ܗܘ

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Likely a univerbation of ܗܵܐ (, behold) +‎ Aramaic הוּא (, he), from Proto-Semitic *šuʔa; compare Arabic هُوَ (huwa), Hebrew הוּא (hu) and Akkadian 𒋗𒌑 (šū).

Pronoun

ܗ̇ܘ or ܗܲܘ • (awam sg (feminine ܗ̇ܝ (aya), masculine plural ܗܸܢܘܿܢ (hinōn), feminine plural ܗܸܢܹܝܢ (hinnēn))

  1. (personal) he, it
  2. (intensive) he himself, it itself
  3. (dialectal, demonstrative) that
Usage notes
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic does not have a neuter gender. The sense of “it” comes when translating Assyrian inanimate nouns that are grammatically masculine into English inanimate nouns that are usually neuter.
  • As an intensive pronoun, ܗ̇ܘ (awa) must come before the noun it describes.
Derived terms
See also
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic personal pronouns
Isolated nominative pronouns
singular plural
1st person ܐܵܢܵܐ (ānā) ܐܲܚܢܲܢ (aḥnan)
2nd person m ܐܲܢ݇ܬ (at) ܐܲܢ݇ܬܘܿܢ (atōn)
f ܐܲܢ݇ܬܝ (at) ܐܲܢ݇ܬܹܝܢ (attēn)
3rd person m ܗ̇ܘ (awa) ܗܸܢܘܿܢ (hinōn)
f ܗ̇ܝ (aya) ܗܸܢܹܝܢ (hinnēn)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
singular plural
1st person -ܝܼ () -ܲܢ (-an)
2nd person m -ܘܼܟ݂ (-ōḵ) -ܵܘܟ݂ܘܿܢ (-āwḵōn)
f -ܵܟ݂ܝ (-āḵ)
3rd person m -ܹܗ, -ܘܼܗܝ (-ēh, -ūh) -ܗܘܿܢ (-hōn)
f -ܵܗ̇, -ܘܿܗ̇ (-āh, -ōh)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Aramaic הָו (hāw).

Pronoun

ܗܵܘ • (hāwm sg (feminine ܗܵܝ (hāy), masculine plural ܗܵܢܘܿܢ (hānōn), feminine plural ܗܵܢܹܝܢ (hānēn))

  1. (demonstrative) that; that thing, that one (not physically present)

Classical Syriac

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *šuʔa.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [hu]

Pronoun

ܗܘ • (m (plural ܗܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܗܢܝܢ)

  1. (personal) he, it
  2. (intensive) he himself, it itself
  3. sometimes used somewhat like a definite article; the
Usage notes
  • Syriac does not have a neuter gender. The sense of "it" comes when translating Syriac inanimate nouns that are grammatically masculine into English inanimate nouns that are usually neuter.
  • As an intensive pronoun, ܗܘ () must come before the noun it describes.

Etymology 2

Modified from above, with the initial consonant quiescing.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [-(ʔ)u] (after a word ending in a consonant)
  • IPA(key): [-w] (after a word ending in a vowel, forming a diphthong)

Pronoun

ܗܘ • ([h]ū, -wm (plural ܐܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܐܢܝܢ)

  1. an enclitic used as a copula for a third-person singular masculine subject; he is, it is
  2. (with a preceding first- or second-person singular pronoun) an enclitic used as a copula for a singular masculine subject; (I) am, (you) are
Usage notes
  • Usually, the form ܗܘ ([h]ū) is written separately from the word it follows while the alternative form (-w) is written together with the word it follows.
See also
  • ܐܝܬܘܗܝ

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [hɑw], [haw]

Adjective

ܗܘ • (hāwm (plural ܗܢܘܢ, singular feminine counterpart ܗܝ, plural feminine counterpart ܗܢܝܢ)

  1. (demonstrative) that
Usage notes
  • As an attributive adjective, ܗܘ (hāw) can come either before or after the noun it describes without any change in meaning.

Pronoun

ܗܘ • (hāwm (plural ܗܢܘܢ, feminine singular ܗܝ, feminine plural ܗܢܝܢ)

  1. (demonstrative) that thing, that one
  2. used somewhat like a definite article; the
Usage notes
  • The sense of the definite article "the" is used especially when translating Ancient Greek texts, being the equivalent of the Ancient Greek masculine singular definite article (ho).

References

  • hw”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, retrieved 16 June 2011
  • Costaz, Louis (2002) Dictionnaire syriaque-français ∙ Syriac–English Dictionary ∙ قاموس سرياني-عربي, 3rd edition, Beirut: Dar El-Machreq, pages 74a–b
  • Payne Smith, Jessie (1903) A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, D.D., Oxford: Clarendon Press, pages 100b–101a
  • Sokoloff, Michael (2009) A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, Winona Lake, Indiana, Piscataway, New Jersey: Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press, →ISBN, page 333a