ماذا

Arabic

Etymology

مَا () +‎ ذَا (ḏā).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /maː.ðaː/
    • (Egypt) IPA(key): [ˈmæː.ðæ], [ˈmæː.zæ]
    • (Levantine) IPA(key): [ˈmaː.ða], [-æː-], [ˈmaː.za], [-æː-]
    • (Central Arabia) IPA(key): [ˈmæː.ðɐ]
    • (Persian Gulf) IPA(key): [ˈmɑː.ðɐ]
    • (Tunisia) IPA(key): [ˈmɛː.ðæ]
    • (Morocco) IPA(key): [ˈmæː.ða], [ˈmæː.da]

Pronoun

مَاذَا • (māḏām

  1. (interrogative pronoun) what
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 10:101:
      قُلِ ٱنْظُرُوا مَاذَا فِي ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ
      quli nẓurū māḏā fī s-samāwāti wa-l-ʔarḍi
      Say “Observe what is in the heavens and earth.”
  2. what on earth

Derived terms

References

  • Wehr, Hans (1979) “ما”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN