Eh
Encyclopedia
Eh is a spoken interjection
in English
, Armenian
, Japanese
, French
, Italian
, Greek
, Spanish
, Portuguese
and Catalan
that is similar in meaning to "Excuse me," "Please repeat that" or "huh?" It is also commonly used as a method for inciting an answer, as in "It's nice here, eh?" It is occasionally used to express indifference, in a similar way to "meh
". In North America, it is most commonly associated with Canada
.
The spelling of this sound in English is very different from the common usage of these letters. The vowel is sounded in one of the continental manners, and the letter h is used to indicate that it is long, as though the origin of the spelling were German
.
It is an invariant question
tag, unlike the "is it?" and "have you?" tags that have, with the insertion of not, different construction in positive and negative questions.
There is some question about the origin of the term. One theory is that the "eh" sound is similar to the "ey" sound that a native French speaker will stereotypically say when pronouncing the word "Hey". Dropped H's are also common to many British dialects.
In addition, many Italian Americans, especially in the New York area, use the term "eh" as a general substitute for such basic greetings, such as "hey" or "hello". This is likely due to the TV show Happy Days
having its character "The Fonz" constantly use this phrase.
, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary
, is for "ascertaining the comprehension, continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed" as in, "It's four kilometres away, eh, so I have to go by bike." In that case, eh? is used to confirm the attention of the listener and to invite a supportive noise such as "Mm" or "Oh" or "Okay
". This usage may be paraphrased as "I'm checking to see that you're [listening/following/in agreement] so I can continue." Grammatically, this usage constitutes an interjection; functionally, it is an implicit request for back-channel communication.
"Eh" can also be added to the end of a declarative sentence to turn it into a question. For example: "The weather is nice." becomes "The weather is nice, eh?" This same phrase could also be taken as "The weather is nice, don't you agree?". In this usage, it is virtually identical to the Japanese "ne?" or the Mandarin "ba". This usage differs from the French usage of "n'est-ce pas?" ("Isn't that so?") in that it does not use a (technically double or emphatic) negative.
The usage of "eh" in Canada is occasionally mocked in the United States
, where some view its use - along with aboot, an approximation of a Canadian raising
-affected pronunciation of about - as a stereotypical Canadianism. Such stereotypes have been reinforced in popular culture
, and were famously lampooned in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. Singer Don Freed
in his song "Saskatchewan
" declares "What is this 'Eh?' nonsense? I wouldn't speak like that if I were paid to." There are many merchandise items on the market today that use this phrase, such as t-shirts and coffee mugs.
It is often joked about by Canadians as well, and is sometimes even a part of the national identity. For example, a Canadian national team is sometimes referred to as "the Eh? team
". Likewise, at one of their concerts, a member of the Canadian Brass
, referring to their arrangement
of the jazz standard
"Take the A Train
", said that they'd considered calling it "Take the train, eh?". A classic joke illuminating this: "How did they name Canada? The letters were thrown in a bag, and the first one to be picked was 'C' eh?, then 'N' eh? and finally 'D' eh?"
In the Canadian animated faux-reality show Total Drama Island
, one of the twenty-two teens on the show, Ezekiel, is a stereotypical Canadian yokel
who uses the term "Eh", usually at the end of a sentence.
women and the second being working class Māori men. The Pākehā are New Zealanders of British or European descent and Maori are indigenous Polynesians. However most New Zealander's pronounce "ay" instead of "eh". This slang is not as commonly used in New Zealand compared to other countries, for example Canada.
A 1994 study by communications scholar Miriam Meyerhoff sought to examine the function of "eh" in New Zealand culture. She hypothesized that "eh" did not function as a clarification device as frequently believed, but instead served as a means of establishing solidarity between individuals of similar ethnic descent. In her research, Meyerhoff analyzed conversations between an interviewer and an interviewee of either Pākehā or Māori descent and calculated the frequency of "eh" in the conversation. In order to yield the most natural speech, Meyerhoff instructed the interviewers to introduce themselves as a "friend of a friend", to their respective interviewees. Her results showed Maori men as the most frequent users of "eh" in their interviews. As Maori are typically of a lower socio-economic status, Meyerhoff proposed that "eh" functioned as a verbal cue that one reciprocated by another individual signified both shared identity and mutual acceptance. Therefore, in the context of Meyerhoff’s research, "eh" can be equated as a device to establish and maintain a group identity. This phenomenon sheds light on the continuous scholarly debate questioning if language determines culture or culture determines language.
and the north of England, in places such as Yorkshire
, Lancashire
, and the English Midlands
. It is normally used to mean "what?". In Scotland
, mainly around the Tayside region, "eh" is used as a shortened term for "yes". For example "Are you going to the Disco?" "eh."
"Eh?" used to solicit agreement or confirmation is also heard regularly amongst speakers in Australia
(where it is sometimes spelled "ay" on the assumption that "eh" would rhyme with "heh" or "meh"). In the Caribbean
island of Barbados
the word "nuh" acts similar. The usage in New Zealand
is similar, and is more common in the North Island
. It is also heard in the United States
, especially Minnesota
, Wisconsin
, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
(although the Scandinavian
-based Yooperism
"ya" is more common), Oklahoma
and the New England
region. In New England
and Oklahoma
, it is also used as a general exclamation as in Scotland and the Channel Islands of Jersey
and Guernsey
Since usage of the word "eh" is not as common in the United States as it is in Canada, it is often used by Americans, and indeed Canadians themselves, to parody
Canadian English
.
The equivalent in South African English
is "hey".
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
that is similar in meaning to "Excuse me," "Please repeat that" or "huh?" It is also commonly used as a method for inciting an answer, as in "It's nice here, eh?" It is occasionally used to express indifference, in a similar way to "meh
Meh
"Meh" is an interjection, often used as an expression of indifference or boredom. However, it can also be used to indicate agreement or disagreement. It can also be as a verb, and an adjective, meaning mediocre or boring.-Popularization:The word gained popularity as a result of its use on The...
". In North America, it is most commonly associated with Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The spelling of this sound in English is very different from the common usage of these letters. The vowel is sounded in one of the continental manners, and the letter h is used to indicate that it is long, as though the origin of the spelling were German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
It is an invariant question
Question
A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information may be provided with an answer....
tag, unlike the "is it?" and "have you?" tags that have, with the insertion of not, different construction in positive and negative questions.
There is some question about the origin of the term. One theory is that the "eh" sound is similar to the "ey" sound that a native French speaker will stereotypically say when pronouncing the word "Hey". Dropped H's are also common to many British dialects.
English
"Eh" is also used in situations to describe something bad or mediocre. Most commonly used as a slang term; it is also used in the media,In addition, many Italian Americans, especially in the New York area, use the term "eh" as a general substitute for such basic greetings, such as "hey" or "hello". This is likely due to the TV show Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
having its character "The Fonz" constantly use this phrase.
Canada
The only usage of eh? that is exclusive to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary
Canadian Oxford Dictionary
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary is a dictionary of Canadian English. First published by Oxford University Press Canada in 1998, it quickly became the standard dictionary reference for Canadian English. Until September 2008, Oxford maintained a permanent staff of lexicographers in Canada, led by...
, is for "ascertaining the comprehension, continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed" as in, "It's four kilometres away, eh, so I have to go by bike." In that case, eh? is used to confirm the attention of the listener and to invite a supportive noise such as "Mm" or "Oh" or "Okay
Okay
"Okay" is a colloquial English word denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, or acknowledgment. "Okay" has frequently turned up as a loanword in many other languages...
". This usage may be paraphrased as "I'm checking to see that you're [listening/following/in agreement] so I can continue." Grammatically, this usage constitutes an interjection; functionally, it is an implicit request for back-channel communication.
"Eh" can also be added to the end of a declarative sentence to turn it into a question. For example: "The weather is nice." becomes "The weather is nice, eh?" This same phrase could also be taken as "The weather is nice, don't you agree?". In this usage, it is virtually identical to the Japanese "ne?" or the Mandarin "ba". This usage differs from the French usage of "n'est-ce pas?" ("Isn't that so?") in that it does not use a (technically double or emphatic) negative.
The usage of "eh" in Canada is occasionally mocked in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where some view its use - along with aboot, an approximation of a Canadian raising
Canadian raising
Canadian raising is a phonetic phenomenon that occurs in varieties of the English language, especially Canadian English, in which certain diphthongs are "raised" before voiceless consonants...
-affected pronunciation of about - as a stereotypical Canadianism. Such stereotypes have been reinforced in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, and were famously lampooned in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. Singer Don Freed
Don Freed
Donald Freed , is a Canadian singer and songwriter best known for his works about life on the Western Canadian prairies and the province of Saskatchewan in particular.-Life and career:...
in his song "Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
" declares "What is this 'Eh?' nonsense? I wouldn't speak like that if I were paid to." There are many merchandise items on the market today that use this phrase, such as t-shirts and coffee mugs.
It is often joked about by Canadians as well, and is sometimes even a part of the national identity. For example, a Canadian national team is sometimes referred to as "the Eh? team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
". Likewise, at one of their concerts, a member of the Canadian Brass
Canadian Brass
The Canadian Brass is a brass quintet founded by Dr. Charles Daellenbach and Gene Watts in 1970. In addition to maintaining a heavy international touring schedule, the Canadian Brass have recorded over 80 CDs and DVDs...
, referring to their arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
of the jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
"Take the A Train
Take the A Train
"Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. It is arguably the most famous of the many compositions to emerge from the collaboration of Ellington and Strayhorn.-History:...
", said that they'd considered calling it "Take the train, eh?". A classic joke illuminating this: "How did they name Canada? The letters were thrown in a bag, and the first one to be picked was 'C' eh?, then 'N' eh? and finally 'D' eh?"
In the Canadian animated faux-reality show Total Drama Island
Total Drama Island
Total Drama Island is a Canadian animated television series which lampoons the conventions commonly found in reality shows. The show and its sequel seasons are collectively referred to as the Total Drama series. It premiered on the Canadian cable television specialty channel Teletoon on July 8, 2007...
, one of the twenty-two teens on the show, Ezekiel, is a stereotypical Canadian yokel
Yokel
Yokel is a derogatory term referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people.-Stereotype:In the US, it is used to describe someone living in rural areas...
who uses the term "Eh", usually at the end of a sentence.
New Zealand
While not as commonly lampooned as the Canadian "eh", there are few features that are 'more eagerly recognized by New Zealanders as a marker of their identity than the tag particle, "eh."'. This commonly used and referenced feature of New Zealand English (NZE) is one of great controversy to many communication scholars as it is both a mark of cultural identity and simultaneously a means to parody those of a lower socioeconomic status. In New Zealand culture, the use of "eh" is frequently linked with two main groups of people, the first being young, working-class, suburban PākehāPakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
women and the second being working class Māori men. The Pākehā are New Zealanders of British or European descent and Maori are indigenous Polynesians. However most New Zealander's pronounce "ay" instead of "eh". This slang is not as commonly used in New Zealand compared to other countries, for example Canada.
A 1994 study by communications scholar Miriam Meyerhoff sought to examine the function of "eh" in New Zealand culture. She hypothesized that "eh" did not function as a clarification device as frequently believed, but instead served as a means of establishing solidarity between individuals of similar ethnic descent. In her research, Meyerhoff analyzed conversations between an interviewer and an interviewee of either Pākehā or Māori descent and calculated the frequency of "eh" in the conversation. In order to yield the most natural speech, Meyerhoff instructed the interviewers to introduce themselves as a "friend of a friend", to their respective interviewees. Her results showed Maori men as the most frequent users of "eh" in their interviews. As Maori are typically of a lower socio-economic status, Meyerhoff proposed that "eh" functioned as a verbal cue that one reciprocated by another individual signified both shared identity and mutual acceptance. Therefore, in the context of Meyerhoff’s research, "eh" can be equated as a device to establish and maintain a group identity. This phenomenon sheds light on the continuous scholarly debate questioning if language determines culture or culture determines language.
Elsewhere
The usage of the word is widespread throughout much of the UK, particularly in WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and the north of England, in places such as Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
. It is normally used to mean "what?". In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, mainly around the Tayside region, "eh" is used as a shortened term for "yes". For example "Are you going to the Disco?" "eh."
"Eh?" used to solicit agreement or confirmation is also heard regularly amongst speakers in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(where it is sometimes spelled "ay" on the assumption that "eh" would rhyme with "heh" or "meh"). In the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island of Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
the word "nuh" acts similar. The usage in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
is similar, and is more common in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. It is also heard in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, especially Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
(although the Scandinavian
North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages, the languages of Scandinavians, make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...
-based Yooperism
Yooper dialect
Yooper is a form of North Central American English mostly spoken in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which gives the dialect its name...
"ya" is more common), Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region. In New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, it is also used as a general exclamation as in Scotland and the Channel Islands of Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
and Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
Since usage of the word "eh" is not as common in the United States as it is in Canada, it is often used by Americans, and indeed Canadians themselves, to parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Canadian English
Canadian English
Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians , and more than 28 million are fluent in the language...
.
The equivalent in South African English
South African English
The term South African English is applied to the first-language dialects of English spoken by South Africans, with the L1 English variety spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians, being recognised as offshoots.There is some social and regional variation within South African English...
is "hey".
Sweden
In Sweden, "Eh" is most commonly used as a way of filling out a sentence when speaking, usually when the person talking has not yet come up with a way of continuing what he just said similary to uh; "there's much, eh, difficulty in the economy."Similar terms in other languages
- JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
Hei? (heː) is a common exclamation in Japanese and is used to express surprise. It is also used when the listener did not fully understand or hear what the speaker said. It can be lengthened to show greater surprise (e.g. Heeeeee?!). Nei/ne?/naa are extremely similar to the Canadian eh, being statement ending particles which solicit or assume agreement, confirmation, or comprehension on the part of the listener.
- Hein is used in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and in PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
in much the same way as in English.
- Hain is used in Mauritian CreoleMauritian CreoleMauritian Creole is a French-based creole language spoken in Mauritius. In addition to the French base of the language, there are also some words from English and from the many African and Asian languages that have been spoken on the island.- Sociolinguistic Situation :Mauritian Creole is the...
and it can express a variety of ideas. It is generally used in context of a conversation and is generally interpreted very quickly.
- Gell/gelle or wa, wat or wahr ("true" or "correct") or nä/ne/net (from nicht, "not") are used in (very) colloquial GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
to express a positive interrogative at the end of a sentence, much as Eh is used in Canadian English. Statements expressed in Standard German are more commonly phrased in negative terms and outside of colloquial usage the ending interrogative is often nicht wahr, which invites a response of stimmt ("agreed", literally "that's right").
- Swiss GermanSwiss GermanSwiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg...
"Oder" which means "or" in English is commonly used interrogatively as "... or what?" and "gäll/gell at the end of sentences in German-speaking Switzerland, especially in the Zurich area. It is used more as a matter of conversational convention than for its meaning. The expression "ni" is used in highest allemanic speaking parts, and is used similarly to "net" in German. The term Äh is also used, which is pronounced similarly to eh in English and has the same meaning.
- Egyptian ArabicEgyptian ArabicEgyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
"ايه؟" (ˈeːh) as "What? say it again". It could also mean "What's wrong?" either in a concerned manner or a more aggressive one, depending on the tone used to pose the question. Besides, it could refer to an exclamation.
- "Eh" is used in colloquial Lebanese ArabicLebanese ArabicLebanese or Lebanese Arabic is a variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages, and is in some ways unique from other varieties of Arabic...
and Syrian Arabic to mean "Yes".