أيها
Arabic
Etymology
أَيُّ (ʾayyu) + هَا (hā)
Particle
أَيُّهَا • (ʾayyuhā) (feminine أَيَّتُهَا (ʾayyatuhā))
- vocative particle preceding a noun used in direct address; only rarely omitted in such contexts; occasionally translated as O or hey
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 8:45:
- يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمْ فِئَةً فَاثْبُتُوا وَاذْكُرُوا ٱللّٰهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
- yā ʾayyuhā llaḏīna ʾāmanū ʾiḏā laqītum fiʾatan fa-ṯbutū wa-ḏkurū 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!
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 12:70:
- فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُم بِجَهَازِهِمْ جَعَلَ ٱلسِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌ أَيَّتُهَا ٱلْعِيرُ إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ
- fa-lammā jahhazahum bijahāzihim jaʿala s-siqāyata fī raḥli ʾaḵīhi ṯumma ʾaḏḏana muʾaḏḏinun ʾayyatuhā l-ʿīru ʾinnakum la-sāriqūna
- 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
- The subsequent noun stands in the nominative of the determinate state and must have the article ال (al-) attached to it.
- أَيُّهَا (ʾayyuhā) is often used in conjunction with a preceding 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.
- يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلرَّجُلُ / ٱلرَّجُلَانِ / ٱلرِّجَالُ
- yā ʾayyuhā r-rajulu / r-rajulāni / r-rijālu
- Oh you man / two men / men!
- يَا أَيَّتُهَا ٱلْمَرْأَةُ / ٱلْمَرْأَتَانِ / ٱلنِّسَاءُ
- yā ʾayyatuhā l-marʾatu / l-marʾatāni / n-nisāʾu
- Oh you woman / two women / women!
See also
- يَا (yā)
Pronoun
أَيِّهَا • (ʾayyihā) f
- which one of them.
References
- Fischer, Wolfdietrich (2006) Grammatik des Klassischen Arabisch (in German), 4th edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, →ISBN, § 157