vah Latin · revision 33689

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vah''' ^(Wiktionary)

+ A fuller form ''vaha'' occurs in Plautus and Afranius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ The spelling ''va'' is restored by conjecture in Caecilius.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an exclamation.^(Wiktionary) Köbler compares the interjection [[ine-pro|*u̯ai-|t=woe]],^(Köbler 2010) and Lewis & Short equate it with [[grc|οὐά|tr=ouá]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found in Plautus,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) for example after someone says he has touched and knocked on a door: “''vah!'' — what is it? — that was badly done”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It expresses many feelings:^(OLD 2012) 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”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short call it ante-classical and late.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin has it as aha, ah or oh, of astonishment or joy.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of dismay, contempt and surprise.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius has the form ''vaha''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Interjection===

+ # Expressing pain, [[m|en|dismay]] or vexation: ah!, oh!^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Expressing [[m|en|contempt]]: bah!^(OLD 2012)

+ # Expressing [[m|en|admiration]] or surprise: ah!, aha!^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vae]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}