wo
Translingual edit
Symbol edit
wo
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology 1 edit
Variant of who.
Interjection edit
wo
Etymology 2 edit
Variant of woe.
Noun edit
wo (countable and uncountable, plural wos)
- Obsolete spelling of woe
- 1815, Philip Freneau, A collection of poems, on American affairs and a variety of other subjects, page 82:
- Such feeble arms, to work internal wo!
- 1809, Hannah More, Coelebs in Search of a Wife:
- But if there was a competition between a sick family and a new broach, the broach was sure to carry the day. This would not have been the case, had they been habituated to visit themselves the abodes of penury and wo.
Etymology 3 edit
From Middle English wough, woh, wouh, from Old English wāh, wāg (“a wall, partition”), from Proto-Germanic *waigaz (“wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, twist”). Cognate with Scots wauch, vauch.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wo (plural wos)
- (Northern England, Derbyshire, dialectal) A wall.
- 1859, Thomas Moore, The Song of Solomon in the Durham Dialect, ii. 9:
- He stands ahint our wo.
- 1871, Benjamin Brierly, “Weaver of Wellbrook”, in William-Edward-Armitage Axon, editor, Folk-song and Folk-speech of Lancashire, page 53:
- Yo may turn up yor noses at me an' th' owd dame,
An thrutch us like dogs agen th' wo :
Bo as lung 's aw con nayger, aw'll ne'er be a beggar,
So aw care no a cuss for yo o-o'.
- 1880, Thomas Clarke, Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page 41:
- […] thinkan it ran at him, thrast him up again t' wo, ramm't at him, […]
- 1884, Jack Robison, Aald Tales ower Agen, section 4:
- Plantit up agen t'wo
- 1936, G. Halstead Whittaker, A Lancashire Garland of Dialect Prose and Verse, page 221:
- Hoo's pluck of a lion an' faces her foe
- Wi' calm in her e'en an' her beck agen t' wo;
- Hoo's firm i' decision, stonds up for her reets
- An' bravely withstonds o' t' misfortins hoo meets.
Verb edit
wo
- (Northern England, dialectal, possibly obsolete) To wall (to build a wall, or build a wall around).
- 1871, John Richardson, "Cummerland Talk": Being Short Tales and Rhymes, page 101:
- […] “Theer was anudder time, teu, 'at I saw t Park Boggle, in anudder form; bit I wassent seah nart that time, as I was when I'd been fetchen t hogs. I'd been wo-en a gap 'at hed fawn ower o' tudder side o' to Park; […]
- 1880, Thomas Clarke, Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page 2:
- It's a varra lang while—a caant tell ya hoo lang—sen it wes bilt, lang afooar Borradal fooak woet kucku in, er t' first cooach ran throo Dent, […]
Anagrams edit
Acehnese edit
Verb edit
wo
References edit
- 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.
Akan edit
Pronoun edit
wo
Bavarian edit
Alternative forms edit
- wou (Northern Bavarian)
Etymology edit
With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with German wo, Dutch waar and English where.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wo (Central Bavaria)
- (interrogative) where (at what place)
- Wo sand'n meine Augnglasln? ― Where are my glasses?
- (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)
- I kenn a Gschäft, wo's des håbn. ― I know a shop where they offer that.
- Wo i a ka Sun brauch, is beim Autofoahn. ― Where I don't need the sun is when I'm driving.
- (relative) when, that (on which; at which time)
- Des woa de Wochn, wo ma gfeiert håbn. ― That was the week when we celebrated.
- (indefinite) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
- I warad gern wo, wo's wärmer is. ― I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.
Pronoun edit
wo (chiefly West Central Bavaria)
- (relative) who, whom, which, that
- Des is de Frau, wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.
- Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.
- (relative) (inserted after the relative pronouns der, de, des, dem, den, dena, dera
- Des is de Frau, de wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.
- Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, der wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.
Synonyms edit
Conjunction edit
wo
Dongxiang edit
Etymology edit
Compare Bonan wa, perhaps from Proto-Mongolic *bü- (“to be”), see Mongolian бий (bii).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
wo (defective, copulative)
- to be
- existential copula
- Eqie guanjinde nie sizi wo, nie basi wo.
- Once upon a time there was a lion and a tiger.
- equitive copula
- Bi shi er dui nie bawan, yi dui bawan shi jiu Rejie wo, san dui bawan shi nie halao Remi wo.
- I was the bigshot of the second team, the bigshot of the first team was Rejie and the bigshot of the third team was one ugly Remi.
- adjectival copula
- Ene shihoude sumulase hunnerei wo dei.
- If I think [about it] now, it's funny.
- existential copula
- in possessive constructions with the possessor in dative
- Ene ghualade nie ghoni wo.
- These two had a sheep.
- (after -zhi) forming the progressive tense
- Bi ene agvinni nanbangiede nie jian wafande sauzhi wo.
- I live [am living] in a one bedroom house at the south of the village.
Usage notes edit
- Usually combined with the Chinese copula shi which is placed between two terms while wo follows the second. Either of them or even both can be omitted but both being present is usually the most common setup.
Synonyms edit
Antonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Ewe edit
Pronoun edit
wo
German edit
Etymology edit
With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with English where.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wo
- (interrogative) where (at what place)
- Wo bist du?
- Where are you?
- (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)
- Ich kenne einen Laden, wo solche Sachen verkauft werden.
- I know a shop where such things are sold.
- (relative, somewhat informal) when, that (on which; at which time)
- Das war der Tag, wo wir uns kennen gelernt haben.
- That was the day when we got to know each other.
- (indefinite, colloquial) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
- Synonym: irgendwo
- Ich wär gern wo, wo's wärmer ist.
- I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.
Usage notes edit
- The temporal use of wo (meaning “when”) is sometimes frowned upon in formal standard German. There is a tendency to use a preposition + relative pronoun instead: Das war der Tag, an dem wir uns kennen gelernt haben. (“That was the day on which we got to know each other.”) Nevertheless, this usage is very common in spoken German and is also widely acceptable in writing, particularly after adverbs, where the only alternative would be the archaic da: Jetzt, wo ich es weiß, wird mir alles klar. (“Now that I know, it all becomes clear to me.”) Compare French où (“where”), the temporal use of which is perfectly standard.
Conjunction edit
wo
- (colloquial) when
- Synonym: als
- Wo ich mich umgedreht hab, haut der mir unvermittelt eine rein.
- When I turned around, he just abruptly punched me in the face.
Usage notes edit
- This usage is exclusively colloquial and would be considered inappropriate in a formal text.
Pronoun edit
wo
- (relative, dialectal, nonstandard) who, whom, which, that
- Ich bin der, wo das kann.
- I'm the one who can do that.
- 1979, Margret Weiler, Zur Frage der Integration der Zigeuner in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: eine Untersuchung der gegenwärtigen Situation der Zigeuner und der sozialpolitischen und sozialarbeiterischen Massnahmen für Zigeuner, self-published doctoral thesis, p. 188
- Aber daß sie sich da mit uns unterhalten, das tun die nicht, mal grad die wo wir mal kennen, das ist eine Familie (...)
- But that they should have a chat with us, they don't do that, just maybe those who we know a bit, that's one family (...)
- 1994, Burkhard Hergesell, Arbeiterkulturen im Betrieb: interethnische Beziehungen zwischen Produktionsarbeitern: eine empirische Studie, IKO Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, p. 133
- Ali: "Und der Hussein, der ist ein Typ, wo / wo doch nicht Türkisch redet. Der redet nur Deutsch mit mir. (...)"
- Ali: "And Hussein, he's a bloke who / who won't speak Turkish. He only talks German to me. (...)"
- 2009, Elfriede Jelinek, Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns. Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel). Über Tiere. – Drei Romane, Rowohlt Taschenbuch, p. 216
- Ich bin, der ich bin. Ich bin, wo ich bin. Ich bin der, wo ich bin. Wo sagt man sowas?
- I am who I am. I am where I am. I am the one that I am. Where do they say it like this?
Usage notes edit
- This use is restricted to dialectally influenced vernaculars (Regiolekte) and chiefly to Alemannic areas (Switzerland and south-western Germany). In other regions, this usage is unusual, and scorned by some.
Related terms edit
German Low German edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle Low German wô (“how”), from Old Saxon [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with English how, German wie, Dutch hoe.
Alternative forms edit
- (in some dialects) woans
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wo
- how
- Wo vele Daag?
- How many days?
Etymology 2 edit
From Old Saxon hwē, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz. Compare English who, whom, whose.
Pronoun edit
wo
- (Low Prussian, relative) who, which
- (Low Prussian) Dat, wo ös... ― that which is...
Usage notes edit
The dative form (also used for the accusative) is woom (wom); the genitive form is woos (wos).
Haitian Creole edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
wo
Adverb edit
wo
Related terms edit
Hunsrik edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wo
- (interrogative) where
- Wo bist-du?
- Where are you.
- (relative) where
- Ich waarte dich, wo mein Fatter wohnd.
- I will wait for you where my father lives.
- (relative) when
- In denne Zeid, wo alles deirer waar.
- In those times when everything was more expensive.
Pronoun edit
wo
- (relative) who
- De Mann, wost-du sihst, is mein Fatter.
- The man you see is my father.
- Die Fraa, wo uns gerufd hod, siehd aarich bees aus.
- The woman who called us seems pretty angry.
Further reading edit
Japanese edit
Romanization edit
wo
Lashi edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa. Cognate to Burmese ရွာ (rwa).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wo
References edit
- Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid[1], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)
Lower Sorbian edit
Preposition edit
wo
Luxembourgish edit
Verb edit
wo
Mandarin edit
Romanization edit
- Nonstandard spelling of wō.
- Nonstandard spelling of wǒ.
- Nonstandard spelling of wò.
Usage notes edit
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Maquiritari edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wo (possessed wodü)
- great-grandfather
- father-in-law (of a woman)
- mother’s brother, maternal uncle
- father’s sister’s husband
Usage notes edit
This noun has a suppletive first-person possessed form, yawo.
References edit
- Cáceres, Natalia (2011), “wo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana, Lyon
- Hall, Katherine Lee (1988), “wo:dü”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volume I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University
- Hall, Katherine (2007), “wōdɨ”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series[2], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
- Monterrey, Nalúa Rosa Silva (2012) Hombres de curiara y mujeres de conuco. Etnografía de los indigenas Ye’kwana de Venezuela, Ciudad Bolívar: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, page 62–65, 69, 73
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronoun edit
wo
- Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
wo (plural wos)
- Alternative form of woo
Etymology 3 edit
Adjective edit
wo
- woeful
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:
- Wo was the knight and sorroufully he syketh.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Saterland Frisian edit
Etymology edit
From Old Frisian hō, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognates include West Frisian hoe and Dutch hoe.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wo
References edit
Xhosa edit
Pronoun edit
-wo
- Combining stem of wona.
Yoruba edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
wo
- (interrogative) which; what
- Èdè wo ni ẹ gbọ́ jù? ― Which language do you understand the most?
- Fíìmù wo ni kí n wò? ― Which film should I watch?
See also edit
- èwo (“which; what”)
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-Yoruboid *ɣò
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
wò
Derived terms edit
Zulu edit
Pronoun edit
-wo
- Combining stem of wona.