# hu
## Translingual
### Symbol

hu
* (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Hungarian.

## English
### Etymology

Clipping of human, first offered for usage by Mikhail Epstein, professor of cultural theory at Emory University (in 2003).

### Pronunciation

* Homophones: hue, huh

### Pronoun

hu (third-person singular, nominative case, reflexive huself) (epicene, nonstandard)
* (neologism) they (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns he and she.
** 2002 January 3, Bryan T. McMahon, quoting Sasha Newborn, “A terrible book”, in The Ponchatoula Times‎, page 7:Hu is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in hus solutions of each and all a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural.
** 2003 October 14, Mikhail Epstein, “"Hu," from "human," as a gender-neutral pronoun”, in ‎ (Usenet), message-ID <f732cdb7.0310141153.6c715df8@posting.google.com>:When the lecturer arrives, hu will be speaking on the topic of anonymity.
** 2007 November 29, Mikhail Epstein, “hu”, in International Society for Universal Dialog‎, archived from the original on 2 January 2012:It's the vice-president's job to support the president and take hus place when hu is away.
** 2008 March, Christoph Hitz, “Hu, Me?”, in Mother Jones‎, →ISSN:Maybe, but if his/herstory's any guide, hu has hu work cut out for hu.
* (neologism) them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with gendered pronouns him and her.
** 2006, Perry Anderson with Glenn Burgess, edited by D. N. DeLuna, The Political Imagination in History: Essays Concerning J.G.A. Pocock‎, Owlworks, →ISBN, page 175:One of his favorite metaphors for the historian, drawn from the "Preface" to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, likens hu to the owl of Minerva, whose flight at dusk provided the setting for mature reflection on the day that had passed.
* (neologism) their (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.
** 2006 October 1, “He said, she said, hu said”, in Los Angeles Times‎:Now, however, the editorial writer has a new weapon in hu arsenal.
** 2006 November 17, Rob Kyff, “Hu Joins Heesh As Neutral Pronoun”, in Hartford Courant‎, archived from the original on 5 March 2016:If hu doesn't do hu homework, I will fail hu.

#### Hyponyms

* (as subject): he, she
* (as object): him, her

#### Derived terms

* huself

### See also

* other attested gender-neutral pronouns

### References

* ↑ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, 2017 December 2 (last accessed), archived from the original on 18 November 2020

### Anagrams

* uh

## Abau
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hu/

### Noun

hu
* water

### References

* transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

## Acehnese
### Etymology

Possible Austroasiatic origin. Compare with Bahnar huur

### Pronunciation

IPA: /hu/

### Verb

hu
* to light up or burn
    Apui ka hu.The fire has been lit
* (figurative) to feel your heart burning; as in due to anger or eating something spicy.

## Ainu
### Verb

hu (Kana spelling フ)
* to be raw, uncooked
** フ アエㇷ゚ アエ カ エラミㇱカリ ㇷ゚ ネ クスhu aep a=e ka eramiskari p ne kusuI have never eaten raw food
** ネア メノコポ カ ネア チ アエㇷ゚ カ フ チェㇷ゚ カ アコレnea menokopo ka nea ci aep ka hu cep ka a=koreI also gave the girl cooked food and raw fish.

#### Conjugation

| | singular | plural |
| 1st-person | k(u)=hu | hu=as |
| 2nd-person | e=hu | eci=hu |
| 3rd-person | hu | hu |
| 4th-person | hu=an | hu=an |
$^†$1st-person plurals are exclusive. Inclusive 1st-person plurals are denoted by 4th-person. $^†$4th-person: indefinite person, 1st-person inclusive plural, logophorical person, 2nd-person honorific, etc. See Ainu grammar.

### References

* John Batchelor (1905) An Ainu-English-Japanese dictionary (including a grammar of the Ainu language)‎, Tokyo, London: Methodist Publishing House; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner Co., page 133, available online here
* ↑ 木村きみ (1969) “21-2 ウエペケㇾ「アサハ セタネ イカㇻ」（姉が私を犬にした）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書3/3, 文化庁 アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月
* ↑ 貝澤とぅるしの (1969) “2-2 ウエペケㇾ「ランコ カッケマッ」（桂の木の女神）”, in 第2年次調査研究報告書1/3, 文化庁 アイヌ語の保存・継承に必要なアーカイブ化に関する調査研究事業, published 2015年3月

## Akan
### Pronunciation

* Tone: L

### Verb

hu
* to see
* to discern, to descry, to find

### References

* ↑ Kotey, Paul A. (1998). Twi-English/English-Twi Dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books. →ISBN
* Christaller, Johann Gottlieb (1881) “hũ”, in A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language Called Tshi (Chwee, Tw̌i)‎, Basel, pages 192–193

## Albanian
### Alternative forms

* Gheg: hû
** indef. sg. huni
** def. pl. hûj

### Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skuna < *skuja + *-na, from Proto-Indo-European *skuy-os < *skwey-.
Compare Norwegian/Faroese skon (“snout”), from Proto-Indo-European *skewd-. More at hedh.

