An onomatopoetic exclamation of distress, this Hebrew interjection captures the sound of lamentation itself. Job uses it in his anguished cry when contemplating his suffering, while Micah employs it to express prophetic grief over Israel's moral decay. The word likely derives from the natural sounds humans make when wailing—similar forms appear in Arabic and Ethiopic. It's the biblical equivalent of 'alas!' or 'woe is me!' conveying deep personal or communal distress.