ah

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ah"

Languages (33)

English

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Afar • Albanian • Aragonese • Catalan • Chickasaw • Danish • Esperanto • Finnish • French • Galician • German • Hokkien • Hungarian • Indonesian • Ingrian • Italian • Juǀ'hoan • Latin • Mokilese • Old English • Palikur • Pohnpeian • Portuguese • Romanian • Scots • Somali • Spanish • Sumerian • Swedish • Tulu-Bohuai • Vilamovian • Zou

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Page categories

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

ah

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

From Middle English ah, aa, a (“ah”), of imitative origin, or from Old English ēa, *eah (“oh, alas”), from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah (“ah”). Earliest recorded use is circa 1175 in the Ormulum: A, Maȝȝstre! icc wat tatt tu full wiss Arrt Godess Sune ("Ah, Master! I know for sure that thou art God's Son"). Some propose that the Middle English is borrowed from Old French a (“ah!, oh!, hey!”) (represented by modern French ah).^[1][2]

Compare also West Frisian a, ah (“ah”), Dutch a, ah (“ah”), Middle Low German a (“ah”), Old High German a, aa, ah (“ah, oh”) (whence modern German ah), Faroese áh (“oh, ah, alas”), Icelandic æ, ai (“ah, oh”), Latin ah (“ah”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

Interjection

ah

1. An expression of relief, relaxation, comfort, confusion, understanding, wonder, awe, etc. according to uttered inflection.

   Ah, I understand now.

   Ah! It's good to be back home!

   Ah, the flowers of spring.

2. A syllable used to fill space, particularly in music.
   • 2008, Britney Spears (lyrics and music), “Womanizer”:

     Boy don't try to front, uh, I
     Know just, just, what you are, ah, ah.

Derived terms

• ah ah ah
• ah-choo
• ah me
• ah well
• alack
• ooh-ah-ah
• ooh ah ah

 

Related terms

• aah
• aha
• ha
• oh
• uh

 

Translations

an expression

Arabic: آه (ar) (ʔāh) Egyptian Arabic: آه (āh), أها (ʔahā) Chinese: Mandarin: 哦 (zh) (ò) Danish: ah Dutch: ah (nl) Esperanto: ha (eo), ah (eo) Estonian: aa (et), ah (et), ee (et), oi (et), oo Finnish: aa (fi) French: ah (fr) Greek: α (el) (a) Hungarian: ah (hu) Ido: ah (io) Irish: á Japanese: ああ (ja) (ā), あ (ja) (a), 嗚呼 (ja) (ああ, ā) Korean: 아 (ko) (a) Malay: ah (ms) Norwegian: Bokmål: ah (no) Persian: آها (fa) (âhâ) Polish: ach (pl), a (pl) Portuguese: ah (pt) Russian: а (ru) (a), ага́ (ru) (agá), о (ru) (o) Slovak: ach Swedish: ah (sv) Thai: อ้อ (th) (ɔ̂ɔ) Vietnamese: à (vi) Welsh: a (cy)

word to fill space

Estonian: ee (et) Greek: α (el) (a), ω (el) (o)

word used for drama

Estonian: ah (et) Greek: α (el) (a) Hebrew: אבוי (he) (avoy) Swedish: ack (sv)

Noun

ah (plural ahs)

1. An instance of the interjection ah.

   the crowd's oohs and ahs at the fireworks

Verb

ah (third-person singular simple present ahs, present participle ahing, simple past and past participle ahed)

1. To give a cry of "ah".
   • 2005, T. R. Rhoads, Sinner, Sailor: A Memoir, page 221:

     Mother and dad oohed and ahed over Cindy. She was only two months old but already was developing her personality.

Pronoun

ah (personal pronoun, plural we, possessive adjective mah)

1. Pronunciation spelling of I, most often indicating that the speaker is using a Scottish or American (particularly Southern) accent.

Etymology 2

From Hokkien 啊 (--a), Teochew 啊 (a⁷), Mandarin 啊 (a).

Alternative forms

• ar, har

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 2‒5) /ɑː˨˦/, [äː˨˦ ~ ʌ̈ː˨˦], (Sense 2, non-interrogative) /ɑː/
  • IPA^(key): (Sense 1) [ä˨]

Particle

ah (Manglish, Singlish)

1. Marks a tag question prompting the listener to clarify something.

   Synonyms: (Singapore) is it, izzit

   You’re dyslexic ah? ― So you’re dyslexic?

   • 2020 April 12, Notdumb, “Liddat is safe distance ah?”, in SG Talk‎, archived from the original on 18 April 2020:

     Only 2 ft apart considered safe ah?

2. Used for emphasis; reinforces a short wh-question.
   • 2011 October 23, Rachel Chang, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 15:

     See how lor. Who’s going ar?

