hu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hu"

Languages (31)

Abau • Acehnese • Ainu • Akan • Albanian • Australian Kriol • Central Mazahua • Chamorro • Chibcha • Danish • Esperanto • German • Hungarian • Japanese • Lower Sorbian • Maltese • Mandarin • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old French • Old Saxon • Romanian • Sumerian • White Hmong • Yanomamö • Zou

Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

hu

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Hungarian.

English

Etymology

Clipping of human, first offered for usage by Mikhail Epstein, professor of cultural theory at Emory University (in 2003).^[1]

Pronunciation

Homophones: hue, huh

Pronoun

hu (third-person singular, nominative case, reflexive huself) (epicene, nonstandard)

(neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
- 2002 January 3, Bryan T. McMahon, quoting Sasha Newborn, “A terrible book”, in The Ponchatoula Times‎^[2], page 7:
  Hu is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in hus solutions of each and all a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural.
- 2003 October 14, Mikhail Epstein, “"Hu," from "human," as a gender-neutral pronoun”, in ‎^[3] (Usenet), message-ID <f732cdb7.0310141153.6c715df8@posting.google.com>:
  When the lecturer arrives, hu will be speaking on the topic of anonymity.
- 2007 November 29, Mikhail Epstein, “hu”, in International Society for Universal Dialog‎^[4], archived from the original on 2 January 2012:
  It's the vice-president's job to support the president and take hus place when hu is away.
- 2008 March, Christoph Hitz, “Hu, Me?”, in Mother Jones‎^[5], →ISSN:
  Maybe, but if his/herstory's any guide, hu has hu work cut out for hu.
(neologism) them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her.
- 2006, Perry Anderson with Glenn Burgess, edited by D. N. DeLuna, The Political Imagination in History: Essays Concerning J.G.A. Pocock‎^[6], Owlworks, →ISBN, page 175:
  One of his favorite metaphors for the historian, drawn from the "Preface" to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, likens hu to the owl of Minerva, whose flight at dusk provided the setting for mature reflection on the day that had passed.
(neologism) their (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.
- 2006 October 1, “He said, she said, hu said”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[7]:
  Now, however, the editorial writer has a new weapon in hu arsenal.
- 2006 November 17, Rob Kyff, “Hu Joins Heesh As Neutral Pronoun”, in Hartford Courant‎^[8], archived from the original on 5 March 2016:
  If hu doesn't do hu homework, I will fail hu.

Hyponyms

(as subject): he, she
(as object): him, her

Derived terms

huself

References

^ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], 2017 December 2 (last accessed), archived from the original on 18 November 2020

Anagrams

uh

Abau

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu/

Noun

hu

water

References

transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Acehnese

Etymology

Possible Austroasiatic origin. Compare with Bahnar huur

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu/

Verb

hu

to light up or burn
Apui ka hu.
The fire has been lit
(figurative) to feel your heart burning; as in due to anger or eating something spicy.

Ainu

Verb

hu (Kana spelling フ)

to be raw, uncooked
- フアエㇷ゚アエカエラミㇱカリㇷ゚ネクス^[1]
  hu aep a=e ka eramiskari p ne kusu
  I have never eaten raw food
- ネアメノコポカネアチアエㇷ゚カフチェㇷ゚カアコレ^[2]
  nea menokopo ka nea ci aep ka hu cep ka a=kore
  I also gave the girl cooked food and raw fish.

Conjugation

Conjugation of hu (intransitive, 1-slot)

	singular	plural
1st-person	k(u)=hu	hu=as
2nd-person	e=hu	eci=hu
3rd-person	hu	hu
4th-person	hu=an	hu=an

^†1st-person plurals are exclusive. Inclusive 1st-person plurals are denoted by 4th-person.
^†4th-person: indefinite person, 1st-person inclusive plural, logophorical person, 2nd-person honorific, etc.
See Ainu grammar.

References

John Batchelor (1905) An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary (including a grammar of the Ainu language)‎^[9], Tokyo, London: Methodist Publishing House; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner Co., page 133, available online here

^ 木村きみ (1969) “21-2 ウエペケㇾ「アサハセタネイカㇻ」（姉が私を犬にした）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書3/3, 文化庁アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月
^ 貝澤とぅるしの (1969) “2-2 ウエペケㇾ「ランコカッケマッ」（桂の木の女神）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書1/3, 文化庁アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月

Akan

Pronunciation

Tone: L^[1]

Verb

hu

to see
to discern, to descry, to find

References

^ Kotey, Paul A. (1998). Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. →ISBN

Christaller, Johann Gottlieb (1881) “hũ”, in A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi (Chwee, Tw̌i)‎^[10], Basel, pages 192–193

Albanian

Alternative forms

Gheg: hû
- indef. sg. huni
- def. pl. hûj

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skuna < *skuja + *-na, from Proto-Indo-European *skuy-os < *skwey-.

Compare Norwegian/Faroese skon (“snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewd-.^[1] More at hedh.

Noun

hu m (plural hunj, definite huri, definite plural hunjtë)

Related terms

hundë

References

^ Adam Hyllested, “Albanian hundë ‘nose’ and Faroese, SW Norwegian skon ‘snout’”, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (Bremen: Hempen, 2012), 73-81.

Australian Kriol

Etymology

From English who.

Pronoun

hu

(interrogative) who

Central Mazahua

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

hu (upper case Hu)

A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

Chamorro

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku. Cognates include Javanese aku and Indonesian aku.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu/

Pronoun

hu

I

Usage notes

hu is used solely as a subject of a transitive verb, while yoʼ is used either as a subject of an intransitive verb or an object of a transitive verb.

References

Donald M. Topping (1973) Chamorro Reference Grammar‎^[11], Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

Chibcha

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu/

Noun

hu

Alternative form of bhu

References

Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hugr, from Proto-Germanic *hugiz.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhuˀ]

Noun

hu c (singular definite huen, not used in plural form)

Derived terms

References

“hu,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhuˀ]

Verb

hu

imperative of hue

Etymology 3

Onomatopoetic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhuː]

Interjection

hu

An expression of eeriness, horror or a very strong emotion

References

“hu,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

Esperanto

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [hu]
Hyphenation: hu

Interjection

hu

oh, ooh, oof, wow (indicating surprise or another strong emotion)
Hu...mi kredis, ke tio ne veris.
Oh...I thought that wasn't true.

German

Interjection

hu

an expression of fear or horror
an expression of disgust or revulsion
an exclamation expressing a sudden feeling of cold

Hungarian

Etymology

An onomatopoeia.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈhu]
Rhymes: -hu

Interjection

hu

boo (a loud exclamation intended to scare someone, especially a child)
ah, oh (use to express fright)
Hu, de megijedtem! ― Ah, you startled me!
ugh (used to express repugnance, disgust)
hoot (cry of an owl; see huhog)

Japanese

Romanization

hu

The katakana syllable ホゥ (hu) in Hepburn-like romanization.

Lower Sorbian

Preposition

hu [with genitive]

Obsolete spelling of wu.

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic هُوَ (huwa).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/ (between consonants)
IPA^(key): /w/ (before or after a vowel)
IPA^(key): /uː/ (when strongly stressed)
Homophone: u

Pronoun

hu

Alternative form of huwa

Inflection

Inflected forms of hu
positive	huwa, hu
negative	mhuwiex, mhux

possessive pronoun	tiegħu

basic suffix	-u, -h
direct object suffix	-u, -h
indirect object suffix	-lu

Mandarin

Romanization

hu

Nonstandard spelling of hū.
Nonstandard spelling of hú.
Nonstandard spelling of hǔ.
Nonstandard spelling of hù.

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle Dutch

Determiner

hu

Alternative spelling of u

Pronoun

hu

Alternative spelling of u; accusative/dative of gi

Middle English

Pronoun

hu

Alternative form of heo (“she”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

hun

Pronoun

hu (accusative henne, genitive hennes)

(Non-standard since 1959) she, (third person singular, feminine)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hon.

Pronoun

hu

(dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of ho (“she”)

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hú, originally onomatopoeic.

Interjection

hu

Used to express discomfort.
boo hoo
hoot

References

“hu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

hwu

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with Old Frisian hū, Old Saxon hū (Dutch hoe), Old High German wuo.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /xuː/, [huː]

Adverb

hū

how, in all senses, including:
1. to what degree
  Hū eald is þīn dohtor?
  How old is your daughter?
  
  Hū miċel gold hæfst þū on þē?
  How much gold do you have on you?
  - late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
    Hū be mete? hū swīðe lyst þē þæs?
    How about food? How much dost thou desire that?
2. in what manner
  Hū sæġþ man þæt on Englisċ?
  How do you say that in English?
  
  Hū færest þū?
  How are you? (Literally: "How are you faring?")
3. in what state
  Hū wæs þīn dæġ?
  How was your day?
  
  Þū canst Ælfrēd cyning? Hū is hē?
  You know King Alfred? What is he like?
used in exclamations
- c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English
  Ēalā hū gōd mann!
  Oh, what a good person!
used to introduce negative rhetorical questions
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
  Hū, ne eart þū sē mann þe on mīnre scōle wǣre āfēded and ġelǣred?
  Aren't you the person who was raised and taught in my school?

Descendants

Middle English: how, hou, howe, hu, hwu, whu, wou, wu
- English: how
- Geordie English: hoo
- Scots: hoo, how, foo
- Yola: fowe, how

Conjunction

hū

how, in all senses:
1. in what manner
  Iċ leornode hū man wæġn ġebētt.
  I learned how to repair a wagon.
  
  Hīe āscodon hū hīe helpan meahten.
  They asked how they could help.
2. that, the fact that (introducing direct statements)
  Iċ him sæġde hū iċ wǣre æt hām ealne dæġ and ne ġehīerde nāwiht.
  I told them how I'd been at home all day and hadn't heard a thing.
  
  Þæt is tō wundriġenne hū hīe þā bryċġe swā hrædlīċe ġefyldon.
  It's amazing how they completed the bridge so quickly.

Descendants

Middle English: how, hou, howe, hu, hwu, whu, wou, wu
- English: how
- Geordie English: hoo
- Scots: hoo, how, foo
- Yola: fowe, how

Old French

FWOTD – 25 March 2016

Alternative forms

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hy/

Interjection

hu

a shouting noise made when pursuing someone or something

Noun

hu oblique singular, m (oblique plural hus, nominative singular hus, nominative plural hu)

commotion; racket (noisy situation)

References

Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (hu)
hu on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /huː/

Adverb

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hu

how

Conjunction

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hu

how

Synonyms

hwo

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

hu

hoot (cry made by an owl)

Sumerian

Romanization

hu

Romanization of 𒄷 (ḫu)

White Hmong

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Chinese 呼 (“to exhale; to shout, call”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu˧/

Verb

hu

to call
Hu kuv. ― Call me.

References

Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[12], SEAP Publications, →ISBN.

^ https://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

Yanomamö

Noun

hu

nose

References

Lizot, Jacques (2004) Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmɨ‎^[13] (in Spanish), Vicariato apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho, →ISBN

Zou

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *khuu, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kəw-n/t. Cognates include Chinese 荤 (hūn) and Burmese ခိုး (hkui:).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hu˧/

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Noun

hu

steam

References

Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40

[1] “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], 2017 December 2 (last accessed), archived from the original on 18 November 2020

[2] 木村きみ (1969) “21-2 ウエペケㇾ「アサハセタネイカㇻ」（姉が私を犬にした）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書3/3, 文化庁アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月

[3] 貝澤とぅるしの (1969) “2-2 ウエペケㇾ「ランコカッケマッ」（桂の木の女神）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書1/3, 文化庁アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月

[4] Kotey, Paul A. (1998). Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. →ISBN

[5] Adam Hyllested, “Albanian hundë ‘nose’ and Faroese, SW Norwegian skon ‘snout’”, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (Bremen: Hempen, 2012), 73-81.

[6] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

[1]

[1]

[2]

[1]

[1]

[1]

hu-type pronouns
	singular	plural inclusive	plural exclusive
1st person	hu	ta	in
2nd person	un	en
3rd person	ha	ma
yoʼ-type pronouns
	singular	plural inclusive	plural exclusive
1st person	yoʼ	hit	ham
2nd person	hao	hamyo
3rd person	gueʼ	siha
emphatic pronouns
	singular	plural inclusive	plural exclusive
1st person	guahu	hita	hami
2nd person	hagu	hamyo
3rd person	guiya	siha

Translingual

Symbol

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Hyponyms

Derived terms

See also

References

Anagrams

Abau

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Acehnese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Ainu

Verb

Conjugation

References

Akan

Pronunciation

Verb

References

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

Related terms

References

Australian Kriol

Etymology

Pronoun

Central Mazahua

Pronunciation

Letter

See also

Chamorro

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

References

Chibcha

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Danish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

References

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Interjection

References

Esperanto

Pronunciation

Interjection

See also

German

Interjection

Further reading

Hungarian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

Further reading

Japanese

Romanization

Lower Sorbian

Preposition