hu

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "hu"

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Clipping of human, first offered for usage by Mikhail Epstein, professor of cultural theory at Emory University (in 2003).[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hu (third-person singular, nominative case, reflexive huself) (epicene)

  1. (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
    • 2002 January 3, McMahon, Bryan T., quoting Sasha Newborn, “A terrible book”, in The Ponchatoula Times‎[1], page 7:
      Hu is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in hus solutions of each and all a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural.
    • 2003 October 14, Epstein, Mikhail, “"Hu," from "human," as a gender-neutral pronoun”, in , Usenet‎[2], message-ID <f732cdb7.0310141153.6c715df8@posting.google.com>:
      When the lecturer arrives, hu will be speaking on the topic of anonymity.
    • 2007 November 29, Epstein, Mikhail, “hu”, in International Society for Universal Dialog‎[3]:
      It's the vice-president's job to support the president and take hus place when hu is away.
    • 2008 March, Hitz, Christoph, “Hu, Me?”, in Mother Jones‎[4], ISSN 0362-8841:
      Maybe, but if his/herstory's any guide, hu has hu work cut out for hu.
  2. (neologism) them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her.
    • 2006, Anderson, Perry; Burgess, Glenn, DeLuna, D. N., editor, The Political Imagination in History: Essays Concerning J.G.A. Pocock‎[5], Owlworks, →ISBN, page 175:
      One of his favorite metaphors for the historian, drawn from the "Preface" to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, likens hu to the owl of Minerva, whose flight at dusk provided the setting for mature reflection on the day that had passed.
  3. (neologism) their (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.
    • 2006 October 1, “He said, she said, hu said”, in Los Angeles Times‎[6]:
      Now, however, the editorial writer has a new weapon in hu arsenal.
    • 2006 November 17, Kyff, Rob, “Hu Joins Heesh As Neutral Pronoun”, in Hartford Courant‎[7]:
      If hu doesn't do hu homework, I will fail hu.

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/1462-quot-Hu-quot-from-quot-human-quot-as-a-pronoun

Anagrams[edit]

Abau[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hu

  1. water

References[edit]

  • transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Akan[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hu

  1. to see
  2. to discern, to descry, to find

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kotey, Paul A. (1998). Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. →ISBN

Albanian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Albanian *skuna, from *skun-o- (compare Norwegian/Faroese skon (“snout”)), from Proto-Indo-European *skewd-.[1] More at hedh.

Noun[edit]

hu m (indefinite plural hunj, definite singular huri, definite plural hunjtë)

  1. wooden post, fencepost
  2. stake, picket
  3. pole, stilt
  4. (colloquial) penis

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Adam Hyllested, “Albanian hundë ‘nose’ and Faroese, SW Norwegian skon ‘snout’”, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (Bremen: Hempen, 2012), 73-81.

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse hugr, from Proto-Germanic *hugiz,.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hu c (singular definite huen, not used in plural form)

  1. inclination, sympathy
  2. mind
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

“hu,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

hu

  1. imperative of hue

Etymology 3[edit]

Onomatopoetic.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hu

  1. An expression of eeriness, horror or a very strong emotion

References[edit]

“hu,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

Esperanto[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hu

  1. oh, ooh, oof, wow (indicating surprise or another strong emotion)

German[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hu

  1. an exclamation of feeling cold

Further reading[edit]

  • hu in Duden online

Hungarian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

An onomatopoeia.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hu

  1. boo (a loud exclamation intended to scare someone, especially a child)
  2. ah, oh (use to express fright)
    Hu, de megijedtem! ― Ah, you startled me!
  3. ugh (used to express repugnance, disgust)
  4. hoot (cry of an owl; see huhog)

Kriol[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English who.

Pronoun[edit]

hu

  1. (interrogative) who

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Preposition[edit]

hu (with genitive)

  1. Obsolete spelling of wu

Maltese[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Arabic هُوَ‎ (huwa)

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hu

  1. he

Inflection[edit]

inflected forms of hu
positive huwa, hu
negative mhuwiex, mhux
possessive pronoun tiegħu
basic suffix -u, -h
direct object suffix -u, -h
indirect object suffix -lu

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

hu

  1. Nonstandard spelling of hū.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of hú.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of hǔ.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of hù.

