হ্যাঁ
Bengali edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
A colloquial variant of the now rarer হাঁ (hã) with nasal coloring increasing vowel height (compare ন্যাংটা (nêṅṭa), from earlier নাংটা (naṅṭa), and ব্যাঁকা (bễka) from বাঁকা (bãka)) from Prakrit *𑀳𑀸𑀁 (*hāṃ), from Sanskrit आम् (ām, “yes”), probably related to or a variant of ॐ (óṃ), with contamination of the emphatic particle ह (ha) and/or the verb 𑀳𑁄𑀇 (hoi) (whence হওয়া (hoōẇa)). Cognate with Odia ହଁ (hỗ), Hindustani ہاں / हाँ (hā̃), Gujarati હાં (hā̃), Rajasthani हां (hā̃), Nepali हाँ (hā̃), Marathi हां (hā̃), Punjabi ਹਾਂ (hā̃), Khowar ہا (hā). Doublet of হ (ho) and আঁ (ã), a variant unaffected by the contamination.[1]
Pronunciation edit
- (Rarh) IPA(key): /hɛ̃/, [hɛ̃ˑ]
Audio: (file)
- (Dhaka) IPA(key): /hɛ̃/, [hɛ̃ˑ], /hɛ/, [hɛˑ]
Audio: (file)
Particle edit
হ্যাঁ • (hễ)
References edit
- ^ Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “*ām2”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press