wo

Symbol

wo

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

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Wolof terms

Alternative forms

• whoa

Etymology 1

Variant of who.

Etymology 2

Variant of woe.

Etymology 3

From Middle English wough, woh, wouh, from Old English wāh, wāg (“a wall, partition”), from Proto-Germanic *waigaz (“wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, twist”). Cognate with Scots wauch, vauch.

Anagrams

• O/W, OW, ow, 'ow

Alternative forms

• woë

Verb

wo

1. to go home

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Pronoun

wo

1. thou, you (singular)

Alternative forms

• wou (Northern Bavarian)

Etymology

With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with German wo, Dutch waar and English where.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/

Adverb

wo (Central Bavarian)

1. (interrogative) where (at what place)

   Wo sand'n meine Augnglasln? ― Where are my glasses?

2. (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)

   I kenn a Gschäft, wo's des håbn. ― I know a shop where they offer that.

   Wo i a ka Sun brauch, is beim Autofoahn. ― Where I don't need the sun is when I'm driving.

3. (relative) when, that (on which; at which time)

   Des woa de Wochn, wo ma gfeiert håbn. ― That was the week when we celebrated.

4. (indefinite) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)

   I warad gern wo, wo's wärmer is. ― I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.

Pronoun

wo (chiefly West Central Bavarian)

1. (relative) who, whom, which, that

   Des is de Frau, wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.

   Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.

2. (relative) (inserted after the relative pronouns der, de, des, dem, den, dena, dera

   Des is de Frau, de wo i gsehn håb. ― This is the woman who I saw.

   Koatn gibt's åm Schoiter, der wo då hintn is. ― Tickets are available at the counter which is back there.

Conjunction

wo

1. (subordinating) when, if

   Wås håst'n nix gmåcht, wo'st as eh scho länger gwusst håst? ― Why didn't you do anything when you had known about it for a long time?

   Mia soidadn ned spazierngehn, wo's so regnt. ― We shouldn't go for a walk when it's raining like that.

Etymology

Compare Bonan wa, perhaps from Proto-Mongolic *bü- (“to be”), see Mongolian бий (bii).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Verb

wo (defective, copulative)

1. to be
   1. existential copula

      Eqie guanjinde nie sizi wo, nie basi wo.

      Once upon a time there was a lion and a tiger.

   2. equitive copula

      Bi shi er dui nie bawan, yi dui bawan shi jiu Rejie wo, san dui bawan shi nie halao Remi wo.

      I was the bigshot of the second team, the bigshot of the first team was Rejie and the bigshot of the third team was one ugly Remi.

   3. adjectival copula

      Ene shihoude sumulase hunnerei wo dei.

      If I think [about it] now, it's funny.

2. in possessive constructions with the possessor in dative

   Ene ghualade nie ghoni wo.

   These two had a sheep.

3. (after -zhi) forming the progressive tense

   Bi ene agvinni nanbangiede nie jian wafande sauzhi wo.

   I live [am living] in a one bedroom house at the south of the village.

Pronoun

wo

1. them
2. they

Etymology

With a widespread dialectal shift from -ā- to -ō-, from Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, whence also wer. Cognate with English where.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

wo

1. (interrogative) where (at what place)

   Wo bist du?

   Where are you?

2. (relative) where (at or in which place or situation)

   Ich kenne einen Laden, wo solche Sachen verkauft werden.

   I know a shop where such things are sold.

3. (relative, somewhat informal) when, that (on which; at which time)

   Das war der Tag, wo wir uns kennen gelernt haben.

   That was the day when we got to know each other.

4. (indefinite, colloquial) somewhere (in or to an uncertain or unspecified location)

   Synonym: irgendwo

   Ich wär gern wo, wo's wärmer ist.

   I'd like to be somewhere where it's warmer.

Conjunction

wo

1. (colloquial) when

   Synonym: als

   Wo ich mich umgedreht hab, haut der mir unvermittelt eine rein.

   When I turned around, he just abruptly punched me in the face.

Pronoun

wo

1. (relative, dialectal, nonstandard) who, whom, which, that

   Ich bin der, wo das kann.

   I'm the one who can do that.

   • 1979, Margret Weiler, Zur Frage der Integration der Zigeuner in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: eine Untersuchung der gegenwärtigen Situation der Zigeuner und der sozialpolitischen und sozialarbeiterischen Massnahmen für Zigeuner, self-published doctoral thesis, p. 188

     Aber daß sie sich da mit uns unterhalten, das tun die nicht, mal grad die wo wir mal kennen, das ist eine Familie (...)

     But that they should have a chat with us, they don't do that, just maybe those who we know a bit, that's one family (...)

   • 1994, Burkhard Hergesell, Arbeiterkulturen im Betrieb: interethnische Beziehungen zwischen Produktionsarbeitern: eine empirische Studie, IKO Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, p. 133

     Ali: "Und der Hussein, der ist ein Typ, wo / wo doch nicht Türkisch redet. Der redet nur Deutsch mit mir. (...)"

     Ali: "And Hussein, he's a bloke who / who won't speak Turkish. He only talks German to me. (...)"

   • 2009, Elfriede Jelinek, Die Kontrakte des Kaufmanns. Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel). Über Tiere. – Drei Romane, Rowohlt Taschenbuch, p. 216

     Ich bin, der ich bin. Ich bin, wo ich bin. Ich bin der, wo ich bin. Wo sagt man sowas?

     I am who I am. I am where I am. I am the one that I am. Where do they say it like this?

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German wô (“how”), from Old Saxon [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with English how, German wie, Dutch hoe.

Etymology 2

From Old Saxon hwē, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz. Compare English who, whom, whose.

Etymology

From French haut (“high”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Adjective

wo

1. high
2. tall

Adverb

wo

1. high

Alternative forms

• woo (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Middle High German wā, wār, from Old High German wār, hwār, from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwēr, *hwar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/

Adverb

wo

1. (interrogative) where

   Wo bist-du?

   Where are you.

2. (relative) where

   Ich waarte dich, wo mein Fatter wohnd.

   I will wait for you where my father lives.

3. (relative) when

   In denne Zeid, wo alles deirer waar.

   In those times when everything was more expensive.

Pronoun

wo

1. (relative) who

   De Mann, wost-du sihst, is mein Fatter.

   The man you see is my father.

   Die Fraa, wo uns gerufd hod, siehd aarich bees aus.

   The woman who called us seems pretty angry.

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Verb

wo

1. Spelling of vbo before the 1992 orthographic update.

Romanization

wo

1. Rōmaji transcription of を
2. Rōmaji transcription of ヲ
3. Rōmaji transcription of うぉ
4. Rōmaji transcription of ウォ

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *r/g-wa. Cognate to Burmese ရွာ (rwa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wo/

Noun

wo

1. village

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Preposition

wo

1. Superseded spelling of wó.

Verb

wo

1. second-person singular imperative of woen

Romanization

wo (wo⁵ / wo⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄨㄛ)

1. Nonstandard spelling of wō.
2. Nonstandard spelling of wǒ.
3. Nonstandard spelling of wò.

Etymology 1

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology

From Old Frisian hō, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognates include West Frisian hoe and Dutch hoe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voː/
• Hyphenation: wo
• Rhymes: -oː

Adverb

wo

1. how?

   Wo dääst du dät? ― How do you do that?

2. how

   Iek weet wo du dät dääst! ― I know how you do that.

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “wo”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Pronoun

-wo

1. Combining stem of wona.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [βo]

Noun

wo (possessed wodü)

1. great-grandfather
2. father-in-law (of a woman)
3. mother’s brother, maternal uncle
4. father’s sister’s husband

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “wo”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon
• Hall, Katherine Lee (1988) “wo:dü”, in The morphosyntax of discourse in De'kwana Carib, volumes I and II, Saint Louis, Missouri: PhD Thesis, Washington University
• Hall, Katherine (2007) “wōdɨ”, in Mary Ritchie Key & Bernard Comrie, editors, The Intercontinental Dictionary Series‎, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, published 2021
• Monterrey, Nalúa Rosa Silva (2012) Hombres de curiara y mujeres de conuco. Etnografía de los indigenas Ye’kwana de Venezuela, Ciudad Bolívar: Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, pages 62–65, 69, 73: “woodü, wodüümö”

Etymology 1

Clipping of èwo.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Yoruboid *ɣò

Pronoun

-wo

1. Combining stem of wona.