leh

• eh, lei

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh).

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 3‒6) /lɛ˨/,
  • IPA^(key): (All other senses) /lɛ˧/, /le˧/, (interrogative)
  • The initial /l/ is sometimes elided.

leh (Manglish, Singlish)

2. Used to convey uncertainty.

   No leh, it’s right here. ― No? It’s right here.

   • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 80:

     Why-ah? What happened to the lift-ah. Going up. Going down. But never stop. Door never open some more. Don't know-leh.

   • 2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

     You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

   • 2016 October 8, Chew Hui Min, quoting Lee Kin Mun, “Netizens debate how 81 judges cast 92 votes in Sing! China final”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 6 August 2024:

     How come got 81 judges and then the number of votes is 45 vs 47 leh? 45+47 is 92 leh.

   • 2020 January 21, Terry Ng, “Toxic Workplace Cultures in Singapore: Are They More Common Than We Realise?”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 19 June 2024:

     If you’re asked something that would incriminate a fellow colleague, you just say, ‘I don’t know leh,’ and you’re in the clear (conscience-wise). Though seriously, you’re still indirectly complicit.

4. (interrogative) Used to form "what about … ?" questions.

   Our appointment leh? ― What about our appointment?

   • 2002 May 14, Niamh O’Leary, The Straits Times, Singapore, page L2:

     OK, this one, leh?

6. (declarative) Used to highlight or relay noteworthy information.

   It’s next week leh. ― Just so you know, it’s next week.

   • 2014 July 21, Eddino Abdul Hadi, quoting Eddie Sung, “Former recruitment consultant Eddie Sung wanted to be the first Asian known for rock photography”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 5 December 2023:

     “After I got the degree, I told my dad that I’m going to do an MBA. He said, ‘Eh, no more money leh’. But I said, ‘It’s okay’.”

8. (declarative) Used to highlight the severity or seriousness of a situation.

   Many houses were destroyed leh.

   • 2005 April 22, Lee Kin Mun, Today, Singapore, page 30:

     Thirty-five thousand jobs, leh. Not something to sneeze at.

   • 2023 March 5, Wong Kim Hoh, quoting Lynette Tan, The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 26 February 2024:

     Navigating gradients in high heels, she says with a giggle, is “no joke leh”. She is, however, more than adroit and willing to tackle more difficult courses, like blazing new trails for Singapore’s nascent space industry.

10. (declarative) Tagged at the end of a declarative remark for emphasis.

    You all damn noisy leh how to sleep?

    • 2015 March 1, Corrie Tan, “We filled our hongbao with poetry, not cash”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 5 December 2022:

      We put all the poetry packets in a bag and let people rummage through it and pick one at random when they left the house. […] “Amazing leh, I can’t believe it was a random pick,” he texted me later, “This is better than ang pow!”

    • 2015 April 19, Yeo Sam Jo, “Hello, I'm Eligible Bachelor #43”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 8 June 2016:

      “They asked me to do the striptease. I said no,” confessed Bachelor #1. / “Why not? You’re from NDU leh,” I remarked, surprised that even someone from the Naval Diving Unit would be shy about showing his body.

12. (declarative) Indicates a tentative reminder.

    Still got risotto in the fridge leh. ― There’s still some risotto in the fridge.

    • 2022 February 25, Hariz Baharudin, quoting SGAG, “Exam results, CCAs and Budget memes: What politicians are talking about”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 27 November 2022:

      “Today Friday leh, I want to go out!” they imagined Dr Tan thinking.

    • 2024 April 26, Kimberly Lim, quoting @milotruckdreams, “In Praise of the Early Evening Bash: Inside A 5-10PM Party”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 30 May 2024:

      I just wanna have a lil dance to some tunes. Tomorrow still got work leh

14. (imperative) Indicates a tentative or exhortative request.

    Close the door leh. ― Why don’t you close the door?

    • 1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 20:

      Hello Mr Chan — why alone? Where's the better half? Bring her next time eh.

    • 1994, C.S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, page 29:

      Sing us a song, leh.

    • 2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 23 May 2024:

      It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?

16. Indicates disagreement with an idea or suggestion.

    — We can try taking the train.
    — I don’t think we’ll have enough time leh.

    • 2023 August 19, Shawn Hoo, quoting Cyril Wong, “Don’t call him a confessional poet: Cyril Wong on Beachlight, his 16th poetry book”, in The Straits Times‎, Singapore, archived from the original on 1 June 2024:

      Singaporean poet Cyril Wong might have been one of the first home-grown writers to depict sexuality so frankly on the page, but on the occasion of his 16th poetry collection, he laments: “I’m not just a confessional writer leh.”

18. Used to soften a disagreeing opinion.

    I don’t think that’s accurate leh.

20. Reinforces a tentative opinion and invites agreement.

    In my opinion the crème brûlée was so-so only leh.

22. Used to suggest that the listener has not taken something into consideration.

    I don’t have all day leh.

    • 2019 May 24, Yeo Boon Ping, quoting Lester, “Finally, An Explanation for Why So Many Singaporeans Can’t Commit Romantically”, in ricemedia.co‎, archived from the original on 22 June 2024:

      Lester did not want to tell me about his feelings for his friend or his reasons for not talking about this absence of labels because “It’s a very private topic leh”—a telling response in itself.

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

• (unrelated, from Malay leceh) leh chey

• Low, Ee Ling, Brown, Adam (2005) English in Singapore: An Introduction‎
• Botha, W. (2019) “‘Technically wrong leh’: Leh as a feature of Singapore Colloquial English”, in English Today, volume 35, number 4, →DOI, pages 13–22

• lehi (first person singular) — Gheg
• lef — southern Gheg

Earlier attested as ljeh, cognate with Romanian lehăi, supported as Dacian, or substrate.^[1] Alternatively, from Proto-Albanian *laja, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂-. Cognate to Ancient Greek λάσκω (láskō, “to cry, roar”). Present leh occurs almost exclusively in the 2nd and 3rd person, the -a- of which has usually been subject to umlaut.

leh (aorist leha, participle lehur) (intransitive)

1. (third person) to bark, yap
2. (figurative, derogatory) to waffle, to gossip, to slander, to insult

   Synonyms: llomotit, përgojoj, shpif, përflas, shaj

3. (Arvanitika) to pant, to snort

   Synonyms: gulçoj, regëtij, rënkoj

leh

1. Arvanitika form of lehtë

leh

1. Arvanitika form of i lehtë

leh m

1. Arvanitika form of luan

• “leh”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “leh”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 240

From lehnout, ležet.

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: leh

leh m inan

1. lying position

• “leh”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “leh”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

leh

1. (Classical K'iche') corn tortilla

leh

1. genitive dual/plural of leha

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish له (leh, “for him/it; in favor of him/it; to, belonging to him/it”),^[1][2] from Arabic لَهُ (lahu).^[3]

• IPA^(key): /ˈleh/
• Hyphenation: leh

leh (definite accusative lehi, plural lehler)

1. (chiefly in possessive, with dative or locative) Being in favor of, favorable or for to a thing or person; one's benefit.

   Antonym: aleyh

   Her durumu kendi lehine çevirmekte uzmansın. ― You're an expert at turning every situation to your benefit.

   Hepsinin mahkemede lehimizde tanıklık edeceğini tahmin ediyoruz. ― We predict that they are all going to testify in our favor in court.

• “leh”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “leh”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2951

leh

1. water

• J. Spencer, S. van Cott, B. MacKenzie, G. Muñoz, A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Wagi Language