x'inhu

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic أَيُّ شَيْءٍ هُوَ‎ (ʾayyu šayʾin huwa, literally “what thing is it”), whence also Moroccan Arabic شنو‎ (šnu), اشنو‎ (ašnu), Gulf Arabic شنو‎ (šinu). The ancient genitive ending -in was generally lost, but remained in contraction with the following personal pronoun. Compare also xejn (“nothing”), where the final -n is the accusative ending -an.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈʃɪnu/

Pronoun

x'inhu m (extended form x'inhuwa, feminine singular x'inhi or x'inhija, plural x'inhuma)

  1. contraction of x' (“what”) + hu (“he, it”)

Usage notes
  • Often equivalent to English “what is”. For details on usage, see the notes at x'.

See also
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