leh

See also: łeh and Leh

English

Etymology

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 1, 3, 5, 6) /lɛ˧/, /le˧/, (interrogative) [lɛ˦]
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 2, 4) /lɛ˨/
  • The initial /l/ is sometimes dropped after consonants.

Particle

leh (Manglish, Singlish)

1. Used to express uncertainty.

   Our appointment leh? ― What about our appointment?

   No leh, it’s right here. ― No? It’s right here.

   • 2002 May 14, Niamh O’Leary, The Straits Times, Singapore, page L2:

     OK, this one, leh?

   • 2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

     You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

2. Highlights new and relevant information.

   It’s next week leh. ― Just so you know, it’s next week.

   • 2005 April 22, Lee Kin Mun, Today, Singapore, page 30:

     Thirty-five thousand jobs, leh. Not something to sneeze at.

3. Marks a tentative request.

   Close the door leh. ― Why don’t you close the door?

   • 1994, C.S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, page 29:

     Sing us a song, leh.

4. Marks a tentative reminder.

   Still got risotto in the fridge leh. ― There’s still some risotto in the fridge.

5. Used to indicate disagreement with a suggestion.

   — We can try taking the train.
   — I don’t think we’ll have enough time leh.

6. Used to soften a disagreeing opinion.

   I don’t think that’s accurate leh.

See also

• (Singlish particles): ah, hor, know, lah, liao, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

See also

• (unrelated, from Malay leceh) leh chey

References

• Low, Ee Ling, Brown, Adam (2005) English in Singapore: An Introduction‎^[3]
• Botha, W. (2019) “‘Technically wrong leh’: Leh as a feature of Singapore Colloquial English”, in English Today, volume 35, number 4, →DOI, pages 13–22

Albanian

Alternative forms

• lehi (first person singular) — Gheg
• lef — southern Gheg

Etymology

Earlier attested as ljeh, cognate with Romanian lehăi, supported as Dacian, or substrate. Alternatively, from Proto-Albanian *laja, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂-. Cognate to Ancient Greek λάσκω (láskō, “to cry, roar”). Present leh occurs almost exclusively in the 2nd and 3rd person, the -a- of which has usually been subject to umlaut.

Verb

leh (aorist leha, participle lehur) (intransitive)

1. (third person) to bark, yap
2. (figurative, derogatory) to waffle, to gossip, to slander, to insult

   Synonyms: llomotit, përgojoj, shpif, përflas, shaj

3. (Arvanitika) to pant, to snort

   Synonyms: gulçoj, regëtij, rënkoj

Adverb

leh

1. Arvanitika form of lehtë

Adjective

leh

1. Arvanitika form of i lehtë

Noun

leh m

1. Arvanitika form of luan

Further reading

• “leh”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe (in Albanian), 2006
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “leh”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 240

Czech

Etymology

From lehnout, ležet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛx]
• Hyphenation: leh

Noun

leh m inan

1. lying position

Declension

Declension of leh (velar masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	leh	lehy
genitive	lehu	lehů
dative	lehu	lehům
accusative	leh	lehy
vocative	lehu	lehy
locative	lehu	lezích
instrumental	lehem	lehy

Further reading

• “leh”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “leh”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of leh – see 咧 (“in the process of; currently”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 咧).

K'iche'

Noun

leh

1. (Classical K'iche') corn tortilla

Slovene

Noun

leh

1. genitive dual/plural of leha

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish له (leh, “for him/it; in favor of him/it; to, belonging to him/it”), from Arabic لَهُ (lahu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleh/
• Hyphenation: leh

Noun

leh (definite accusative lehi, plural lehler)

1. (chiefly in possessive, with dative or locative) Being in favor of, favorable or for to a thing or person; one's benefit.

   Antonym: aleyh

   Her durumu kendi lehine çevirmekte uzmansın. ― You're an expert at turning every situation to your benefit.

   Hepsinin mahkemede lehimizde tanıklık edeceğini tahmin ediyoruz. ― We predict that they are all going to testify in our favor in court.

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	leh
Definite accusative	lehi
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	leh	lehler
Definite accusative	lehi	lehleri
Dative	lehe	lehlere
Locative	lehte	lehlerde
Ablative	lehten	lehlerden
Genitive	lehin	lehlerin
Possessive forms Nominative Singular Plural 1st singular lehim lehlerim 2nd singular lehin lehlerin 3rd singular lehi lehleri 1st plural lehimiz lehlerimiz 2nd plural lehiniz lehleriniz 3rd plural lehleri lehleri Definite accusative Singular Plural 1st singular lehimi lehlerimi 2nd singular lehini lehlerini 3rd singular lehini lehlerini 1st plural lehimizi lehlerimizi 2nd plural lehinizi lehlerinizi 3rd plural lehlerini lehlerini Dative Singular Plural 1st singular lehime lehlerime 2nd singular lehine lehlerine 3rd singular lehine lehlerine 1st plural lehimize lehlerimize 2nd plural lehinize lehlerinize 3rd plural lehlerine lehlerine Locative Singular Plural 1st singular lehimde lehlerimde 2nd singular lehinde lehlerinde 3rd singular lehinde lehlerinde 1st plural lehimizde lehlerimizde 2nd plural lehinizde lehlerinizde 3rd plural lehlerinde lehlerinde Ablative Singular Plural 1st singular lehimden lehlerimden 2nd singular lehinden lehlerinden 3rd singular lehinden lehlerinden 1st plural lehimizden lehlerimizden 2nd plural lehinizden lehlerinizden 3rd plural lehlerinden lehlerinden Genitive Singular Plural 1st singular lehimin lehlerimin 2nd singular lehinin lehlerinin 3rd singular lehinin lehlerinin 1st plural lehimizin lehlerimizin 2nd plural lehinizin lehlerinizin 3rd plural lehlerinin lehlerinin

Derived terms

• aleyh
• aleyhe dönmek
• aleyhinde olmak
• lehinde olmak
• lehine olmak
• lehtar

 

Further reading

• “leh”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “leh”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2951

Wagi

Noun

leh

1. water

Further reading

• J. Spencer, S. van Cott, B. MacKenzie, G. Muñoz, A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Wagi [fad] Language