wo
- (international standards)ISO 639-1language code forWolof.
Variant ofwho.
wo
- A falconer's call to ahawk.
- A call to cause ahorse to slow down or stop;whoa.
Variant ofwoe.
wo (countable anduncountable,pluralwos)
- Obsolete spelling ofwoe.
1815, Philip Freneau,A collection of poems, on American affairs and a variety of other subjects,page82:Such feeble arms, to work internalwo!
FromMiddle Englishwough,woh,wouh, fromOld Englishwāh,wāg(“a wall, partition”), fromProto-Germanic*waigaz(“wall”), fromProto-Indo-European*weyk-(“to bend, twist”). Cognate withScotswauch,vauch.
- waw(Northern England, Scotland)
- waugh(Scotland)
wo (pluralwos)
- (Northern England, Derbyshire, dialectal) Awall.
1859, Thomas Moore,The Song of Solomon in the Durham Dialect,ii. 9:He stands ahint ourwo.
1871, Benjamin Brierly, “Weaver of Wellbrook”, in William-Edward-Armitage Axon, editor,Folk-song and Folk-speech of Lancashire, page53:Yo may turn up yor noses at me an' th' owd dame,
An thrutch us like dogs agen th'wo :
Bo as lung 's aw con nayger, aw'll ne'er be a beggar,
So aw care no a cuss for yo o-o'.
1880, Thomas Clarke,Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page41:[…] thinkan it ran at him, thrast him up again t'wo, ramm't at him,[…]
1884, Jack Robison,Aald Tales ower Agen, section 4:Plantit up agen t'wo
- 1936, G. Halstead Whittaker,A Lancashire Garland of Dialect Prose and Verse, page 221:
- Hoo's pluck of a lion an' faces her foe
- Wi' calm in her e'en an' her beck agen t'wo;
- Hoo's firm i' decision, stonds up for her reets
- An' bravely withstonds o' t' misfortins hoo meets.
wo
- (Northern England, dialectal, possibly obsolete) Towall (to build a wall, or build a wall around).
1871, John Richardson,"Cummerland Talk": Being Short Tales and Rhymes, page101:[…] “Theer was anudder time, teu, 'at I saw t Park Boggle, in anudder form; bit I wassent seah nart that time, as I was when I'd been fetchen t hogs. I'd beenwo-en a gap 'at hed fawn ower o' tudder side o' to Park;[…]
1880, Thomas Clarke,Specimens of the Dialect of Westmorland, page 2:It's a varra lang while—a caant tell ya hoo lang—sen it wes bilt, lang afooar Borradal fooakwoet kucku in, er t' first cooach ran throo Dent,[…]
wo
- togohome
wo
- thou,you (singular)
With a widespread dialectal shift from-ā- to-ō-, fromMiddle High Germanwā,wār, fromOld High Germanwār,hwār, fromProto-West Germanic*hwār, fromProto-Germanic*hwēr,*hwar. Ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*kʷis, whence alsower. Cognate withGermanwo,Dutchwaar andEnglishwhere.
wo(Central Bavarian)
- (interrogative)where(at what place)
- Wo sand'n meine Augnglasln? ―Where are my glasses?
- (relative)where(at or in which place or situation)
- I kenn a Gschäft,wo's des håbn. ―I know a shopwhere they offer that.
- Wo i a ka Sun brauch, is beim Autofoahn. ―Where I don't need the sun is when I'm driving.
- (relative)when,that(on which; at which time)
- Des woa de Wochn,wo ma gfeiert håbn. ―That was the weekwhen we celebrated.
- (indefinite)somewhere(in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
- I warad gernwo, wo's wärmer is. ―I'd like to besomewhere where it's warmer.
wo(chiefly West Central Bavarian)
- (relative)who,whom,which,that
- Des is de Frau,wo i gsehn håb. ―This is the womanwho I saw.
- Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter,wo då hintn is. ―Tickets are available at the counterwhich is back there.
- (relative)(inserted after the relative pronounsder,de,des,dem,den,dena,dera
- Des is de Frau, dewo i gsehn håb. ―This is the woman who I saw.
- Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, derwo då hintn is. ―Tickets are available at the counterwhich is back there.
