x'inhu
Maltese edit
Etymology edit
From Arabic أَيُّ شَيْءٍ هُوَ (ʔayyu šayʔin huwa, literally “what thing is it”), whence also Moroccan Arabic شنو (šnu), اشنو (ašnu), Gulf Arabic شنو (šinu). The ancient genitive ending -in was generally lost, but remained in contraction with the following personal pronoun. Compare also xejn (“nothing”), where the final -n is the accusative ending -an.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
x’inhu m (extended form x’inhuwa, feminine singular x’inhi or x’inhija, plural x’inhuma)
Usage notes edit
- Often equivalent to English “what is”. For details on usage, see the notes at x’.