3. Emphasizes the need for absolute confirmation or acknowledgment.

   Don't drink and drive ah...

   • 2010 April 18, Colin Goh, “LifeStyle”, in The Sunday Times, page 24:

     Sure, ah? Thanks, man, pai seh.

4. A filler word separating the topic of a sentence and its comment.

   The drilling upstairs ah, non-stop leh.

5. A filler word used to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

See also

• (Singlish particles): hor, know, lah, leh, liao, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

Etymology 3

Imitative of a person gagging.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Interjection

ah

1. Yuck.

References

• “ah”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ah”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Lim, L. (2004) Singapore English: A grammatical description‎, John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, page 121

1. “ah”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
2. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ah”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• HA, Ha, ha, ha'

Afar

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/ [ˈʔʌh]

Pronoun

áh

1. this, these (masculine)

Declension

Declension of áh
absolutive	áh
predicative	áha
subjective	áh
genitive	ahtí
Postpositioned forms l-case áhal k-case áhak t-case áhat h-case áhah

See also

	masculine	feminine
proximal to the speaker(s)	áh	táh
proximal to the spoken to	amáh	tamáh
distal	wóh	tóh
very distal	wóttih

Afar demonstrative pronouns

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “ah”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *aksa, from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”) (compare Greek οξιά (oxiá, “beech”), Armenian հածի (haci), English ash).

Noun

ah m (plural ahe, definite ahu, definite plural ahet)

1. beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Hyponyms

• ah i bardhë (“white hornbeam”) (Carpinus betulus)

Further reading

• “ah”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎ (in Albanian), 1980
• “ah”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

Aragonese

Etymology

Imitative, similar to French ah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ah

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

Catalan

Etymology

Imitative, similar to French ah.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈa]

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

Chickasaw

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adverb

ah

1. yes

   Synonym: hohmi

Danish

Etymology

Partly borrowed from German, English, French, from Latin ah (“ah”), from Proto-Indo-European *ā. Partly also onomatopoeic.

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål ah, English ah, German ah, French ah and Latin ah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛː/, /ˈɛːɛ/, /ɑ̈ː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛː, -ɑ̈ː
• Hyphenation: ah

Interjection

ah

1. used to express pleasure, e.g. because something tastes good or feels nice

   Coordinate terms: mm, mums, namnam

   ah, sikken en dejlig pandekage

   ah what a delicious pancake

   Synonym: uhm

   1. used to express pleasant surprise

      "ah, velkommen Albert," sagde Sickert til prinsen

      "ah, welcome Albert," said Sickert to the prince

      Synonym: minsandten

2. used to express reservations, slight disagreement, doubt etc.

   bliver man også nervøs? Ah ikke så meget

   do you get nervous too? Ah, not so much

   Synonym: arh

References

• “ah” in Den Danske Ordbog

Anagrams

• Ah, ha, HA

Esperanto

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

ah

1. ah, oh

Finnish

Etymology

Found in a wide variety of languages, including but not limited to Estonian ah, Ingrian ah, Karelian ah, Ludian ah, Veps ah, Votic ah, Hungarian ah, Swedish ah, German ah, English ah, Latin ah. Tracing an exact origin is effectively impossible. Probably ultimately involuntary or natural.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑ̝h]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Syllabification^(key): ah

Interjection

ah

1. oh, ah

Further reading

• “ah”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• ha

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French a! (“oh! ah! woe!”), of expressive origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

ah

1. ah

Derived terms

• ah bon

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “ah”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

• “ah”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈaː]

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, etc.)

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ah”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ah”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ah”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ā, from Old High German a, ah, from Proto-West Germanic *a, *ah. Cognate with Middle Low German a, Middle English a, aa, ah (whence English ah).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aː

Interjection

ah

1. expressing understanding
2. expressing contentment

Further reading

• “ah” in Duden online
• “ah” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 鴨 (“duck”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 鴨).

For pronunciation and definitions of ah – see 矣 (“particle expressing completion”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 矣).

Hungarian

Etymology

Involuntary expression of emotions: surprise, impatience, desire, sadness, refusal.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒx]
• Rhymes: -ɒx

Interjection

ah

1. ah
   • 1599-1601, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 1

     Ah jó uram, mit láttam én az éjjel!

     Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

References

1. ah in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)

Further reading

• ah in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• ah in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Indonesian

Etymology

Unknown

• from Arabic آهْ (ʔāh)
• from Peranakan Indonesian ach (“oh”), from Dutch ach (“oh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈah/
• Rhymes: -ah

Interjection

ah

1. oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay

Further reading

• “ah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Ingrian

Alternative forms

• ak

Etymology

Ultimately a natural sound. Compare Finnish ah and Estonian ah.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈɑh/, [ˈɑh]
• Rhymes: -ɑh
• Hyphenation: ah

Interjection

ah

1. Exclamation of wonder: oh!

   Ah kui siä oot käppiä! ― Oh how beautiful you are!