- wos,wås(East Central Bavarian)
wo
- (subordinating)when,if
- Wås håst'n nix gmåcht,wo'st as eh scho länger gwusst håst? ―Why didn't you do anythingwhen you had known about it for a long time?
- Mia soidadn ned spazierngehn,wo's so regnt. ―We shouldn't go for a walkwhen it's raining like that.
CompareBonanwa, perhaps fromProto-Mongolic*bü-(“tobe”), seeMongolianбий(bii).
wo(defective, copulative)
- tobe
- existential copula
Eqie guanjinde nie siziwo, nie basiwo.- Once upon a timethere was a lion and a tiger.
- equitive copula
Bi shi er dui nie bawan, yi dui bawan shi jiu Rejiewo, san dui bawan shi nie halao Remiwo.- I was the bigshot of the second team, the bigshot of the first teamwas Rejie and the bigshot of the third teamwas one ugly Remi.
- adjectival copula
Ene shihoude sumulase hunnereiwo dei.- If I think [about it] now, it's funny.
- in possessive constructions with thepossessor indative
Ene ghualade nie ghoniwo.- These twohad a sheep.
- (after-zhi)forming the progressive tense
Bi ene agvinni nanbangiede nie jian wafande sauzhiwo.- I live [am living] in a one bedroom house at the south of the village.
- Usually combined with the Chinese copulashi which is placed between two terms whilewo follows the second. Either of them or even both can be omitted but both being present is usually the most common setup.
wo
- them
- they
With a widespread dialectal shift from-ā- to-ō-, fromMiddle High Germanwā,wār, fromOld High Germanwār,hwār, fromProto-West Germanic*hwār, fromProto-Germanic*hwēr,*hwar. Ultimately fromProto-Indo-European*kʷis, whence alsower. Cognate withEnglishwhere.
wo
- (interrogative)where(at what place)
Wo bist du?- Where are you?
- (relative)where(at or in which place or situation)
Ich kenne einen Laden,wo solche Sachen verkauft werden.- I know a shopwhere such things are sold.
- (relative, somewhat informal)when,that(on which; at which time)
Das war der Tag,wo wir uns kennen gelernt haben.- That was the daywhen we got to know each other.
- (indefinite, colloquial)somewhere(in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)
- Synonym:irgendwo
Ich wär gernwo, wo's wärmer ist.- I'd like to besomewhere where it's warmer.
- The temporal use ofwo (meaning “when”) is sometimes frowned upon in formal standard German. There is a tendency to use a preposition + relative pronoun instead:Das war der Tag,an dem wir uns kennen gelernt haben. (“That was the dayon which we got to know each other.”) Nevertheless, this usage is very common in spoken German and is also widely acceptable in writing, particularly after adverbs, where the only alternative would be the archaicda:Jetzt,wo ich es weiß, wird mir alles klar. (“Nowthat I know, it all becomes clear to me.”) CompareFrenchoù(“where”), the temporal use of which is perfectly standard.
wo
- (colloquial)when
- Synonym:als
Wo ich mich umgedreht hab, haut der mir unvermittelt eine rein.- When I turned around, he just abruptly punched me in the face.
- This usage is exclusively colloquial and would be considered inappropriate in a formal text.
wo
- (relative, dialectal, nonstandard)who,whom,which,that
Ich bin der,wo das kann.- I'm the onewho can do that.
- 1979, Margret Weiler,Zur Frage der Integration der Zigeuner in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: eine Untersuchung der gegenwärtigen Situation der Zigeuner und der sozialpolitischen und sozialarbeiterischen Massnahmen für Zigeuner, self-published doctoral thesis, p. 188
Aber daß sie sich da mit uns unterhalten, das tun die nicht, mal grad diewo wir mal kennen, das ist eine Familie (...)- But that they should have a chat with us, they don't do that, just maybe thosewho we know a bit, that's one family (...)
- 1994, Burkhard Hergesell,Arbeiterkulturen im Betrieb: interethnische Beziehungen zwischen Produktionsarbeitern: eine empirische Studie, IKO Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, p. 133
Ali: "Und der Hussein, der ist ein Typ,wo / wo doch nicht Türkisch redet. Der redet nur Deutsch mit mir. (...)"- Ali: "And Hussein, he's a blokewho / who won't speak Turkish. He only talks German to me. (...)"
