تنها

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian tn'yhʾ (tanīhā).^[1] Equivalent to Middle Persian tn' (tan, “body, self”) + yhʾ (īhā).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /tan.ˈhaː/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰän.hɑ́ː]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰä.nɑ́ː]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɔː.nɔ́ː], [t̪ʰɔː.nǽ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰæn.hɒ́ː]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰän.hɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading^?	tanhā
Dari reading^?	tanhā
Iranian reading^?	tanhâ
Tajik reading^?	tanho

Adjective

تنها • (tanhā / tanhâ) (Tajik spelling танҳо)

alone
lonely
- 1972, “نمياد”, performed by Googoosh:
  واسه این دل تنها دیگه مهمون نمیاد
  vâse in del-e tanhâ dige mehmun nemiyâd
  For this lonely heart the guest never comes to visit
single
just
only

Derived terms

تنهایی (tanhāyī / tanhâyi, “loneliness, solitude”)

Descendants

→ Azerbaijani: tənha
→ Hindustani:
Hindi: तनहा (tanhā)

Urdu: تَنْہا (tanhā)
→ Northern Luri: تںنیا (tənia)
→ Ottoman Turkish: تنها
- ⇒ Serbo-Croatian: natenane
- Turkish: tenha
→ Uyghur: تەنھا (tenha)

References

^ MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 82