### Noun

hu m (plural hunj, definite huri, definite plural hunjtë)
* wooden post, fencepost
* stake, picket
* pole, stilt
* (colloquial) penis

#### Related terms

* hundë

### References

* ↑ Adam Hyllested, “Albanian hundë ‘nose’ and Faroese, SW Norwegian skon ‘snout’”, in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference (Bremen: Hempen, 2012), 73-81.

## Australian Kriol
### Etymology

From English who.

### Pronoun

hu
* (interrogative) who

## Central Mazahua
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /w/

### Letter

hu (upper case Hu)
* A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

#### See also

* (Latin-script letters) A a, Ⱥ ⱥ, A̱ a̱, B b, C c, Cꞌ cꞌ, Cj cj, Cu cu, Cꞌu cꞌu, Cju cju, Ch ch, Chꞌ chꞌ, Chj chj, D d, Dy dy, E e, Ɇ ɇ, E̱ e̱, G g, Gu gu, Hu hu, ꞌHu ꞌhu, I i, I̱ i̱, J j, Jꞌ jꞌ, Jm jm, Jn jn, Jñ jñ, Ju ju, Jy jy, L l, M m, Mꞌ mꞌ, N n, Nꞌ nꞌ, Ñ ñ, Ñꞌ ñꞌ, O o, Ø ø, O̱ o̱, P p, Pj pj, R r, S s, T t, Tꞌ tꞌ, Tj tj, Ts ts, Tsꞌ tsꞌ, Tsj tsj, U u, Ꞹ ꞹ, U̱ u̱, X x, Z z, Zh zh, ꞌ

## Chamorro
### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku. Cognates include Javanese aku and Indonesian aku.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hu/

### Pronoun

hu
* I

#### Usage notes

* hu is used solely as a subject of a transitive verb, while yoʼ is used either as a subject of an intransitive verb or an object of a transitive verb.

#### References

* Donald M. Topping (1973) Chamorro Reference Grammar‎, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

## Chibcha
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hu/

### Noun

hu
* Alternative form of bhu

### References

* Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

## Danish
### Etymology 1

From Old Norse hugr, from Proto-Germanic *hugiz.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈhuˀ]

#### Noun

hu c (singular definite huen, not used in plural form)
* inclination, sympathy
* mind

##### Derived terms

* hukommelse
* husvale
* ihukomme
* komme i hu

#### References

“hu,2” in Den Danske Ordbog

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈhuˀ]

#### Verb

hu
* imperative of hue

### Etymology 3

Onomatopoetic.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈhuː]

#### Interjection

hu
* An expression of eeriness, horror or a very strong emotion

#### References

“hu,1” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Esperanto
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [hu]
* Hyphenation: hu

### Interjection

hu
* oh, ooh, oof, wow (indicating surprise or another strong emotion)
    Hu...mi kredis, ke tio ne veris.Oh...I thought that wasn't true.

#### See also

* ho
* ŭaŭ

## German
### Interjection

hu
* an expression of fear or horror
* an expression of disgust or revulsion
* an exclamation expressing a sudden feeling of cold

### Further reading

* “hu” in Duden online
* “hu” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

## Hungarian
### Etymology

An onomatopoeia.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈhu]
* Rhymes: -hu

### Interjection

hu
* boo (a loud exclamation intended to scare someone, especially a child)
* ah, oh (use to express fright)
    Hu, de megijedtem! ― Ah, you startled me!
* ugh (used to express repugnance, disgust)
* hoot (cry of an owl; see huhog)

### Further reading

* (frightening someone or expressing horror): hu in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* (imitating a dog): hu in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

## Japanese
### Romanization

hu
* The katakana syllable ホゥ (hu) in Hepburn-like romanization.

## Lower Sorbian
### Preposition

hu [with genitive]
* Obsolete spelling of wu.

