • (Standard) IPA^(key): [haːw]
  • (Nineveh Plains) IPA^(key): [ʔoː]

Etymology 1

Likely a univerbation of Aramaic הוּא (hū, “he”) +‎ ܗܵܐ (hā, “behold”), from Proto-Semitic *šuʔa; compare Arabic هُوَ (huwa), Hebrew הוּא (hu) and Akkadian 𒋗𒌑 (šū).

Pronoun

ܗ̇ܘ or ܗܲܘ • (awa) m sg (feminine ܗ̇ܝ (aya), masculine plural ܗܸܢܘܿܢ (hinōn), feminine plural ܗܸܢܹܝܢ (hinnēn))

1. (personal) he, it
2. (intensive) he himself, it itself
3. (dialectal, demonstrative) that

Usage notes

• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic does not have a neuter gender. The sense of “it” comes when translating Assyrian inanimate nouns that are grammatically masculine into English inanimate nouns that are usually neuter.
• As an intensive pronoun, ܗ̇ܘ (awa) must come before the noun it describes.

See also

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic personal pronouns

Isolated nominative pronouns
		singular	plural
1st person		ܐܵܢܵܐ (ānā)	ܐܲܚܢܲܢ (aḥnan)
2nd person	m	ܐܲܢ݇ܬ (at)	ܐܲܢ݇ܬܘܿܢ (atōn)
	f	ܐܲܢ݇ܬܝ (at)	ܐܲܢ݇ܬܹܝܢ (attēn)
3rd person	m	ܗ̇ܘ (awa)	ܗܸܢܘܿܢ (hinōn)
	f	ܗ̇ܝ (aya)	ܗܸܢܹܝܢ (hinnēn)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
		singular	plural
1st person		-ܝܼ (-ī)	-ܲܢ (-an)
2nd person	m	-ܘܼܟ݂ (-ūḵ)	-ܵܘܟ݂ܘܿܢ (-āwḵōn)
	f	-ܵܟ݂ܝ (-āḵ)
3rd person	m	-ܹܗ (-ēh); -ܘܼܗܝ (-ūh)	-ܗܘܿܢ (-hōn)
	f	-ܵܗ̇ (-āh); -ܘܿܗ̇ (-ōh)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Aramaic הָו (hāw).

Pronoun

ܗܵܘ • (hāw) m sg (feminine ܗܵܝ (hāy), masculine plural ܗܵܢܘܿܢ (hānōn), feminine plural ܗܵܢܹܝܢ (hānēn))

1. (demonstrative) that; that thing, that one (not physically present)

Derived terms

• ܗܲܘܗܵܐ (hawhā, “that”)

Classical Syriac

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *šuʔa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hu]

Pronoun

ܗܘ • (hū) m (plural ܗܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܗܢܝܢ)

1. (personal) he, it
2. (intensive) he himself, it itself
3. sometimes used somewhat like a definite article; the

Usage notes

• Syriac does not have a neuter gender. The sense of "it" comes when translating Syriac inanimate nouns that are grammatically masculine into English inanimate nouns that are usually neuter.
• As an intensive pronoun, ܗܘ (hū) must come before the noun it describes.

Etymology 2

Modified from above, with the initial consonant quiescing.

Alternative forms

• -ܘ (-w)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [-(ʔ)u] (after a word ending in a consonant)
• IPA^(key): [-w] (after a word ending in a vowel, forming a diphthong)

Pronoun

ܗܘ • ([h]ū, -w) m (plural ܐܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܐܢܝܢ)

1. an enclitic used as a copula for a third-person singular masculine subject; he is, it is
2. (with a preceding first- or second-person singular pronoun) an enclitic used as a copula for a singular masculine subject; (I) am, (you) are

Usage notes

• Usually, the form ܗܘ ([h]ū) is written separately from the word it follows while the alternative form -ܘ (-w) is written together with the word it follows.

See also

• ܐܝܬܘܗܝ

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hɑw], [haw]

Adjective

ܗܘ • (hāw) m (plural ܗܢܘܢ, singular feminine counterpart ܗܝ, plural feminine counterpart ܗܢܝܢ)

1. (demonstrative) that

Usage notes

• As an attributive adjective, ܗܘ (hāw) can come either before or after the noun it describes without any change in meaning.

Pronoun

ܗܘ • (hāw) m (plural ܗܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܗܢܝܢ)

1. (demonstrative) that thing, that one
2. used somewhat like a definite article; the

Usage notes

• The sense of the definite article "the" is used especially when translating Ancient Greek texts, being the equivalent of the Ancient Greek masculine singular definite article ὁ (ho).

References

• “hw”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, retrieved 2011-06-16
• Costaz, Louis (2002) Dictionnaire syriaque-français ∙ Syriac–English Dictionary ∙ قاموس سرياني-عربي, 3rd edition, Beirut: Dar El-Machreq, p. 74a-b
• Payne Smith, Jessie (1903) A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, D.D., Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 100b-101a
• Sokoloff, Michael (2009) A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, Winona Lake, Indiana, Piscataway, New Jersey: Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press, p. 333a