- 2009,Elfriede Jelinek,Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns. Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel). Über Tiere. – Drei Romane, Rowohlt Taschenbuch, p. 216
Ich bin, der ich bin. Ich bin, wo ich bin. Ich bin der,wo ich bin. Wo sagt man sowas?- I am who I am. I am where I am. I am the onethat I am. Where do they say it like this?
- This use is restricted to dialectally influenced vernaculars (Regiolekte) and chiefly to Alemannic areas (Switzerland and south-western Germany). In other regions, this usage is unusual, and scorned by some.
FromMiddle Low Germanwô(“how”), fromOld Saxon[Term?], fromProto-Germanic*hwō. Cognate withEnglishhow,Germanwie,Dutchhoe.
- (in some dialects)IPA(key): /vɔu̯/
- (traditional)IPA(key): [wɔʊ̯]
wo
- how
Wo vele Daag?- How many days?
FromOld Saxonhwē, fromProto-Germanic*hwaz. CompareEnglishwho,whom,whose.
wo
- (Low Prussian, relative)who,which
- (Low Prussian)Dat,wo ös... ―thatwhich is...
The dative form (also used for the accusative) iswoom (wom); the genitive form iswoos (wos).
FromFrenchhaut(“high”).
wo
- high
- tall
wo
- high
- woo(Wiesemann spelling system)
FromMiddle High Germanwā,wār, fromOld High Germanwār,hwār, fromProto-West Germanic*hwār, fromProto-Germanic*hwēr,*hwar.
wo
- (interrogative)where
Wo bist-du?- Where are you.
- (relative)where
Ich waarte dich,wo mein Fatter wohnd.- I will wait for youwhere my father lives.
- (relative)when
In denne Zeid,wo alles deirer waar.- In those timeswhen everything was more expensive.
wo
- (relative)who
De Mann,wost-du sihst, is mein Fatter.- The man you see is my father.
Die Fraa,wo uns gerufd hod, siehd aarich bees aus.- The womanwho called us seems pretty angry.
wo
- Spelling ofvbo before the 1992 orthographic update.
wo
- Rōmaji transcription ofを
- Rōmaji transcription ofヲ
- Rōmaji transcription ofうぉ
- Rōmaji transcription ofウォ
wo
- Superseded spelling ofwó.
wo
- second-personsingularimperative ofwoen
wo (wo5 /wo0,Zhuyin˙ㄨㄛ)
- Nonstandard spelling ofwō.
- Nonstandard spelling ofwǒ.
- Nonstandard spelling ofwò.
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the criticaltonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
wo
- Alternative form ofwho(“who”,nominative)
wo (pluralwos)
- Alternative form ofwoo
wo
- woeful
1387–1400,Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wyfe of Bathes Tale”, inThe Canterbury Tales, [Westminster:William Caxton, published1478],→OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor,The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […],[London]: […] [Richard Grafton for]Iohn Reynes […],1542,→OCLC:
FromOld Frisianhō, fromProto-West Germanic[Term?], fromProto-Germanic*hwō. Cognates includeWest Frisianhoe andDutchhoe.
wo
- how?
- Wo dääst du dät? ―How do you do that?
- how
- Iek weetwo du dät dääst! ―I knowhow you do that.
- Marron C. Fort (2015) “wo”, inSaterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske,→ISBN
-wo
- Combining stem ofwona.
Variant orthographies| ALIV | wo |
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| Brazilian standard | wo |
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| New Tribes | wo |
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wo (possessedwodü)
- great-grandfather
- father-in-law (of awoman)
- mother’sbrother,maternal uncle
- father’ssister’shusband
This noun has asuppletive first-person possessed form,yawo.
- Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “wo”, inGrammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon
- Hall, Katherine Lee (1988) “wo:dü”, inThe morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University
- Hall, Katherine (2007) “wōdɨ”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors,The Intercontinental Dictionary Series[2], Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published2021
- Monterrey, Nalúa Rosa Silva (2012)Hombres de curiara y mujeres de conuco. Etnografía de los indigenas Ye’kwana de Venezuela, Ciudad Bolívar: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, pages62–65, 69, 73: “woodü, wodüümö”
Clipping ofèwo.
wo
- (interrogative)which;what
- Èdèwo ni ẹ gbọ́ jù? ―Which language do you understand the most?
