fah

See also: faħ

Translingual

Symbol

fah

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Baissa Fali.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Baissa Fali terms

English

Etymology 1

An anglicised spelling of fa.

Noun

fah (plural fahs)

1. (music) Alternative form of fa.

Etymology 2

Interjection

fah

1. Alternative form of faugh.
   • 1957, Henry W. Coray, Son of Tears, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 14:

     He leaned against the fence, pulled a pear from his tunic and bit into it. His face puckered. "No good?" Alypius said. Augustine spat out the pieces. "Fah!" he said.

Etymology 3

Adverb

fah

1. (New England) Pronunciation spelling of far.

Anagrams

• FHA, HFA, ha'f

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• faa, fa, foo, foh, fo, fange, fangä, fanga, fëë, fahe, faahe, fou, fä, fää, fè, fe, fèè, fee, fòòche, fòche, fòòhe, fòhe, fùù, fù, foa, fooa

Etymology

From Middle High German vāhen, from Old High German fāhan, a strong verb with past forms fieng, gefangan, from Proto-West Germanic *fą̄han, from Proto-Germanic *fanhaną. Cognate with German fangen.

Verb

fah (auxiliary haa)

1. to catch

   Mir sind go fische ggange und händ vil Fisch gfange.

   We went fishing and caught lots of fish.

Conjugation

• According to the 1939-1958 Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz, the vowel in fa(a) /v̥a(ː)/ was shortened in the city of Bern and areas near it, but kept long in the rest of the canton, hence the different spellings (fa, fah/faa). These dialect lines may have become blurred since then due to easier mobility between towns/cities, as has happened in other regions.

Conjugation of fa, fah – Canton of Bern

infinitive		fa, fah
past participle		gfange
auxiliary		haa
		singular			plural
		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
		i(ch)	du	er/si/es	mir	ihr	si
indicative	present	fa, fah	fasch, fahsch	fat, faht	fö, föh	föt, föht	fö, föh
imperative	affirmative	—	fa, fah	—	—	föt, föht	—

• Zürich has three infinitives: /v̥ɛ(ː)/, /v̥ɒŋə ~ v̥ɑŋə/, and /v̥ɒː ~ v̥ɑː/ (written fe(e)/fè(è)/fë(ë), fange, and fa(h)/faa). The plural is fönd /v̥ønd̥/.
• In Schaffhausen and Thurgau, ⟨fange⟩ (ending in schwa) is the usual infinitive form, but (also in St. Gallen) the first-person singular present form can end in either schwa (fange) or /ŋ/ (fang), depending on the region.
• In the parts of the Rheintal bordering Austria, forms with a root ending in /χ/ (infinitive fò(ò)che, 1SG fò(ò)ch, and others) are sometimes used.
• See the atlas mentioned above for more.

In the dialect of Urseren, Uri:
Strong:

Conjugation of faa – Urner dialect

infinitive		faa
past participle		gfange
		singular			plural
		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
		ich, i	du	er/si/es	mir	ir	si
indicative	present	faa	faasch	fat	faa	fängt	faa
subjunctive	present	fëë, fäng, fängi	fëëesch, fängesch	fëë, fäng, fängi	fëëe, fänge	fëëet, fänget	fëëe, fänge
	past	fieng, fiengi	fiengesch	fieng, fiengi	fienge	fienget	fienge
imperative	affirmative	—	fach	—	—	fäänt	—

Mixed:

Conjugation of faa – Urner dialect

infinitive		faa
past participle		gfange
		singular			plural
		1st	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	3rd
		ich, i	du	er/si/es	mir	ir	si
indicative	present	faa	faasch	fat	faa	fängt	faa
subjunctive	present	fëë, fäng, fängi	fëëesch, fängesch	fëë, fäng, fängi	fëëe, fänge	fëëet, fänget	fëëe, fänge
	past	fät, fätti	fättesch	fät, fätti	fätte	fättet	fätte
imperative	affirmative	—	fach	—	—	fäänt	—

Derived terms

• ahfange

Further reading

• “fa”, in Wörterbuch Berndeutsch-Deutsch (in German), berndeutsch.ch, 1999–2026
• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 86.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɑːx/
• Rhymes: -ɑːx

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *faih, from Proto-Germanic *faihaz.

