ووه

Root entry · 4 derived lemmas

This root primarily concerns an interjection expressing wonder, admiration, or lament. It can be used to express delight at something's excellence or sorrow over a loss, with variations in its grammatical treatment affecting its definiteness.

Derived headwords

وَاهًاparticle

1.
wonder/admirationclassical
An interjection used to express wonder or admiration at the excellence or pleasantness of something.
2.
lament/regretclassical
An interjection used to express lamentation, sorrow, or regret.

وَاهًا لَهُparticle

1.
wonder at its goodnessclassical
An expression of wonder used when something is particularly good or pleasant.

وَاهًاparticle

1.
lamentationclassical
An interjection used to express grief or lamentation.

وَاهْparticle

1.
lamentationclassical
An interjection used to express lamentation, often in a more emphatic or sorrowful context.

Parallel reading

واها له، وبترك تنوينه: كلمة تعجب من طيب كل شيء

Wāhan lah, and by omitting its tanwin: an expression of wonder at the excellence of everything.

إذا تعجبت من طيب شيء قلت: واها له ما أطيبه

If you marvel at the goodness of something, you say: Wāhan lah mā aṭyabahu (How excellent it is!).

واها لريا ثم واها واها

Wāhan li-Riyā, then wāhan wāhan (Oh, for Riyā, then oh, oh!).

يا ليت عيناها لنا وفاها بثمن نرضي به أباها

Oh, I wish her eyes would be enough for us, at a price that would satisfy her father.

إذا نونت فكأنك قلت استطابة

If you use the tanwin, it is as if you said 'istatābah' (seeking to find it good).

وإذا لم تنون فكأنك قلت الاستطابة

And if you omit the tanwin, it is as if you said 'al-istatābah' (the seeking to find it good).

فصار التنوين علم التنكير، وتركه علم التعريف

So the tanwin became a sign of indefiniteness, and omitting it a sign of definiteness.

واها أيضا: كلمة تلهف وتلوذ؛ وقد لا ينون

Wāhan also: an expression of longing and seeking refuge; and it may not be inflected.

وتقول في التفجيع: واها وواه

And you say in lamentation: wāhan and wāh.