hwa

See also: hwa¹

Middle English

Pronoun

hwa

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of who (“who”, nominative)

Northern Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-kúa.

Verb

hwa

1. to die

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xwɑː/, [ʍɑː]

Pronoun

hwā

1. who (interrogative)
   • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, John 5:13

     Sē þe þǣr ġehǣled wæs nysse hwā hit wæs: sē Hǣlend sōðlīċe bēag fram þǣre ġaderunge.

     The person who was healed didn't know who it was: Jesus had withdrawn from the crowd.

2. anyone, someone

Usage notes

• In the first sense, hwā refers to a person who is not yet known: Hwā forstæl mīnne fodan? ("Who stole my food?"). When enquiring further about a known person's identity, hwæt is used: Hwæt eart þū? ("Who are you?").

Declension

Declension of hwā/hwæt

	Masculine and feminine	Neuter
Nominative	hwā	hwæt
Accusative	hwone	hwæt
Genitive	hwæs	hwæs
Dative	hwām, hwǣm	hwām, hwǣm
Instrumental	hwȳ, hwon	hwȳ, hwon

Descendants

• Middle English: who, ȝwo, ho, hoo, huo, quo, qwo, qwho, whoo, wo, woo; qua, wha; hwa, hwo, hwoa
  • English: who
  • Geordie English: whe
  • Scots: wha
  • Yola: fho, fo, vo

Old Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhwaː/
• (Late Old Frisian) IPA^(key): /ˈwaː/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ. Cognates include Old English hwā and Old Saxon hwē.

Pronoun

hwā

2. (interrogative) who?
3. (relative) who, that

   Synonyms: thī, thiu

4. (indefinite) whoever, anyone

   Synonyms: hwāsā, ēnich

Descendants

• West Frisian: wa

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han. Cognates include Old English hōn and Old Saxon hāhan.

Alternative forms

• huā

Verb

hwā

2. (transitive) to hang

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Tarifit

Etymology

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic هوى (hawa).

Verb

hwa (Tifinagh spelling ⵀⵡⴰ)

1. (intransitive) to go down, to come down, to descend

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• Verbal noun: hekkʷu
• Causative: sehwa (“to lower”)
  • Verbal noun: asehwa