leh

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh).

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 3 and 5) /lɛ˨/, [lɛ(ː)˨]
  • IPA^(key): (All other senses) /lɛ˧/, /le˧/, (interrogative) [lɛ(ː)˦]
  • The initial /l/ is sometimes dropped after consonants.

leh (Manglish, Singlish)

1. Used to express uncertainty.

   No leh, it’s right here. ― No? It’s right here.

   • 2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

     You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

2. Marks a "what about … ?" question.

   Our appointment leh? ― What about our appointment?

   • 2002 May 14, Niamh O’Leary, The Straits Times, Singapore, page L2:

     OK, this one, leh?

3. Highlights new and noteworthy information.

   It’s next week leh. ― Just so you know, it’s next week.

   • 2005 April 22, Lee Kin Mun, Today, Singapore, page 30:

     Thirty-five thousand jobs, leh. Not something to sneeze at.

4. Marks a tentative request.

   Close the door leh. ― Why don’t you close the door?

   • 1994, C.S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, page 29:

     Sing us a song, leh.

5. Marks a tentative reminder.

   Still got risotto in the fridge leh. ― There’s still some risotto in the fridge.

6. Used to indicate disagreement with a suggestion.

   — We can try taking the train.
   — I don’t think we’ll have enough time leh.

7. Used to soften a disagreeing opinion.

   I don’t think that’s accurate leh.

8. Reinforces a tentative opinion and invites agreement.

   In my opinion the crème brûlée was so-so only leh.

• (Singlish particles): ah, hor, know, lah, liao, lor, mah, meh, one, sia, what

• (unrelated, from Malay leceh) leh chey

• Low, Ee Ling, Brown, Adam (2005) English in Singapore: An Introduction‎^[3]
• Botha, W. (2019) “‘Technically wrong leh’: Leh as a feature of Singapore Colloquial English”, in English Today, volume 35, number 4, →DOI, pages 13–22

• lehi (first person singular) — Gheg
• lef — southern Gheg

Earlier attested as ljeh, cognate with Romanian lehăi, supported as Dacian, or substrate.^[1] Alternatively, from Proto-Albanian *laja, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂-. Cognate to Ancient Greek λάσκω (láskō, “to cry, roar”). Present leh occurs almost exclusively in the 2nd and 3rd person, the -a- of which has usually been subject to umlaut.

leh (aorist leha, participle lehur) (intransitive)

1. (third person) to bark, yap
2. (figurative, derogatory) to waffle, to gossip, to slander, to insult

   Synonyms: llomotit, përgojoj, shpif, përflas, shaj

3. (Arvanitika) to pant, to snort

   Synonyms: gulçoj, regëtij, rënkoj

leh

1. Arvanitika form of lehtë

leh

1. Arvanitika form of i lehtë

leh m

1. Arvanitika form of luan

• “leh”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “leh”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 240

From lehnout, ležet.

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛx]
• Hyphenation: leh

leh m inan

1. lying position

• “leh”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “leh”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

leh

1. (Classical K'iche') corn tortilla

leh

1. genitive dual/plural of leha

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish له (leh, “for him/it; in favor of him/it; to, belonging to him/it”),^[1][2] from Arabic لَهُ (lahu).^[3]

• IPA^(key): /ˈleh/
• Hyphenation: leh

leh (definite accusative lehi, plural lehler)

1. (chiefly in possessive, with dative or locative) Being in favor of, favorable or for to a thing or person; one's benefit.

   Antonym: aleyh

   Her durumu kendi lehine çevirmekte uzmansın. ― You're an expert at turning every situation to your benefit.

   Hepsinin mahkemede lehimizde tanıklık edeceğini tahmin ediyoruz. ― We predict that they are all going to testify in our favor in court.

• “leh”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “leh”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2951

leh

1. water

• J. Spencer, S. van Cott, B. MacKenzie, G. Muñoz, A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Wagi [fad] Language