H4101 H4101
what? (interrogative pronoun); how? (interrogative adverb of manner); why? (interrogative adverb of reason)
Senses
1. what? (interrogative pronoun) — The interrogative pronoun 'what' used to ask about identity, nature, or content of something. Includes both standalone and conjunctive forms (S109921 'what' and S109922 'and what/whatever'). Arabic uses ma/madha (مَا/مَاذَا), Spanish 'lo que / que', Hindi 'kya' (क्या) and 'aur jo' (और जो), Korean 'mueos' (무엇이/무엇을/무엇), and Swahili 'nini/chochote'. The conjunction waw in S109922 is purely grammatical and does not alter the semantic value of the interrogative. 9×
AR["مَا","مَا-","مَاذَا","وَ-ما"]·ben["আর-যা","কী","কী-"]·DE["und-was","was"]·EN["and-what","and-whatever","what","what-"]·FR["et-quoi","quoi?"]·heb["ו-מה","מה"]·HI["और-जो","क्या"]·ID["Dan-apa","apa"]·IT["che-cosa","e-che"]·jav["lan-punapa","punapa","punapa-"]·KO["그리고-무엇","무엇-을","무엇을","무엇을-","무엇이","어째서"]·PT["Que","e-o-que","o-que","que"]·RU["И-что","что","что-","чём"]·ES["lo-que","qué","y-lo-que","¿qué"]·SW["na-chochote","nini"]·TR["Ve-ne","ne","ne-"]·urd["اور-جو","کیا"]
2. how? (interrogative adverb of manner) — The interrogative particle used adverbially to ask about manner or degree, meaning 'how' or 'how much.' Distinguished from the pronominal 'what' by its adverbial function. Arabic uses kam (كَمْ, 'how much'), Spanish 'cuan' (how), Hindi 'kaise' (कैसे, how), Korean 'eojji' (어찌, how/in what way), and Swahili 'jinsi gani' (in what manner). All translations consistently distinguish this from the pronominal 'what' sense with dedicated adverbial forms. 2×
AR["كَمْ"]·ben["কত"]·DE["wie-viel"]·EN["how"]·FR["comme-quoi?"]·heb["כמה"]·HI["कैसे"]·ID["betapa"]·IT["[כמה]"]·jav["pinten"]·KO["어찌"]·PT["quão"]·RU["как"]·ES["cuán"]·SW["jinsi-gani"]·TR["ne-kadar"]·urd["کتنی","کتنے"]
3. why? (interrogative adverb of reason) — The interrogative particle used to ask about cause or reason, meaning 'why' or 'for what reason.' Distinguished from both 'what' (pronominal) and 'how' (manner) by its causal function. Arabic uses limadha (لِمَاذَا, 'why'), Spanish 'por que' (for what reason), Hindi 'kyon' (क्यों, why), Korean 'wae' (왜, why), and Swahili 'kwa nini' (for what). Every target language uses a dedicated causal interrogative form distinct from both the pronominal and manner senses. 2×
AR["لِ-يَكُن","لِمَاذَا"]·ben["কেন"]·DE["zu-was"]·EN["why"]·FR["[למה]"]·heb["למה"]·HI["क्यों"]·ID["mengapa"]·IT["a-che"]·jav["badhe-ageng","kangge-punapa"]·KO["왜"]·PT["por-que"]·RU["почему"]·ES["por-qué","¿por-qué"]·SW["kwa-nini"]·TR["neden"]·urd["لے-کیوں"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מָה (מָא †Ezr 6:8) pron. interr. and indef. what? (BH מָה; Nab. מה; Zinj. מ; 𝔗 מא; Syriac ܡܳܐ; Arabic مَا: cf. WCG 124 f.);— 1. what? Dn 4:32 מה עבדת. 2. whatever, what (cf. BH 1 b end) Dn 2:22 ידע מה בחשׁוכא knoweth what is in darkness, Ezr 6:9: so מָה דִּי (cf. דִּי 1 b: so Nab.; Palm. מא די, מדי, Lzb306 Cooke320, 332) Dn 2:28, 29(×2), 45; Ezr 6:8 למא די תעבדון with regard to what ye shall…