Learn Arabic › A1 › أَيُّها
أَيُّها
O (vocative used before a definite noun) /ˈʔaj.ju.haː/
particleA1#112 most common
Also: O you, you there (in formal address), dear (in salutations)
Example sentences
مَرْحَباً أَيُّها الأَصْدِقاء.
Hello, friends.
أَيُّها النّاس، اِسْمَعوا.
O people, listen.
شُكْراً لَكُمْ أَيُّها الطُّلّاب على عَمَلِكُم.
Thank you, students, for your work.
أَيُّها السّادَةُ والسَّيِّدات، أَهْلاً وسَهْلاً بِكُم.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.
لا تَخافوا أَيُّها الجُنود، فالنَّصْرُ قَريب.
Do not be afraid, soldiers, victory is near.
أَيُّها القارِئُ الكَريم، أَرْجو أَنْ تَقْرَأَ هذِهِ السُّطورَ بِرَوِيَّةٍ وتَأَمُّل.
Dear reader, I hope you will read these lines with patience and reflection.
Word family
أَيَّتُهاO (vocative for a feminine noun)
ياO (the basic vocative particle)أَيّwhich?, anyهذاthis (shares the deictic ها)
نِداءa call; the vocativeEtymology
أَيُّها joins two old elements: the noun أَيّ ('which one') used as a call, and the attention particle ها, the same هـا seen in هذا ('this'). Arabic uses it because the basic vocative يا cannot stand directly before a noun that carries the article ال. So يا أَيُّها النّاس means roughly 'O you, the people.' The construction is Semitic, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root.
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