hi

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "hi"
Languages (35)
Translingual • English
Albanian • Basque • Bavarian • Breton • Catalan • Chinese • Cornish • Danish • Fasu • German • Japanese • Kankanaey • Latin • Maltese • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle Low German • Naga Pidgin • Namuyi • North Frisian • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old Frisian • Old Irish • Pali • Pirahã • Sumerian • Vietnamese • Welsh • Yilan Creole • Yola • Yoruba • Zou
Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

hi

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Hindi.

English

Etymology 1

American English. First recorded reference is to speech of a Kansas Indian (1862); originally to attract attention, probably a variant of Middle English hey, hy (circa 1475). Also an exclamation to call attention. See hey.

This section or entry lacks references or sources. Please help verify this information by adding appropriate citations. You can also discuss it at the Tea Room.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Interjection

hi

  1. A friendly, informal, casual greeting said upon someone's arrival.
    Synonyms: hello, greetings, howdy
    Hi, how are you?
    I just dropped by to say “hi”.
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      Anna: Pete, hi! Hi, we are here! — Pete: Hi, Anna! Hi, Marsha! — Anna: Hi! — Pete: How are you two? — Marsha: I am great!
      Audio (US):(file)
    • 1862, Miriam Davis Colt, Went to Kansas‎[1], L. Ingalls & Company, →ISBN, page 143:
      When out on the prairie, up galloped an Indian on his pony with his saluting "hi!"
  2. An exclamation to call attention.
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
      I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
    • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Two Towers:
      'Come back now!' shouted Sam. 'Hi! Come back!' But Gollum had vanished.
  3. (dated) Expressing wonder or derision.
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

hi (plural his)

  1. The word "hi" used as a greeting.
    Synonyms: greeting, hello
    I didn't even get a hi.

Etymology 2

From high.

Adjective

hi

  1. Informal spelling of high, often in hyphenated terms.
    Get hi-quality videos here!
Derived terms

See also

etymologically unrelated terms containing the word "hi"

Anagrams

Albanian

Etymology

Tosk form of Gheg hî (pl. hin), from Proto-Albanian *skina, from *skines, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenHis (compare Latin cinis (“dust; cinder”), Ancient Greek κόνις (kónis, “ashes; dust”)).

Noun

hi m (definite hiri)

  1. ash, ashes
  2. dust of corpses
  3. (figurative) memory of the dead

Derived terms

Basque

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Navarro-Lapurdian) /hi/ [hi]
  • IPA(key): (Southern) /i/ [i]
  • Rhymes: -i
  • Hyphenation: hi

Pronoun

hi

  1. (informal, familiar) Second-person singular personal pronoun; you

Usage notes

  • This pronoun is very informal, and is only used between close friends or family members. In all other situations, zu is used.
  • When addressing someone using this pronoun, all verb forms (including those not governed by hi) must be in allocutive agreement. For example:
    Mahaia handia da. ― The table is big.
    Mahaia handia duk. ― The table is big. (informal, to a male)
    Mahaia handia dun. ― The table is big. (informal, to a female)

