أيها

Arabic

Etymology

أَيُّ‎ (ʾayyu) +‎ هَا‎ (hā)

Particle

أَيُّهَا • (ʾayyuhā)

(feminine أَيَّتُهَا‎ (ʾayyatuhā))
  1. O, oh (vocative particle used in direct address)
    • (Can we date this quote?) The Quran‎:
      يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمْ فِئَةً فَاثْبُتُوا وَاذْكُرُوا ٱللَّٰهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
      yā ʾayyuhā llaḏīna ʾāmanū ʾiḏā laqītum fiʾatan fāṯbutū wāḏkurū llāha kaṯīran laʿallakum tufliḥūna
      O you who have attained to faith, when you meet a host in battle, be firm, and remember God often; so that you might attain to a happy state!
    • (Can we date this quote?) The Quran‎:
      فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُم بِجَهَازِهِمْ جَعَلَ ٱلسِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌ أَيَّتُهَا ٱلْعِيرُ إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ
      falammā jahhazahum bijahāzihim jaʿala s-siqāyata fī raḥli ʾaḵīhi ṯumma ʾaḏḏana muʾaḏḏinun ʾayyatuhā l-ʿīru ʾinnakum lasāriqūna
      And when he had provided them with their provisions, he placed the drinking-cup in his brother's camel-pack. And a herald called out: "O you people of the caravan! Verily, you are thieves!

Usage notes

  • أَيُّهَا‎ (ʾayyuhā) is often used in conjunction with يَا‎ (yā) (this usage is the norm in the Quran, see first usage example above).
  • أَيُّهَا‎ (ʾayyuhā) is far less common than يَا‎ (yā) and reserved for elevated registers. Whereas يَا‎ (yā) is often left untranslated in English, أَيُّهَا‎ (ʾayyuhā) is used in similar situations to English O.
  • Unlike يَا‎ (yā), أَيُّهَا‎ (ʾayyuhā) inflects for gender. When addressing a female, a group of females, or else anything that is referred to by a grammatically feminine word (see second usage example above), the form أَيَّتُهَا‎ (ʾayyatuhā) is used.

See also

Pronoun

أَيِّهَا • (ʾayyihā) f

  1. which one of them.
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