ه و ي

Cognate to the Aramaic root ה־ו־י‎ /‎ ܗ-ܘ-ܝ‎ (h-w-y) meaning “to be”, “to happen”, “to come down”. Cognate with Akkadian 𒂊𒈬𒌑 (/emû/), Akkadian 𒋾 (/ewû/, “to turn, to become”), in Arabic developing as “to pitch downward”, “to turn towards a thing”, “to desire or to want to go to a thing” (Ugaritic 𐎅𐎆𐎊 (hwy, “to want”)); “to come down or to tumble towards”, “to extend towards”, hence هَوَاء‎ (hawāʾ) air. Present with Proto-Semitic *ša- causative prefix in the root س و ي‎ (s-w-y) “related to things becoming equal”, ש־ו־י‎ /‎ ܫ-ܘ-ܝ‎ (š-w-y), Akkadian 𒍜𒉈𒅗 (/šūmû/), 𒋗𒉿𒄿 (/šūwû/, “to make turn”). Hence there has existed in Proto-Semitic a verb Proto-Semitic *haway- (“to be, to become”) and (later elided) Proto-Semitic *šahway- (“to cause to be, to make come, to level onto”).

ه و ي • (h-w-y)

1. related to air, passion and their manifestations

Verbs and verbal derivatives

• Form I: هَوِيَ‎ (hawiya, “to be fond, to love or fall in love”), يَهْوَى‎ (yahwā)
  • Verbal noun: هَوًى‎ (hawan, “passion, whim, caprice”)
  • Active participle: هَاوٍ‎ (hāwin, “dropping, tumbling, fond of, loving”)
  • Passive participle: مَهْوِيٌّ‎ (mahwiyyun)
• Form I: هَوَى‎ (hawā, “to be wide, to die, to fall, to pounce over prey, to blow”), يَهْوِي‎ (yahwī)
  • Verbal noun: هُوِيّ‎ (huwiyy, “falling”)
  • Active participle: هَاوٍ‎ (hāwin, “dropping, tumbling, fond of, loving”)

• Form II: هَوَّى‎ (hawwā, “to fan, to ventilate”)
  • Verbal noun: تَهْوِيَة‎ (tahwiya, “a ventilated place, a place full of breeze”)
  • Active participle: مُهَوٍّ‎ (muhawwin)
  • Passive participle: مُهَوًّى‎ (muhawwan)
• Form III: هَاوَى‎ (hāwā, “to walk briskly, to love properly, to caress, to compliment”)
  • Verbal noun: مُهَاوَاة‎ (muhāwāh), هِوَاء‎ (hiwāʾ)
  • Active participle: مُهَاوٍ‎ (muhāwin)
  • Passive participle: مُهَاوًى‎ (muhāwan)
• Form IV: أَهْوَى‎ (ʾahwā, “to fall, tumble towards something, to extend towards (with لِ‎ (li))”)
  • Verbal noun: إِهْوَاء‎ (ʾihwāʾ)
  • Active participle: مُهْوٍ‎ (muhwin, “that which becomes crystal or diaphanous”)
  • Passive participle: مُهْوًى‎ (muhwan)
• Form V: تَهَوَّى‎ (tahawwā, “to be ventilated”)
  • Verbal noun: تَهَوٍّ‎ (tahawwin)
  • Active participle: مُتَهَوٍّ‎ (mutahawwin)
• Form VI: تَهَاوَى‎ (tahāwā, “to fall altogether, to fall one on top of the other”)
  • Verbal noun: تَهَاوٍ‎ (tahāwin)
  • Active participle: مُتَهَاوٍ‎ (mutahāwin)
• Form VII: اِنْهَوَى‎ (inhawā, “to fall down, to collapse; to fall off, to fall headlong”)
  • Verbal noun: اِنْهِوَاء‎ (inhiwāʾ)
  • Active participle: مُنْهَوٍ‎ (munhawin)
• Form X: اِسْتَهْوَى‎ (istahwā, “to fill with passion, to make desirous, to enamour”)
  • Verbal noun: اِسْتِهْوَاء‎ (istihwāʾ, “passion, enthusiasm”)
  • Active participle: مُسْتَهْوٍ‎ (mustahwin)
  • Passive participle: مُسْتَهْوًى‎ (mustahwan)

Nouns and adjectives

• هَوَاء‎ m sg (hawāʾ, “atmosphere, air, empty space”)
  • هَوَائِيّ‎ m sg (hawāʾiyy, “atmospheric, pneumatic, aerial, fantastic”)
• هَوَّاء‎ m sg (hawwāʾ, “lover”)
• هَوِيّ‎ m sg (hawiyy, “ascension, tinnitus”)
• هَوِيَّة‎ f sg (hawiyya, “deep terrain, bottomland; a desired thing”)
• هِوَايَة‎ f sg (hiwāya, “hobby”)
• هَوَّايَة‎ f sg (hawwāya, “an electric fan or éventail”)
• مِهْوَاة‎ f sg (mihwāh, “an electric fan or éventail”)
• مَهْوَاة‎ f sg (mahwāh, “profound sink, deep trench”)
• أُهْوِيَّة‎ f sg (ʾuhwiyya, “a deep valley, a precipice”)
• مَهْوًى‎ m sg (mahwan, “precipice; trench, pit; object of desire”)
• هَاوِيَة‎ f sg (hāwiya, “abyss”)
• هُوَّة‎ f sg (huwwa, “hole, depression, declivity, chasm, gulf, gap”)

• Bravmann, Mëir Max (1977), “The Root HWY “to be”, a Proto-Semitic Verb”, in Studies in Semitic Philology (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics; 6), Leiden: E. J. Brill, →ISBN, pages 540–543
• Corriente, Federico (2005), “ه و ي”, in Diccionario avanzado árabe (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Barcelona: Herder, page 1253
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881), “ه و ي”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes (in French), volume 2, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 771–773
• Freytag, Georg (1837), “ه و ي”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 4, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, pages 420–421
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860), “ه و ي”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc (in French), volume 2, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, pages 1461–1463
• Lane, Edward William (1863), “ه و ي”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 3046
• Wahrmund, Adolf (1887), “ه و ي”, in Handwörterbuch der neu-arabischen und deutschen Sprache (in German), volume 2, Gießen: J. Ricker’sche Buchhandlung, page 1138
• Wehr, Hans; Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985), “ه و ي”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 1364–1365