أو
See also: او and آو
Arabic
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *ʔaw. Cognate with Hebrew אוֹ (’o), Ugaritic 𐎜 (ủ /ʾō/).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔaw/
Audio (file)
Conjunction
أَوْ • (ʾaw)
- indicates an inclusive disjunction
- كُلِ التَّمْرَ الْهِنْدِيَّ أَوِ اشْرَبِ الْبُرْتُقَالَ.
- Eat the tamarind! Or drink the orange-juice!
- (only in declaratives) indicates an exclusive disjunction
- كُلُّ شَيْءٍ إِمَّا مَوْجُودٌ أَوْ غَيْرُ مَوْجُودٍ.
- kullu šayʾin ʾimmā mawjūdun ʾaw ḡayru mawjūdin.
- Every object is either existent or inexistent.
Related terms
- أَمْ (ʾam)
- إِمَّا (ʾimmā)
Descendants
- → Swahili: au
References
- Wehr, Hans (1979), “أو”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
South Levantine Arabic
Etymology
From Arabic أَوْ (ʾaw).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔaw/, [ʔaw]
Audio (Ramallah) (file)
Conjunction
أو • (ʔaw)
- or
- or (mutually exclusive, when used together with إما (ʔimma))
- إما بتدفع كاش أو بالكرت.
- ʔimma btidfaʕ kāš ʔaw bil-kart
- Either you pay cash or by card.
- Synonyms: ولا (willa), يا ... يا (ya ... ya)