leh
Part of speech: particle
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Hokkien 咧 (--leh, “declarative particle used for emphasis; interrogative particle used to express doubt”).
Inflected forms:
form: eh
pos: particle
tags: alternative
form: lei
pos: particle
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Used to convey uncertainty (in response to inconsistent information).
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧], (interrogative) high-mid [lɛ˦]
No leh, it’s right here.
I counted 30 leh.
Why-ah? What happened to the lift-ah. Going up. Going down. But never stop. Door never open some more. Don't know-leh.
You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.
How come got 81 judges and then the number of votes is 45 vs 47 leh? 45+47 is 92 leh.
If you’re asked something that would incriminate a fellow colleague, you just say, ‘I don’t know leh,’ and you’re in the clear (conscience-wise). Though seriously, you’re still indirectly complicit.
gloss: Used to form “what about … ?” questions.
pos: particle
tags: interrogative
examples: Pitch contour: (interrogative) high-mid [lɛ˦]
Our appointment leh?
OK, this one, leh?
gloss: Used to highlight or relay noteworthy information.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]
It’s next week leh.
“After I got the degree, I told my dad that I’m going to do an MBA. He said, ‘Eh, no more money leh’. But I said, ‘It’s okay’.”
gloss: Used to highlight the severity or seriousness of a situation.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]
Many houses were destroyed leh.
Thirty-five thousand jobs, leh. Not something to sneeze at.
Navigating gradients in high heels, she says with a giggle, is “no joke leh”. She is, however, more than adroit and willing to tackle more difficult courses, like blazing new trails for Singapore’s nascent space industry.
gloss: Reinforces the truth of a declarative remark.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]
You all damn noisy leh how to sleep?
We put all the poetry packets in a bag and let people rummage through it and pick one at random when they left the house. […] “Amazing leh, I can’t believe it was a random pick,” he texted me later, “This is better than ang pow!”
“They asked me to do the striptease. I said no,” confessed Bachelor #1. / “Why not? You’re from NDU leh,” I remarked, surprised that even someone from the Naval Diving Unit would be shy about showing his body.
gloss: Indicates a tentative reminder.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]
Still got risotto in the fridge leh.
“Today Friday leh, I want to go out!” they imagined Dr Tan thinking.
I just wanna have a lil dance to some tunes. Tomorrow still got work leh
gloss: Indicates a tentative request.
pos: particle
tags: imperative
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]
Close the door leh.
Hello Mr Chan — why alone? Where's the better half? Bring her next time eh.
Sing us a song, leh.
It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?
gloss: Indicates disagreement with an idea or suggestion.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]
— We can try taking the train.
— I don’t think we’ll have enough time leh.
Singaporean poet Cyril Wong might have been one of the first home-grown writers to depict sexuality so frankly on the page, but on the occasion of his 16th poetry collection, he laments: “I’m not just a confessional writer leh.”
gloss: Used to soften a disagreeing opinion.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]
I don’t think that’s accurate leh.
gloss: Reinforces a tentative opinion and invites agreement.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]
In my opinion the crème brûlée was so-so only leh.
gloss: Used to suggest that the listener has failed to take something into consideration.
pos: particle
examples: Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]
I don’t have all day leh.
Lester did not want to tell me about his feelings for his friend or his reasons for not talking about this absence of labels because “It’s a very private topic leh”—a telling response in itself.
Related words: what
lah1–14
lor2–3
lor1
ah6
leh1–2
mah
leh3–6
one1–3
hor1
know
nia
only
sia
hor2
ah1–3
hah1–3
meh
ba2
leh7–11
ba1
liao
already
Gupta
A. F. (1992)
in
volume 18
number 1
→DOI
leh chey
Translations: