מה

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma" and Appendix:Variations of "me"

Aramaic

Pronoun

מה • (ma)

1. alternative form of מא
   • Genesis 3:13, Targum Onqelos:

     וַאֲמַר ה׳ אֱלֹהִים לְאִתְּתָא מַה דָּא עַבְדָת וַאֲמָרַת אִתְּתָא חִוְיָא אַטְעַיָנִי וַאֲכָלִית:

     And God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" and the woman said, "The snake deceived me and I ate."

Hebrew

Etymology

Cognates such as Aramaic מָה (mā, “what”), Arabic مَا (mā, “what”) and Ugaritic 𐎎𐎅 (mh) can be found across the Central Semitic languages. The semantic development of the various senses is recognizable in many other languages as well and naturally arises in the following manner: direct and indirect interrogative pronoun > fused relative pronoun > demonstrative pronoun with relative clause.

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /maː/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /mɔ/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ma/
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /mɔː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

מָה • (ma) m or f

1. (interrogrative) what

   מה זאת אומרת? ― má zot oméret? ― What does it mean? [literally What is this saying?]

   מה אתה שואל? ― má ata sho'él? ― What are you asking?

   מה נשמע? ― ma nishmá? ― How are you? [literally What is being heard?]

   • Tanach, Genesis 4:10:

     וַיֹּאמֶר מֶה עָשִׂיתָ קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים אֵלַי מִן־הָאֲדָמָה׃

     And he [Hashem] said, "What have you done?! The blood of your cries out to me from the ground!"

   • Tanach, Exodus 12:26:

     וְהָיָה כִּי־יֹאמְרוּ אֲלֵיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת לָכֶם׃

     When your children will ask you, "What is the purpose of this rite?"

2. (indirect interrogrative) what
   • Tanach, Genesis 2:19a:

     וַיִּצֶר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כׇּל־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְאֵת כׇּל־עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיָּבֵא אֶל־הָאָדָם לִרְאוֹת מַה־יִּקְרָא־לוֹ

     Hashem created from the ground every animal of the field and all the birds of the sky, and he brought [them] to the human to see what he would call them.

   • Tanach, Exodus 2:4:

     וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה מַה־יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ׃

     His sister positioned herself from afar to find out what will happen to him.

3. (fused relative) that which, the thing that

   מנסה להיזכר מה אמרתי שגרם לתגובות כאלה. ― I am trying to remember what I said that caused such reactions.

   • Tanach, 1 Kings 14:3b:

     הוּא יַגִּיד לָךְ מַה־יִּהְיֶה לַנָּעַר׃

     ...he will tell you what will happen to the boy.

4. (demonstrative) that (followed by שֶׁ־)

   אני לא יכול להגיד את מה שאני באמת מרגיש. ― I can't tell what I really feel.

   • Tanach, Ecclesiastes 1:9, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     מַה־שֶּׁהָיָה הוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה וּמַה־שֶּׁנַּעֲשָׂה הוּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂה וְאֵין כׇּל־חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ׃

     What has happened is what will happen and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun!

5. (determiner, archaic) what, which

   Synonym: אֵיזֶה (éze)

Usage notes

• In traditional Hebrew grammar can also be vocalized as מַה (má) (with the doubling of the following consonant) or מֶה (mé). The vowel is determined by the following word and behaves the same way as the vowel in הַ־ (há). However, the Academy of the Hebrew Language recommends always using the vocalization מָה (má).

Derived terms

• מה זאת / מַה־זּאֹת (ma-zót, “what”)
• אָז מָה (az má, “so what?”)
• אֵין בְּעַד מָה (én b'ád má, “you're welcome”)
• לָמָּה (láma, “for what, why”)
• מִשּׁוּם מָה (mishúm má, “for some reason”)

Interjection

מָה • (má)

1. An expression of wonder or amazement.
   • Tanach, Genesis 28:17, with translation of the New International Version:

     וַיִּירָא וַיֹּאמַר מַה־נּוֹרָא הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם־בֵּית אֱלֹהִים וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם׃

     He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

   • Tanach, Psalms 119:97, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     מָה־אָהַבְתִּי תוֹרָתֶךָ כָּל־הַיּוֹם הִיא שִׂיחָתִי׃

     O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

2. Response that confirms that the speaker is paying attention (usually said unhappily).

References

• H4100 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987), “מָה”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 321a
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 736a

Anagrams

• הם, ה״מ

Yiddish

Etymology

From Hebrew מה.

Pronoun

מה • (ma)

1. (interrogative) what?

   Synonym: וואָס (vos)

   • 1998, Steven A. Jacobson, quotee, A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, Fairbanks, AK, page 99:

     ״מה אַנו מה חײנו?“

     "ma anu ma khayeynu"

     "Who are we (and) what is our life?"

   • 1998, Steven A. Jacobson, quotee, A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, Fairbanks, AK, page 99:

     “מה בכּך?“

     "ma bekakh"

     "So what? What does it matter?"

2. (interrogative) how?

   Synonym: ווי (vi)

Derived terms

• מה־דאָך (madekh)
• מה־בכּך (ma-bekakh)

References

• Steven A. Jacobson (1998), A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, 5th edition, Fairbanks, AK: National Yiddish Book Center, →ISBN, page 99