different between aye vs nah

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English aye, ai, a??, from Old Norse ei, ey, from Proto-Germanic *aiwa, *aiw? (“ever, always”) (compare Old English ?wo, ?wa, ?, ?, Middle Dutch ie, German je), from *aiwaz (“age; law”) (compare Old English ?(w) (“law”), West Frisian ieu (“century”), Dutch eeuw (“century”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h?eyu- (“long time”) (compare Irish aois (“age, period”), Breton oad (“age, period”), Latin ævum (“eternity”), Ancient Greek ???? (ai?n)). Doublet of aevum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e?/
  • Rhymes: -e?
• (sometimes proscribed) IPA^(key): /a?/
  • Rhymes: -a?
  • Homophones: ay, eye, I

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

2. (archaic) ever, always
   • 1834, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner":

     The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, / And southward aye we fled.

   • 1863, Translation by Catherine Winkworth:

     Let the Amen sound from His people again; Gladly for aye we adore Him. (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty)

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:aye.

References

Etymology 2

"Appears suddenly about 1575, and is exceedingly common about 1600." Probably from use of aye (“ever, always”) as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. More at oh, yea.

Alternative forms

• ay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?/
  • Rhymes: -a?
• Homophones: ay, eye, I

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question.

Usage notes

• It is much used in Scotland, the north and Midlands of England, the northern counties of Ireland, North Wales, as well as in Australia and New Zealand (where it may follow rather than precede a statement). Also notably seen in viva voce voting in legislative bodies, etc., or in nautical contexts.

Synonyms

• yes
• yea

Antonyms

• nay
• no

Translations

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN

Noun

aye (plural ayes)

1. An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative.

   "To call for the ayes and nays;" "The ayes have it."

Synonyms

• yes

Translations

References

Etymology 3

Probably of multiple motivations, the sounds having been chosen for functional reasons.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a??/, /æ??/

Interjection

aye

1. (MLE, regional African-American Vernacular) an attention grabber

   Synonyms: hey, oi, I say

Anagrams

• yae, yea

Indonesian

Etymology

From Betawi aye. Doublet of saya.

Pronoun

aye

1. (Jakarta, slang) First-person singular pronoun: I, me, my

Synonyms

Other pronouns with the same meaning used in Jakarta:

• gue, ogut

Other pronouns with the same meaning used elsewhere:

• aku (informal)
• ku
• daku (poetic)
• saya (formal)
• gua, gw (Java)
• hamba

Middle English

Noun

aye (plural ayer or ayren)

1. Alternative form of ei

Scots

Etymology

From Old Norse ei, ey, cognate with Old English ?. See the etymology for the English word above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?/

Adverb

aye (not comparable)

1. always, still

Interjection

aye

1. yes; yea; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative answer to a question

Spanish

Noun

aye m (plural ayes)

1. whine; whining; whinging

Yoruba

Noun

ayé

1. world
2. life

Noun

àyè

1. chance, opportunity

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [næ?], [n??]

Interjection

nah

1. (informal) no

Translations

Anagrams

• HNA, Han, ahn, han

German

Alternative forms

• nahe (dated or very formal; also a preposition, which is formal too)

Etymology

From Middle High German n?h, from Old High German n?h, from Proto-Germanic *n?hw. Compare English nigh. Doublet of nach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na?/, [na?]
• Rhymes: -a?

Adjective

nah (comparative näher, superlative am nächsten)

1. near (in space or time or in an abstract sense), nearby
   • 1903, Fanny zu Reventlow, Ellen Olestjerne, in Franziska Gräfin zu Reventlow: Gesammelte Werke, Albert Langen, page 573:

Declension

Antonyms

• fern

Derived terms

• körpernah
• Nahkampf
• regierungsnah
• zeitnah

Adverb

nah

1. near (in space or time or in an abstract sense)

Antonyms

• weit
• fern

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nah/

Conjunction

nah

1. Used in a narrative or an argument. It appears at the beginning of a sentence and suggests that the previous part of the narrative or argument is complete and clear and that the speaker is about to move on to the next part or step. The following are the closest equivalents in English.

   "Now" or "Okay, now..."

   Nah, itu yang tidak bisa kita ketahui

   Now, that's what we haven't been able to find out.

   Lalu saya dipecat dengan tidak hormat. Nah, ini yang minimbulkan perasaan bahwa itu keterlaluan.

   Then I was given a dishonourable dismissal. Now, this is what made me feel that they had over-stepped the mark.

Interjection

nah

1. I told you so! See?! (at long last the penny's dropped).

   Nah! Makanya jangan makan buah banyak-banyak (a mother scolding a child who has a stomachache)

   See?! That's why you shouldn't eat a lot of fruit.

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nah/
• Rhymes: -nah, -ah

Interjection

nah (Jawi spelling ???)

1. here! (when giving something).

Further reading

• “nah” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Munsee

Particle

náh

1. there

References

• O'Meara, John (2014) , “náh”, in Delaware-English/English-Delaware Dictionary (Heritage), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, published 1996, ?ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *n?hw. Cognates include Old English n?h, n?ah and Old Norse ná.

Adjective

n?h

1. close
2. near

Derived terms

• n?h?

Descendants

• Middle High German: n?ch
  • Alemannic German: naach, nooch
  • Bavarian:

    Cimbrian: nå

    Mòcheno: no

  • Central Franconian: noh
  • German: nah
  • Luxembourgish: no

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *n?hwiz.

Preposition

n?h (takes dative)

1. towards
2. after (time)

Descendants

• Middle High German: n?h
  • German: nach
  • Luxembourgish: no
  • Yiddish: ????? (nokh)

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *n?hw. Cognates include Old English n?ah and Old Norse ná.

Adjective

n?h (comparative n?hiro, superlative n?hist)

1. near
2. close

Declension

See also

• n?ho

Descendants

• Middle Low German: nâch, nâ
  • German Low German: na

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *n?hwiz.

Preposition

n?h (takes dative)

1. to, towards

Turkish

Etymology

From either Bulgarian, Macedonian, or Serbo-Croatian ??

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n?h/

Interjection

nah

1. (informal) lo!, there it is!

2. (vulgar) Makes the following word negative

3. (vulgar) accompanies the fig sign (compare Russian ?????)