- Fíìmùwo ni kí n wò? ―Which film should I watch?
FromProto-Yoruboid*ɣò
wò
- tolook
- Ẹ jẹ́ káwò ó ―Let'ssee
- towatch
| Yoruba Varieties and Languages -wò(“tolook,watch”) |
|---|
| view map;edit data |
| Language Family | Variety Group | Variety/Language | Subdialect | Location | Words |
|---|
| Proto-Itsekiri-SEY | Southeast Yoruba | Ào | Ìdóàní | yò |
|---|
| Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè) | Ìdànrè (Ùdànè, Ùdànrè) | ghò |
|---|
| Ìjẹ̀bú | Ìjẹ̀bú | Ìjẹ̀bú Òde | wò |
|---|
| Rẹ́mọ | Ẹ̀pẹ́ | ghò |
|---|
| Ìkòròdú | ghò |
|---|
| Ṣágámù | ghò |
|---|
| Ìkálẹ̀ (Ùkálẹ̀) | Òkìtìpupa | ghò |
|---|
| Ìlàjẹ (Ùlàjẹ) | Mahin | ghò |
|---|
| Oǹdó | Oǹdó | ghò |
|---|
| Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀) | Ọ̀wọ̀ (Ọ̀ghọ̀) | ghò |
|---|
| Usẹn | Usẹn | ghò |
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| Ìtsẹkírì | Ìwẹrẹ | ghò |
|---|
| Olùkùmi | Ugbódù | ghò |
|---|
| Proto-Yoruba | Central Yoruba | Èkìtì | Èkìtì | Àdó Èkìtì | ò |
|---|
| Àkúrẹ́ | Àkúrẹ́ | ò |
|---|
| Mọ̀bà | Ọ̀tùn Èkìtì | ò |
|---|
| Ifẹ̀ (Ufẹ̀) | Ilé Ifẹ̀ (Ulé Ufẹ̀) | wò |
|---|
| Northwest Yoruba | Àwórì | Èbúté Mẹ́tà | wò |
|---|
| Ẹ̀gbá | Abẹ́òkúta | wò |
|---|
| Èkó | Èkó | wò |
|---|
| Ìbàdàn | Ìbàdàn | wò |
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| Ìbàràpá | Igbó Òrà | wò |
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| Ìbọ̀lọ́ | Òṣogbo (Òsogbo) | wò |
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| Ìlọrin | Ìlọrin | wò |
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| Oǹkó | Òtù | wò |
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| Ìwéré Ilé | wò |
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| Òkèhò | wò |
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| Ìsẹ́yìn | wò |
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| Ṣakí | wò |
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| Tedé | wò |
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| Ìgbẹ́tì | wò |
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| Ọ̀yọ́ | Ọ̀yọ́ | wò |
|---|
| StandardYorùbá | Nàìjíríà | wò |
|---|
| Bɛ̀nɛ̀ | wò |
|---|
| Northeast Yoruba/Okun | Ìyàgbà | Ìsánlú Ìtẹ̀dó | gwò |
|---|
| Owé | Kabba | wò |
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| Ede Languages/Southwest Yoruba | Ifɛ̀ | Akpáré | wò |
|---|
| Atakpamɛ | wò |
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| Tchetti (Tsɛti, Cɛti) | wò |
|---|
| Note: This amalgamation of terms comes from a number of different academic papers focused on the unique varieties and languages spoken in the Yoruboid dialectal continuum which extends from eastern Togo to southern Nigeria. The terms for spoken varieties, now deemed dialects of Yorùbá in Nigeria (i.e. Southeast Yorùbá, Northwest Yorùbá, Central Yorùbá, and Northeast Yorùbá), have converged with those of Standard Yorùbá leading to the creation of what can be labeled Common Yorùbá (Funṣọ Akere, 1977). It can be assumed that the Standard Yorùbá term can also be used in most Nigerian varieties alongside native terms, especially amongst younger speakers. This does not apply to the other Nigerian Yoruboid languages of Ìṣẹkírì and Olùkùmi, nor the Èdè Languages of Benin and Togo. |
-wo
- Combining stem ofwona.
