ماذا

Arabic

Etymology

مَا (mā) +‎ ذَا (ḏā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː.ðaː/

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  (Egypt) IPA^(key): [ˈmæː.ðæ], [ˈmæː.zæ]

  (Levantine) IPA^(key): [ˈmaː.ða], [-æː-], [ˈmaː.za], [-æː-]

  (Central Arabia) IPA^(key): [ˈmæː.ðɐ]

  (Persian Gulf) IPA^(key): [ˈmɑː.ðɐ]

  (Tunisia) IPA^(key): [ˈmɛː.ðæ]

  (Morocco) IPA^(key): [ˈmæː.ða], [ˈmæː.da]

Pronoun

مَاذَا • (māḏā) m

1. (interrogative pronoun) what
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 10:101:

     قُلِ ٱنْظُرُوا مَاذَا فِي ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ

     quli nẓurū māḏā fī s-samāwāti wa-l-ʔarḍi

     Say “Observe what is in the heavens and earth.”

2. what on earth

Derived terms

• لِمَاذَا (limāḏā)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “ما”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN