Arabic

Particle

أَيُّهَا • ‎(ʾayyuhā) (feminine أَيَّتُهَا ‎(ʾayyatuhā))

1. O, oh (vocative particle used in direct address)
   • Koran 8:45, translation by Muhammad Asad

     يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا لَقِيتُمْ فِئَةً فَاثْبُتُوا وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ‎

     yā ʾayyuhā llaḏīna ʾāmanū ʾiḏā laqītum fiʾatan fāṯbutū wāḏkurū l-laha kaṯīran laʿallakum tufliḥūna

     O you who have attained to faith, when you meet a host in battle, be firm, and remember God often; so that you might attain to a happy state!

   • Koran 12:70, translation by Muhammad Asad

     فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُم بِجَهَازِهِمْ جَعَلَ السِّقَايَةَ فِي رَحْلِ أَخِيهِ ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ مُؤَذِّنٌ أَيَّتُهَا ٱلْعِيرُ إِنَّكُمْ لَسَارِقُونَ‎

     falammā jahhazahum bijahāzihim jaʿala s-siqāyata fī raḥli ʾaḵīhi ṯumma ʾaḏḏana muʾaḏḏinun ʾayyatuhā l-ʿīru ʾinnakum lasāriqūna

     And when he had provided them with their provisions, he placed the drinking-cup in his brother's camel-pack. And a herald called out: "O you people of the caravan! Verily, you are thieves!"

Synonyms

• يَا ‎(yā)

Usage notes

• أَيُّهَا ‎(ʾayyuhā) is synonymous with يَا ‎(yā), with which it is often used redundantly in conjunction (this redundant usage is the norm in the Koran, see first usage example above).
• أَيُّهَا ‎(ʾayyuhā) is far less common than يَا ‎(yā) and reserved for elevated registers. Whereas يَا ‎(yā) is often left untranslated in English, أَيُّهَا ‎(ʾayyuhā) is used in similar situations to English O.
• Unlike يَا ‎(yā), أَيُّهَا ‎(ʾayyuhā) inflects for gender. When addressing a female, a group of females, or (occasionally) a feminine collective noun (see second usage example above), the form أَيَّتُهَا ‎(ʾayyatuhā) is used.

Pronoun

أَيّها • ‎('ayīhā) f

1. which one of them.