Etymologically
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vah

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Forms

vah [1] A fuller form vaha occurs in Plautus and Afranius.[2] The spelling va is restored by conjecture in Caecilius.[3]

Etymology

It is an exclamation.[1] Köbler compares the interjection Proto-Indo-European *u̯ai- (“woe”),[4] and Lewis & Short equate it with Ancient Greek οὐά (ouá).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Plautus,[3][2] for example after someone says he has touched and knocked on a door: “vah! — what is it? — that was badly done”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It expresses many feelings:[3] pain, dismay or vexation; contempt for a person or an idea, as in vah, apage te a me, “bah, get away from me”; and admiration or surprise, as in vah! solus hic homost qui sciat divinitus, “ah! this is the only man who knows things by divine inspiration”.[3][2] Lewis & Short call it ante-classical and late.[2] Church Latin has it as aha, ah or oh, of astonishment or joy.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of dismay, contempt and surprise.[3][2][4]
  • 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius has the form vaha.[2][4]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. Expressing pain, dismay or vexation: ah!, oh![3][1]
  2. Expressing contempt: bah![3]
  3. Expressing admiration or surprise: ah!, aha![3][2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson