वह
Hindi
Etymology
Uncertain.
Most likely from Old Hindi उहु (uhu), उहुं (uhuṃ), from Apabhramsa ओहु (ohu), from Prakrit 𑀅𑀳𑁄 (aho), from Sanskrit असौ (asáu, “that”).[1][2] The inflected forms are formed by analogy with its proximal counterpart यह (yah).
For Old Hindi वो (vo), Chatterji suggested a derivation from Apabhramsa ओ (o), from Sanskrit *अव (*ava), attested in अवोष् (avoṣ), अवोर् (avor, “of you both”, gen. du.), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *avá. He suggested the term not being preserved in literature but continuing to be spoken. Compare Avestan 𐬀𐬬𐬀 (ava).
Note that the second etymology explains plural वे (ve) as well, while the first does not. See there for more.
Pronunciation
- (Delhi) IPA(key): /ʋəɦ/, [ʋɛʱ], /ʋoː/
Audio: (file)
Pronoun
वह • (vah) (Urdu spelling وہ) (demonstrative)
Inflection
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| direct | वह (vah) | वे (ve) |
| indirect | उस (us) | उन (un) |
| ergative | उसने (usne) | उन्होंने (unhõne) |
| genitive | उसका (uskā) | उनका (unkā) |
| dative | उसे, उसको (use, usko) | उन्हें, उनको (unhẽ, unko) |
| instrumental/ ablative |
उससे (usse) | उनसे (unse) |
| inessive | उसमें (usmẽ) | उनमें (unmẽ) |
| adessive | उसपे, उसपर (uspe, uspar) | उनपे, उनपर (unpe, unpar) |
| terminative | उसतक (ustak) | उनतक (untak) |
| semblative | उससा (ussā) | उनसा (unsā) |
Coordinate terms
Hindi correlatives
| type | interrogative | relative | proximal demonstrative | distal demonstrative | indefinite | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| basic | non-emphatic | कौन (kaun, “who?”), क्या (kyā, “what?”) |
जो (jo) | यह (yah) | वह (vah) | कुछ (kuch), कोई (koī), कुछ-न-कुछ (kuch-na-kuch), कोई-न-कोई (koī-na-koī) | |
| emphatic | - | जो भी (jo bhī) | यही (yahī) | वही (vahī) | कोई भी (koī bhī), कुछ भी (kuch bhī) | ||
| time | non-emphatic | कब (kab) | जब (jab) | अब (ab) | तब (tab) | कभी (kabhī) | |
| emphatic | - | जभी (jabhī) | अभी (abhī) | तभी (tabhī) | कभी भी (kabhī bhī) | ||
| place | non-emphatic | कहाँ (kahā̃) | जहाँ (jahā̃) | यहाँ (yahā̃) | वहाँ (vahā̃) | कहीं (kahī̃, “somewhere”) | |
| emphatic | - | जहीं (jahī̃) | यहीं (yahī̃) | वहीं (vahī̃) | कहीं भी (kahī̃ bhī, “anywhere”) | ||
| quantity | कितना (kitnā) | जितना (jitnā) | इतना (itnā) | उतना (utnā) | - | ||
| direction | किधर (kidhar) | जिधर (jidhar) | इधर (idhar) | उधर (udhar) | - | ||
| quality | कैसा (kaisā) | जैसा (jaisā) | ऐसा (aisā) | वैसा (vaisā), तैसा m (taisā) | कोई सा (koī sā) | ||
| manner | कैसे (kaise) | जैसे (jaise) | ऐसे (aise), | वैसे (vaise), तैसे (taise) | - | ||
| reason/manner | क्यों (kyõ) | ज्यों (jyõ) | क्योंकि (kyõki), यों (yõ) | त्यों (tyõ) | |||
References
Further reading
- McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “वह”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
- Platts, John T. (1884) “वह”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.