hwa

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See also: hwa¹

Middle English

Pronoun

hwa

  1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)

Northern Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-kúa.

Verb

hwa

  1. to die

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hwā

  1. who (interrogative)
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 5:13
      Sē þe þǣr ġehǣled wæs nysse hwā hit wæs: sē Hǣlend sōðlīċe bēag fram þǣre ġaderunge.
      The person who was healed didn't know who it was: Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.
  2. anyone, someone

Usage notes

  • In the first sense, hwā refers to a person who is not yet known: Hwā forstæl mīnne fodan? ("Who stole my food?"). When enquiring further about a known person's identity, hwæt is used: Hwæt eart þū? ("Who are you?").

Declension

Declension of hwā/hwæt
Masculine and feminine Neuter
Nominative hwā hwæt
Accusative hwone hwæt
Genitive hwæs hwæs
Dative hwām, hwǣm hwām, hwǣm
Instrumental hwȳ, hwon hwȳ, hwon

Descendants

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ. Cognates include Old English hwā and Old Saxon hwē.

Pronoun

hwā

  2. (interrogative) who?
  3. (relative) who, that
    Synonyms: thī, thiu
  4. (indefinite) whoever, anyone
    Synonyms: hwāsā, ēnich
Descendants
  • West Frisian: wa

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han. Cognates include Old English hōn and Old Saxon hāhan.

Alternative forms

Verb

hwā

  2. (transitive) to hang

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Tarifit

Etymology

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic هوى (hawa).

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Verb

hwa (Tifinagh spelling ⵀⵡⴰ)

  1. (intransitive) to go down, to come down, to descend

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia