Jump to content

x'inhu

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Maltese

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Arabic أَيُّ شَيْءٍ هُوَ (ʔayyu šayʔin huwa, literally what thing is it), whence also Moroccan Arabic شنو (šnu), اشنو (ašnu), Gulf Arabic شنو (šinu). The ancient genitive ending -in was generally lost, but remained in contraction with the following personal pronoun. Compare also xejn (nothing), where the final -n is the accusative ending -an.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Pronoun

[edit]

x’inhu m (extended form x’inhuwa, feminine singular x’inhi or x’inhija, plural x’inhuma)

  1. contraction of x’ (what) + hu (he, it)

Usage notes

[edit]
  • Often equivalent to English “what is”. For details on usage, see the notes at x’.

See also

[edit]