Adjective

fāh

1. guilty; criminal
2. hostile
3. outlawed
   • 10th century, The Wife's Lament:

     Ā sċyle ġeong mon wesan ġeōmormōd, heard heortan ġeþōht, swylċe habban sċeal blīþe ġebǣro, ēac þon brēostċeare, sinsorgna ġedreag sȳ æt him sylfum ġelong eal his worulde wyn, sȳ ful wīde fāh feorres folclondes, þæt mīn frēond siteð under stānhliþe, storme behrīmed, wine wēriġmōd, wætre beflōwen on drēorsele.

     May the young man always be sad-minded, stern thought of heart, also shall have blithe bearing, also with breast-sorrow, the band of great-worries would be with him all along his world’s mirth, be he fully outlawed in a far folks-land so that my lover sits under a stone cliff, frost-covered by storm, weary-minded lord, overflown by water in the dreary-hall.

Declension

Declension of fāh — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fāh	fā	fāh
Accusative	fāne, fānne	fā	fāh
Genitive	fās	fāre, fārre	fās
Dative	fām, fāum	fāre, fārre	fām, fāum
Instrumental	fā	fāre, fārre	fā
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fā	fā	fā
Accusative	fā	fā	fā
Genitive	fāra, fārra	fāra, fārra	fāra, fārra
Dative	fām, fāum	fām, fāum	fām, fāum
Instrumental	fām, fāum	fām, fāum	fām, fāum

Declension of fāh — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fā	fā	fā
Accusative	fān	fān	fā
Genitive	fān	fān	fān
Dative	fān	fān	fān
Instrumental	fān	fān	fān
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fān	fān	fān
Accusative	fān	fān	fān
Genitive	fāra, fārra, fāna	fāra, fārra, fāna	fāra, fārra, fāna
Dative	fām, fāum	fām, fāum	fām, fāum
Instrumental	fām, fāum	fām, fāum	fām, fāum

Descendants

• Middle English: fo, foo, fa (Early Middle English)
  • English: foe (obsolete as an adjective)

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *faih, from Proto-Germanic *faihaz, from Proto-Indo-European *póyḱos; cognate with Old High German fēh, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (filufaihs). The Proto-Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ποικίλος (poikílos, “multicoloured”).

The inflected stem fāg- may be because this word ultimately reflects a Proto-Germanic variant *faigaz; alternatively, it may be due to analogy with other adjectives with an alternation between [x] and [ɣ], such as smēag, smēah (“creeping, subtle”).

Alternative forms

• fāg

Adjective

fāh

1. decorated, coloured, shining, adorned
   • 10th century, The Wanderer:

     Stondeð nū on lāste · lēofre duguþe
     weal wundrum hēah, · wyrmlīcum fāh.

     Now a wall stands in the track of dear band,
     by wonders high, with ophidians adorned.

Declension

Declension of fāh — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fāh	fāh	fāh
Accusative	fāgne	fāge	fāh
Genitive	fāges	fāgre	fāges
Dative	fāgum	fāgre	fāgum
Instrumental	fāge	fāgre	fāge
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fāge	fāga, fāge	fāh
Accusative	fāge	fāga, fāge	fāh
Genitive	fāgra	fāgra	fāgra
Dative	fāgum	fāgum	fāgum
Instrumental	fāgum	fāgum	fāgum

Declension of fāh — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fāga	fāge	fāge
Accusative	fāgan	fāgan	fāge
Genitive	fāgan	fāgan	fāgan
Dative	fāgan	fāgan	fāgan
Instrumental	fāgan	fāgan	fāgan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fāgan	fāgan	fāgan
Accusative	fāgan	fāgan	fāgan
Genitive	fāgra, fāgena	fāgra, fāgena	fāgra, fāgena
Dative	fāgum	fāgum	fāgum
Instrumental	fāgum	fāgum	fāgum

Derived terms

• blōdfāg
• fāgnes
• goldfāh
• swātfāh

Descendants

• Middle English: fou, fawe, fay, fogh, fow, fowe, vouh, fah, fau, foaȝe, foȝ, foh, vaȝe (Early Middle English)
  • Scots: faw

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fak, from Proto-Germanic *faką, whence also Old English fæc.

Noun

fah n

1. wall

Descendants

• Middle High German: vach
  • German: Fach
    • → English: Fach
    • → Esperanto: fako
    • → Kashubian: fach
    • → Luxembourgish: Fach
    • → Polish: fach
  • Yiddish: פֿאַך (fakh)