Usage notes[edit]

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle Dutch[edit]

Determiner[edit]

hu

  1. Alternative spelling of u

Pronoun[edit]

hu

  1. Alternative spelling of u; accusative/dative of gi

Middle English[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hu

  1. Alternative form of heo

References[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

hu (accusative henne, genitive hennes)

Pronoun[edit]

hu

  1. (Non-standard since 1959) she, (third person singular, feminine)

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with Old Frisian hū, Old Saxon hū (Dutch hoe), Old High German wuo.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hū

  1. how, in all senses, including:
    1. to what degree
      Hū eald is þīn dohtor?
      How old is your daughter?
      Hū miċel fēos hæfst þū mid þē?
      How much money do you have with you?
    2. in what manner
      Hū sæġþ man þæt on Englisċ?
      How do you say that in English?
      Hū færst þū?
      How are you? (Literally: "How are you faring?")
    3. in what state
      Hū wæs þīn dæġ?
      How was your day?
      Þū canst Ælfrēd cyning? Hū is hē?
      You know King Alfred? What is he like?
    4. used in exclamations
      Hū hleahtorlīċ!
      How ridiculous!
      Hū gōd hund!
      What a good dog!

Conjunction[edit]

hū

  1. how, in all senses:
    1. in what manner
      Iċ leornode hū man wæġn ġebētt.
      I learned how to repair a wagon.
      Hīe āxodon hū hīe helpan meahten.
      They asked how they could help.
    2. that, the fact that (introducing direct statements)
      Iċ him sæġde hū iċ wǣre æt hām ealne dæġ and ne ġehīerde nāwiht.
      I told them how I'd been at home all day and hadn't heard a thing.
      Þæt is tō wundriġenne hū hīe þā bryċġe swā hrædlīċe ġefyldon.
      It's amazing how they completed the bridge so quickly.

Descendants[edit]

  • Middle English: hu, hou, hwu, wou, howe

Old French[edit]

FWOTD – 25 March 2016

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Onomatopoeia.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

hu

  1. a shouting noise made when pursuing someone or something

Noun[edit]

hu m (oblique plural hus, nominative singular hus, nominative plural hu)

  1. commotion; racket (noisy situation)

References[edit]

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *hwō.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

hu

  1. how

Conjunction[edit]

hu

  1. how

Synonyms[edit]

Westrobothnian[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse hón.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /hʉː/, /heʊ̯ː/, /hʊ/, /hœ/

Pronoun[edit]

hu (accusative na or hänner, dative hänner or henar, genitive hännars or henars)

  1. she, it (third person singular, feminine)
Usage notes[edit]

Hu is used to refer not only to feminine persons, but any feminine noun.

Synonyms[edit]
See also[edit]
Westrobothnian personal pronouns.
number first person second person reflexive third person
case singular singular masculine singular feminine singular neuter
nominative jig, jeg, jög du, döu hɑnn, hånn hu, ho, hon he
accusative meg deg seg hana, na, a, hänner he, ne, e
dative meg (se) deg (se) seg (se) hönöm, hano, håno hannar, hänner, hennar, henar, nar dy, dyij, di
genitive min, myin din, dyin sin, syin hɑnʃ, hansches, hånsch hannars, hännars, hennars, henars diss
case plural plural masculine plural feminine plural neuter
nominative ve ge, je, ji de, di, dȯm, dem, döm
accusative ass, åss ge, je, ji seg
dative ass, åss gerom, irom seg (se) dȯm, dem, döm, do
genitive vor, wȯhn, våor, vånn, voden jera, jänn, jern, iden, jedar, idar sin, syin dern, dera, däris, daires dera, däris, daires derä


Etymology 2[edit]

Compare Norwegian Nynorsk ho, hoe

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

hu f

  1. female

Etymology 3[edit]

From Old Norse húð, from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *kuHtis.

Noun[edit]

hu f

  1. hide; pelt
Related terms[edit]

Zou[edit]

Noun[edit]

hu

  1. steam

References[edit]

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