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 3

Italian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/, which may be preceded and/or followed by [h] or [ʔ]. It also may trigger syntactic gemination.^[1]
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: ah

Interjection

ah

1. (sarcastic) ah! (usually ironic or sarcastic)

   Synonym: ha

References

1. ah in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

• ha

Juǀ'hoan

Pronunciation

• The murmured vowel IPA^(key): /a̤/

Letter

ah (upper case Ah)

1. A letter of the Juǀ'hoan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Latin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ā or perhaps *h₂eh₂.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aːh/, [äː(ɦ)]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /a/, [ä]

Interjection

āh

1. ah

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011) Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 250

Further reading

• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ah”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Mokilese

Noun

ah

1. (one's) thing

Usage notes

Like many terms in Mokilese, ah has no non-possessive form; the third person singular possessive form (one's/his/her/its thing) is therefore treated as the lemma.

Declension

singular possessor	first person		oai
	second person		oamw
	third person		ah
dual possessors	first person inclusive		asa
	first person exclusive		ama
	second person		amwa
	third person		ara
plural possessors	first person inclusive		asai
	first person exclusive		amai
	second person		amwai
	third person		arai
remote plural possessors	first person inclusive		ahs
	first person exclusive		imi
	second person		imwi
	third person		ahr
construct form			in

Possessive forms of ah (loose inalienable possession, -ah stem)

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

Etymology 1

Conjunction

ah

1. (Anglian) Alternative form of ac (“but”)

Etymology 2

Verb

āh

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of āgan

Palikur

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ah n or f

1. (neuter) wood
2. (feminine) tree

References

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

Pohnpeian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɐː/
• Rhymes: -ɐː

Etymology 1

Noun

ah

1. The name of the Latin-script letter A/a.

Etymology 2

Noun

ah

1. shark mullet (Rhinomugil nasutus), at a growth stage of approximately twelve inches

Etymology 3

Conjunction

ah

1. however, and, then

   I sukuhl, ah e doadoahk.

   I went to school, and he worked.

   Ma Soulik pahn iang, ah I sohte pahn iang.

   If Soulik goes, then I won't.

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

• e
• eh

Determiner

ah

1. his, her, hers, its, third person singular possessive pronoun

   Liho iang ah pwoud.

   The woman joined her husband.

Etymology 5

Interjection

ah

1. Oh!; commonly used as an expression of approval.

   Ah, ke inenen mai.

   Oh, you are really good.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• a

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Homophones: há, a, à

Interjection

ah!

1. ah! (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah! (expression of woe, grief)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ah.

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

ah

1. ah

Scots

Alternative forms

• a

Pronoun

ah

1. (Cromarty) who

References

• Am Baile (2009) The Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect‎, Highland Council, page 8

Somali

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

ah

1. (intransitive) To be

   Bariis oo macaan ah. ― Rice that is sweet.

Spanish

Etymology

Imitative, similar to French ah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/ [ˈa]
• Rhymes: -a
• Homophones: a, ha

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of relief, realization, awe)
2. ah (expression of woe, grief)

Related terms

• ay
• eh
• ey
• hala
• hey
• oh

 

Further reading

• “ah”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Anagrams

• ha

Sumerian

Romanization

ah

1. Romanization of 𒄴 (aḫ)

Swedish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

ah

1. ah (expression of understanding, relaxation, contentment, etc.)

   Ah, jag förstår

   Ah, I understand

   Ah, det är skönt att få glida ner i jacuzzin och knäcka en kall öl efter ett hårt arbetspass i skogen

   Ah, it's nice [feels good] to slip ["get to slip" – redundant, but sounds natural] into the jacuzzi and crack open a cold beer after a session of hard work in the forest

   Greven såg ut över sina ägor och tänkte "Ah, underbart!"

   The count looked out over his lands ["ownings"] and thought, "Ah, wonderful!"

References

• ah in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ah in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• ha

Tulu-Bohuai

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ah/

Noun

ah

1. coral lime (for chewing/eating with betelnut)

Further reading

• Bohuai
• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

Vilamovian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

ah

1. oh: expressing of surprise
2. oh: expressing wonder, amazement, or awe
3. oh: expressing understanding, recognition, or realization
4. oh: preceding an offhand or annoyed remark
5. oh: an invocation or address

Zou

Etymology

From earlier *ak (whence the possessive forms), from Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔaar (“chicken”). Cognates include Khumi Chin ae and Mizo ár.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /àʔ/

Noun

ah

1. fowl
2. (specifically) chicken (Gallus gallus)

Derived terms

• ahpi
• ahsa

 

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 49