Declension

Declension of Basque personal pronouns
Common pronouns
singular plural
1st person 2nd person (informal) 2nd person (neutral) 1st person 2nd person
absolutive ni hi zu gu zuek
ergative nik hik zuk guk
dative niri hiri zuri guri zuei
genitive nire,
ene 		hire zure gure zuen
comitative nirekin,
enekin 		hirekin zurekin gurekin zuekin
causative nigatik, niregatik,
enegatik 		higatik, hiregatik zugatik, zuregatik gugatik, guregatik zuengatik
benefactive niretzat, niretako,
enetzat,enetako 		hiretzat, hiretako zuretzat, zuretako guretzat, guretako zuentzat, zuendako
instrumental nitaz hitaz zutaz gutaz zuetaz
inessive nigan, niregan, nire baitan, nitan,
enegan, ene baitan 		higan, hiregan, hire baitan, hitan zugan, zuregan, zure baitan, zutan gugan, guregan, gure baitan, gutan zuengan, zuen baitan, zuetan
locative nire baitako, ene baitako hire baitako gu baitako, gure baitako zu baitako, zure baitako zuen baitako
allative niregana, nireganat, nire baitara, nire baitarat,
enegana, eneganat, ene baitara, ene baitarat 		hiregana, hireganat, hire baitara, hire baitarat zugana, zuregana, zuganat, zureganat,
zu baitara, zure baitara, zu baitarat, zure baitarat 		gugana, guregana, guganat, gureganat,
gu baitara, gure baitara, gu baitarat, gure baitarat 		zuengana, zuenganat,
zuen baitara, zuen baitarat
terminative nireganaino, nire baitaraino,
eneganaino 		higanaino, hireganaino,
hire baitaraino 		zuganaino, zureganaino,
zu baitaraino, zure baitaraino 		guganaino, gureganaino,
gu baitaraino, gure baitaraino 		zuenganaino,
zuen baitaraino
directive niganantz, nireganantz,
eneganantz 		higanantz, hireganantz zuganantz, zureganantz guganantz, gureganantz zuenganantz
destinative niganako, nireganako,
eneganako 		higanako, hireganako zuganako, zureganako guganako, gureganako zuenganako
ablative nireganik, niregandik, nire baitatik, nire baitarik,
eneganik, enegandik, ene baitatik, ene baitarik 		higanik, hireganik, higandik, hiregandik,
hire baitatik, hire baitarik 		zuganik, zureganik, zugandik, zuregandik,
zu baitatik, zu baitarik, zure baitatik, zure baitarik 		guganik, gureganik, gugandik, guregandik,
gu baitatik, gu baitarik, gure baitatik, gure baitarik 		zuenganik, zuengandik,
zuen baitatik, zuen baitarik
Emphatic pronouns
absolutive neu heu zeu geu zeuek
ergative neuk heuk zeuk geuk
dative neuri heuri zeuri geuri zeuei
genitive neure heure zeure geure zeuen
comitative neurekin heurekin zeurekin geurekin zeuekin
causative neugatik, neuregatik heugatik, heuregatik zugatik, zuregatik gugatik, guregatik zuengatik
benefactive neuretzat, neuretako heuretzat, heuretako zeuretzat, zeuretako geuretzat, geuretako zeuentzat, zeuendako
instrumental neutaz heutaz zeutaz geutaz zeuetaz
inessive neugan heuregan, heure baitan zeugan, zeuregan geugan, geuregan zeuengan
locative neure baitako heure baitako zeure baitako geure baitako zeuen baitako
allative neuregana heugana, heuregana, heure baitara, heure baitarat zeugana, zeuregana geugana, geuregana zeuengana
terminative neuregaino heuganaino, heureganaino, heure baitaraino zeuganaino, zeureganaino geuganaino, geureganaino zeuenganaino
directive neuganantz heuganantz, heureganantz zeuganantz, zeureganantz geuganantz, geureganantz zeuenganantz
destinative neureganako heuganako, heureganako zeuganako, zeureganako geuganako, geureganako zeuenganako
ablative neuganik, neugandik heuganik, heureganik, heugandik, heuregandik,
heure baitatik, heure baitarik 		zeuganik, zeureganik, zeugandik, zeuregandik geuganik, geureganik, geugandik, geuregandik zeuenganik, zeuengandik

Further reading

Bavarian

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle High German hin, hine, from Old High German hina. Compare German hin, Dutch heen and English hence.

Adverb

hi

  2. Used to denote direction away from the speaker.
    Wo gehst'n hi? ― Where are you going?
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 2

Clipping of Middle High German hinüber.

Adjective

hi (predicative)

  1. out of order, broken
    Des Auto is hi. ― The car is broken.
  2. exhausted, depleted
    Nåchn Spuat gestern woar i afoch nur hi. ― I was just exhausted after yesterday's sport.
  3. (derogatory) dead, deceased
    Auffigstiegn, owigfoin, hi gwen. ― Ascended, fell off, dead.
  4. (figuratively, derogatory, chiefly East Central Bavarian, Vienna) stupid
    Synonyms: ågrennt, deppert, waach
    Bist hi in der Marün? ― Are you stupid?
Synonyms

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *sī. Cognate to Welsh hi.

Pronoun

hi

  1. she

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan y, i, hic, from Latin hīc (“here”) and ibī (“there”). Compare French y.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi (enclitic and proclitic)

  1. represents a place associated with the action described by the verb, unless the place would be introduced by the preposition de
  2. there (in constructions such as "there is", "there are", etc.: see haver-hi)
  3. replaces an adverb (or adverbial phrase) describing the manner, instrument or association of an action
  4. replaces a phrase introduced by any preposition except de (most commonly a or en)
  5. replaces an indefinite noun or an adjective which is the predicate of a verb other than ésser, esdevenir, estar or semblar
  6. (Central) in combination with other object pronouns, the third-person singular indirect object pronoun ("to him", "to her", "to it")

Usage notes

  • When more than one object pronoun is associated with a given verb, hi is always the last in the group.
  • Hi and ho cannot be used together with the same verb, nor can two his be used together.
  • It is sometimes stated that hi is never used to replace a complement beginning with de. This is not completely accurate, as hi can replace adverbial phrases such as de pressa, de sobte, etc.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Chinese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From English hi. Doublet of 嗨 (hāi).

Interjection

hi

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) hi (interjection)

Etymology 2

From English hi, see hi auntie for more.

Verb

hi

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, euphemistic, originally Internet slang, neologism) Alternative form of 屌 (diu2)
See also

Etymology 3

Irregular romanisation of 揩 (haai1).

Verb

hi

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Alternative form of 揩 (haai1)

Cornish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *sī. Cognate to Welsh hi.

Pronoun

hi

  1. she (third-person feminine singular personal pronoun).

Etymology 2

Noun

hi

  1. Aspirate mutation of ki.

Danish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Norwegian hi, from Old Norse hið.

Noun

hi n (singular definite hiet, plural indefinite hier)

  1. winter quarters, winter lair (for hibernation); hibernation (used literally or figuratively)
    at gå i hi
    to enter hibernation
Declension
Declension of hi
neuter
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative hi hiet hier hierne
genitive his hiets hiers hiernes
Synonyms

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeia for laughter or giggling.

Interjection

hi

  1. (onomatopoeia) Signifies giggling.
See also

Fasu

Noun

hị

  1. (Namumi) Synonym of he

References

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English hi, from 1990s digitalization.

Pronunciation

Interjection

hi

  1. (very informal) hi
    Synonym: moin

Further reading

  • “hi” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Japanese

Romanization

hi

  1. The hiragana syllable ひ (hi) or the katakana syllable ヒ (hi) in Hepburn romanization.

Kankanaey

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Kankanaey) IPA(key): /ˈhi/ [ˈhi̞]
  • Rhymes: -i
  • Syllabification: hi

Article

hi

  1. Pronunciation variant of si.

Latin

Pronoun

hī

  1. nominative masculine plural of hic

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic هِيَ (hiya).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of hija

Inflection

    Inflected forms of hi
positive hija, hi
negative mhijiex, mhix
possessive pronoun tagħha
basic suffix -ha
direct object suffix -ha
indirect object suffix -lha

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch hīe.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. he

Inflection

Middle Dutch personal pronouns
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
masc. fem. neut.
nominative ic du hi si het wi gi si
accusative mi di hem, hen haer ons u hem, hen
dative hem, hen
genitive mijn dijn sijn haer sijn onse uwe haer

Descendants

  • Dutch: hij, ie
  • Limburgish: hae

Further reading

  • “hi”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “hi (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of I (“I”)

Etymology 2

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of he (“he”)

Etymology 3

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of heo (“she”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

hi

  1. Alternative form of he (“they”)

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hî

  1. Alternative form of hê.

Naga Pidgin

Etymology

From Hindi ही (hī).

Particle

hi

  1. an emphatic particle

Namuyi

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɦ̃ĩ˧]
  • Hyphenation: hi

Noun

hi

  1. month

References

  • Li Jianfu (2017) A Descriptive Grammar of Namuyi Khatho spoken by Namuyi Tibetans‎[2], Victoria: La Trobe University (PhD Thesis), page 472

North Frisian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Frisian hī, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe.

Pronoun

hi

  1. he
    Hi wal sin frinjer üüb Feer beschük. ― He wants to visit his relatives on Föhr.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hið and híði.

Noun

hi n (definite singular hiet, indefinite plural hi, definite plural hia)

  1. lair (of an animal), sett (badgers)
    Bjørnene har gått i hi for vinteren.
    The bears have entered their lairs for the winter.

Etymology 2

Determiner

hi f (masculine hin, neuter hitt, plural hine)

  1. feminine singular of hin

Etymology 3

Interjection

hi

  1. hee; expression of snickering

References

Old English

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hī

  1. Alternative form of hīe (“they”)

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz. Cognates include Old English hē and Old Dutch hie.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hī

  1. he

Declension

Old Frisian personal pronoun declensions
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd m 3rd f 3rd n 1st 2nd 3rd
nominative ik thū hī hiū, hiō hit wī jī hiā
accusative mī thī hine hiā hit ūs jū, jō hiā
dative mī thī him hire, hiāre him ūs jū, jō him, hirem, hiārem
genitive mīn thīn sīn hire, hiāre sīn ūser jūwer hira, hiāra

Descendants

  • North Frisian:
    Most dialects: hi, he
    Halligen: hii
  • Saterland Frisian: hie
  • West Frisian: hy

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Irish

Etymology 1

Preposition

hi

  1. Alternative spelling of i

Etymology 2

Particle

hi

  1. Alternative spelling of í

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

Conjunction

hi

  1. for, because

Adverb

hi

  1. indeed, certainly

References

Pirahã

Etymology

Possibly related to Guaraní ha'e

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. he, she (third-person subject pronoun)
  2. him, her (third-person object pronoun)

Sumerian

Romanization

hi

  1. Romanization of 𒄭 (ḫi)

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

Verb

hi

  1. to bare one's teeth
    Hi răng ra coi nào.
    Come on, show me your teeth.

See also

Welsh

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *sī (compare Old Irish sí).

Pronoun

hi

  1. she, her

Etymology 2

Noun

hi

  1. h-prothesized form of i

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
i unchanged unchanged hi
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Yilan Creole

Etymology

From Japanese 火(ひ) (hi, “fire”).

Pronunciation

Noun

hi

  1. fire

Yola

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English hi (“they, them”), from Old English hīe, hī.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

hi

  1. they
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 5, pages 86[1]:
      Mot w'all aar boust, hi soon was ee-teight
      But with all their bravado they were soon taught
    • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 8, pages 86[1]:
      Hi kinket an keilt, ee vewe aam 'twode snite.
      They kicked and rolled, the few that appeared.
  2. them
    • 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 7[2]:
      Shu ztaared an shu ztudied hi near parshagh moan,
      She stared and she studied (them) by the other passive woman,

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867
  2. ^ Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /hí/

Noun

hí

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter H/h.

See also

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Preposition

hí

  1. (Ikalẹ) to, at, toward (used when movement is implied)
Derived terms

See also

Zou

Pronunciation

Noun

hi

  1. disease

References

  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40
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