أو

See also: او and آو

Arabic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʔaw. Cognate with Hebrew אוֹ (’o), Ugaritic 𐎜 (ủ /⁠ʾō⁠/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaw/

• Audio:

  (file)

Conjunction

أَوْ • (ʔaw)

1. indicates an inclusive disjunction

   كُلِ التَّمْرَ الْهِنْدِيَّ أَوِ اشْرَبِ الْبُرْتُقَالَ.

   Eat the tamarind! Or drink the orange-juice!

2. (only in declaratives) indicates an exclusive disjunction

   كُلُّ شَيْءٍ إِمَّا مَوْجُودٌ أَوْ غَيْرُ مَوْجُودٍ.

   kullu šayʔin ʔimmā mawjūdun ʔaw ḡayru mawjūdin.

   Every object is either existent or inexistent.

Related terms

• أَمْ (ʔam)

Descendants

• → Swahili: au

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “أو”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

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South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic أَوْ (ʔaw).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaw/, [ʔaw]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Conjunction

أو • (ʔaw)

1. or
2. or (mutually exclusive, when used together with إما (ʔimma))

   إما بتدفع كاش أو بالكرت.

   ʔimma btidfaʕ kāš ʔaw bil-kart

   Either you pay cash or by card.

   Synonyms: ولا (willa), يا ... يا (ya ... ya)