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hi

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "hi"
Languages (36)
Translingual • English
Albanian • Basque • Bavarian • Breton • Catalan • Chinese • Cornish • Danish • Fasu • German • Japanese • Kankanaey • Latin • Maltese • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle Low German • Mizo • 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

Etymology

Clipping of English Hindi, from Hindi हिन्दी (hindī), from Classical Persian هِنْدِی (hindī).

Symbol

hi

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

See also

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!
    • 1862, Miriam Davis Colt, Went to Kansas‎[2], 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
Descendants
  • Tok Pisin: hai
  • → Chinese: 嗨 (hāi), hi
  • → German: hi
  • → Hindi: हेलो (helo)
  • → Icelandic: hæ
  • → Malay: hai
  • → Malayalam: ഹായ് (hāyŭ)
  • → Vietnamese: hai
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 (emphatic forms heu, hihaur, herori)

  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 hi
absolutive hi
ergative hik
dative hiri
genitive hire
comitative hirekin
causative higatik, hiregatik
benefactive hiretzat, hiretako
instrumental hitaz
inessive higan, hiregan, hire baitan, hitan
locative hire baitako
allative hiregana, hireganat, hire baitara, hire baitarat
terminative higanaino, hireganaino, hire baitaraino
directive higanantz, hireganantz
destinative higanako, hireganako
ablative higanik, hireganik, higandik, hiregandik, hire baitatik, hire baitarik

Derived terms

See also

Basque personal pronouns
singular plural
plain emphatic plain emphatic
1st person ni neu, nihaur, nerau gu geu, guhaur, gerok
2nd person familiar hi heu, hihaur, herori zuek zeuek, zuhauek, zerok
neutral zu zeu, zuhaur, zerori
3rd person use demonstrative and anaphoric pronouns

Further reading

  • “hi”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
  • “hi”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

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

See also

Breton personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person me ni
2nd person te c’hwi
3rd person m eñ int
f hi

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
proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
singular 1st
person 		standard jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd
person 		m ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
f ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
n ho -ho li -li seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd
person 		standard vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd
person 		m ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
f 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-Brythonic *hi, from Proto-Celtic *sī. Cognate with Breton and Welsh hi, and Irish sí.

Alternative forms

  • (Revived Late Cornish) hei

Pronoun

hi f

  1. she (third-person feminine singular personal pronoun).
    Hi a welas.
    She saw.
  2. her (third-person feminine singular enclitic pronoun, used to reinforce previous pronoun).
    hy lyver hi
    her book
    Ple eth hi?
    Where did she go?

See also

Cornish personal pronouns
number person independent
(subject) 		suffixed infixed possessive
(dependent)
enclitic emphatic reduced
singular first my vy evy ma, a 'm owA
second ty jy, sy1 tejy ta, a 'thM dhaS
third2 m ev ev eev va, a 'n yS
f hi hi hyhi — 's hyA
plural first ni ni nyni 'gan, 'n agan, 'gan
second3 hwi hwi hwyhwi 'gas, 's agas, 'gas
third i i ynsi 's agaA, 'gaA

1 Uncommon.
2 hun and ins have been suggested as non-binary 3rd person singular pronouns, though these have not yet officially adopted.
3 Infrequently used as a formal alternative to the singular.

S Triggers soft mutation A Triggers aspirate mutation M Triggers mixed mutation

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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

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

Article

hi

  1. pronunciation variant of si

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms & variants of si
Southern / Central
Mt. Province Tadian si,
(Lubon) hi,
(Banaao, Cadad-anan, Cagubatan, Dacudac, Lenga, Pandayan) ho
Bauko si,
(Banao, Bila, Otucan) hi
Sabangan si,
(Tambingan, Supang, Data, Lagan, Losad, Poblacion) si,
(Bun-ayan, Pingad, Bao-angan, Camatagan, Napua, Gayang, Capinitan, Busa, Namatec) hi

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
nominative accusative dative genitive
singular 1st person ic mi mijn
2nd person du di dijn
3rd
person 		m hi hem, hen sijn
f si haer haer
n het hem, hen sijn
plural 1st person wi ons onse
2nd person gi u uwe
3rd person si hem, hen haer

Descendants

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

Mizo

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *hii.

Determiner

hi (pronominal hei or he, oblique hian)

  1. this, these (near the speaker)

See also

Mizo demonstratives
Pronoun Determiner
Singular Plural Unmarked Oblique
Near the speaker hei, he hêng hi hian
Near the addressee kha khâng kha khân
Up there khi khîng khi khian
Down there khu khûng khu khuan
Far away saw sâwng saw sâwn
Unseen chu chûng chu chuan

Note that all pronoun forms of the demonstratives are pronounced with different tones to their determiner counterparts. Oblique forms are pronounced with one tone when used in the ergative, and a different tone in other cases.

Further reading

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[3], 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)
    Bjørnane har gått i hi for vinteren.
    The bears have entered their lairs for the winter.
    Bjørnen søv no, bjørnen søv no i sitt lune hi
    The bear is sleeping now, the bear is sleeping now in his cozy lair (a children song)

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 m (accusative hine, genitive sīn, dative him)

  1. he

Declension

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

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

Mutated forms of i
radical soft nasal h-prothesis
i unchanged unchanged hi

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Yilan Creole

Etymology

From Japanese 火(ひ) (hi, “fire”).

Pronunciation

Noun

hi

  1. (Aohua) fire

References

  • 林愷娣 [Lin Kaidi] (2022), A basic description of Yilan Creole phonology: with a special focus on the Aohua dialect‎[4] (Unpublished thesis)

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 ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series)‎[1], volume 17, number 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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