## Maltese
### Etymology

From Arabic هُوَ (huwa).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /u/ (between consonants)
* IPA: /w/ (before or after a vowel)
* IPA: /uː/ (when strongly stressed)
* Homophone: u

### Pronoun

hu
* Alternative form of huwa

#### Inflection
## Mandarin
### Romanization

hu
* Nonstandard spelling of hū.
* Nonstandard spelling of hú.
* Nonstandard spelling of hǔ.
* Nonstandard spelling of hù.

#### Usage notes

* Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

## Middle Dutch
### Determiner

hu
* Alternative spelling of u

### Pronoun

hu
* Alternative spelling of u; accusative/dative of gi

## Middle English
### Pronoun

hu
* Alternative form of heo (“she”)

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Alternative forms

* hun

### Pronoun

hu (accusative henne, genitive hennes)
* (Non-standard since 1959) she, (third person singular, feminine)

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology 1

From Old Norse hon.

#### Pronoun

hu
* (dialectal, nonstandard) alternative form of ho (“she”)

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse hú, originally onomatopoeic.

#### Interjection

hu
* Used to express discomfort.
* boo hoo
* hoot

### References

* “hu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old English
### Alternative forms

* hwu

### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō. Cognate with Old Frisian hū, Old Saxon hū (Dutch hoe), Old High German wuo.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /xuː/, [huː]

### Adverb

hū
* how, in all senses, including:
** to what degree
    Hū eald is þīn dohtor?How old is your daughter?
    Hū miċel gold hæfst þū on þē?How much gold do you have on you?
*** late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
    Hū be mete? hū swīðe lyst þē þæs?How about food? How much dost thou desire that?
** in what manner
    Hū sæġþ man þæt on Englisċ?How do you say that in English?
    Hū færest þū?How are you? (Literally: "How are you faring?")
** in what state
    Hū wæs þīn dæġ?How was your day?
    Þū canst Ælfrēd cyning? Hū is hē?You know King Alfred? What is he like?
* used in exclamations
** c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English
    Ēalā hū gōd mann!Oh, what a good person!
* used to introduce negative rhetorical questions
** late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
    Hū, ne eart þū sē mann þe on mīnre scōle wǣre āfēded and ġelǣred?Aren't you the person who was raised and taught in my school?

#### Descendants

* Middle English: how, hou, howe, hu, hwu, whu, wou, wu
** English: how
** Geordie English: hoo
** Scots: hoo, how, foo
** Yola: fowe, how

### Conjunction

hū
* how, in all senses:
** in what manner
    Iċ leornode hū man wæġn ġebētt.I learned how to repair a wagon.
    Hīe āscodon hū hīe helpan meahten.They asked how they could help.
** that, the fact that (introducing direct statements)
    Iċ him sæġde hū iċ wǣre æt hām ealne dæġ and ne ġehīerde nāwiht.I told them how I'd been at home all day and hadn't heard a thing.
    Þæt is tō wundriġenne hū hīe þā bryċġe swā hrædlīċe ġefyldon.It's amazing how they completed the bridge so quickly.

#### Descendants

* Middle English: how, hou, howe, hu, hwu, whu, wou, wu
** English: how
** Geordie English: hoo
** Scots: hoo, how, foo
** Yola: fowe, how

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* heu
* hue
* hui
* huy

### Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hy/

### Interjection

hu
* a shouting noise made when pursuing someone or something

### Noun

hu oblique singular, m (oblique plural hus, nominative singular hus, nominative plural hu)
* commotion; racket (noisy situation)

### References

* Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX$^e$ au XV$^e$ siècle (1881) (hu)
* hu on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

## Old Saxon
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /huː/

### Adverb

hu
* how

### Conjunction

hu
* how

#### Synonyms

* hwo

## Romanian
### Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

### Interjection

hu
* hoot (cry made by an owl)

## Sumerian
### Romanization

hu
* Romanization of 𒄷 (ḫu)

## White Hmong
### Etymology

Probably borrowed from Chinese 呼 (“to exhale; to shout, call”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hu˧/

### Verb

hu
* to call
    Hu kuv. ― Call me.

### References

* Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎, SEAP Publications, →ISBN.
* ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20101031002604/http://wold.livingsources.org/vocabulary/25

## Yanomamö
### Noun

hu
* nose

### References

* Lizot, Jacques (2004) Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmɨ‎ (in Spanish), Vicariato apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho, →ISBN

## Zou
### Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *khuu, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kəw-n/t. Cognates include Chinese 荤 (hūn) and Burmese ခိုး (hkui:).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /hu˧/
* This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

### Noun

hu
* steam

### References

* Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40