leh

See also: Leh, łeh, and łéh

Translingual

Symbol

leh

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

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Lenje terms

English

Alternative forms

• eh, lei

Etymology

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh, “declarative particle used for emphasis; interrogative particle used to express doubt”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Senses 3‒6) /lɛ˨/, [lɛ(ː)˨]
  • IPA^(key): (All other senses) /lɛ˧/, /le˧/, (interrogative) [lɛ(ː)˦]
  • The initial /l/ is sometimes elided.

Particle

leh (Manglish, Singlish, clause-final discourse particle)

2. Used to convey uncertainty (in response to inconsistent information).

   Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧], (interrogative) high-mid [lɛ˦]

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

   I counted 30 leh. ― But I counted 30.

   • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 80:

     Why-ah? What happened to the lift-ah. Going up. Going down. But never stop. Door never open some more. Don't know-leh.

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

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

   • 2016 October 8, Chew Hui Min, quoting Lee Kin Mun, “Netizens debate how 81 judges cast 92 votes in Sing! China final”, in The Straits Times‎^[3], Singapore, archived from the original on 6 August 2024:

     How come got 81 judges and then the number of votes is 45 vs 47 leh? 45+47 is 92 leh.

   • 2020 January 21, Terry Ng, “Toxic Workplace Cultures in Singapore: Are They More Common Than We Realise?”, in ricemedia.co‎^[4], archived from the original on 19 June 2024:

     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.

4. (interrogative) Used to form “what about … ?” questions.

   Pitch contour: (interrogative) high-mid [lɛ˦]

   Our appointment leh? ― What about our appointment?

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

     OK, this one, leh?

6. (declarative) Used to highlight or relay noteworthy information.

   Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]

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

   • 2014 July 21, Eddino Abdul Hadi, quoting Eddie Sung, “Former recruitment consultant Eddie Sung wanted to be the first Asian known for rock photography”, in The Straits Times‎^[5], Singapore, archived from the original on 5 December 2023:

     “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’.”

8. (declarative) Used to highlight the severity or seriousness of a situation.

   Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]

   Many houses were destroyed leh.

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

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

   • 2023 March 5, Wong Kim Hoh, quoting Lynette Tan, The Straits Times‎^[6], Singapore, archived from the original on 26 February 2024:

     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.

10. (declarative) Reinforces the truth of a declarative remark.

    Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]

    You all damn noisy leh how to sleep?

    • 2015 March 1, Corrie Tan, “We filled our hongbao with poetry, not cash”, in The Straits Times‎^[7], Singapore, archived from the original on 5 December 2022:

      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!”

    • 2015 April 19, Yeo Sam Jo, “Hello, I'm Eligible Bachelor #43”, in The Straits Times‎^[8], Singapore, archived from the original on 8 June 2016:

      “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.

12. (declarative) Indicates a tentative reminder.

    Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]

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

    • 2022 February 25, Hariz Baharudin, quoting SGAG, “Exam results, CCAs and Budget memes: What politicians are talking about”, in The Straits Times‎^[9], Singapore, archived from the original on 27 November 2022:

      “Today Friday leh, I want to go out!” they imagined Dr Tan thinking.

    • 2024 April 26, Kimberly Lim, quoting @milotruckdreams, “In Praise of the Early Evening Bash: Inside A 5-10PM Party”, in ricemedia.co‎^[10], archived from the original on 30 May 2024:

      I just wanna have a lil dance to some tunes. Tomorrow still got work leh

14. (imperative) Indicates a tentative request.

    Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]

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

    • 1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 20:

      Hello Mr Chan — why alone? Where's the better half? Bring her next time eh.

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

      Sing us a song, leh.

    • 2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co‎^[11], archived from the original on 23 May 2024:

      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?

16. Indicates disagreement with an idea or suggestion.

    Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]

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

    • 2023 August 19, Shawn Hoo, quoting Cyril Wong, “Don’t call him a confessional poet: Cyril Wong on Beachlight, his 16th poetry book”, in The Straits Times‎^[12], Singapore, archived from the original on 1 June 2024:

      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.”

18. Used to soften a disagreeing opinion.

    Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]

    Synonym: (more assertive) what

    I don’t think that’s accurate leh.

20. Reinforces a tentative opinion and invites agreement.

    Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]

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

22. Used to suggest that the listener has failed to take something into consideration.

    Pitch contour: mid [lɛ˧]

    I don’t have all day leh.

    • 2019 May 24, Yeo Boon Ping, quoting Lester, “Finally, An Explanation for Why So Many Singaporeans Can’t Commit Romantically”, in ricemedia.co‎^[13], archived from the original on 22 June 2024:

      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 terms

Discourse particles in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English
⟵ More assertiveLess assertive ⟶
Objection	what	Assertive emphasis	lah1–14	Self-evident answer	lor2–3	Resignation	lor1, ah6	Uncertainty	leh1–2
Self-evident reason	mah	Declarative emphasis	leh3–6, one1–3, hor1, know, nia, only	Discontent; shock; coarseness	sia	Agreement-seeking	hor2	Confirmation-seeking	ah1–3, hah1–3
Skepticism	meh	Confident speculation	ba2	Tentative judgment	leh7–11, ba1
Non-pragmatic
Aspectual	liao, already
References Gupta, A. F. (1992), “The pragmatic particles of Singapore colloquial English”, in Journal of Pragmatics, volume 18, number 1, →DOI

See also

• (unrelated, from Malay leceh) leh chey

References

• Low, Ee Ling; Brown, Adam (2005), English in Singapore: An Introduction‎^[14]
• 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

Ahtna

Stem

leh

1. Verbal stem occurring in the following root, aspect, and mode combinations:

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Neuter negative	lae (be)

Albanian

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Earlier attested as ljeh, cognate with Romanian lehăi, supported as Dacian, or substrate. 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.

Verb

leh (aorist leha, participle lehur) (intransitive)

1. (third person) to bark, yap

   Synonym: gamit

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

Conjugation

Standard Albanian conjugation of leh (active voice)

• Show compound tenses:  

	participle	lehur
gerund	duke lehur
infinitive	për të lehur
singular	plural
1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd pers.	1st pers.	2nd pers.	3rd pers.
indicative	present	leh	leh	leh	lehim	lehni	lehin
imperfect	lehja	lehje	lehte	lehnim	lehnit	lehnin
aorist	leha	lehe	lehu	lehëm	lehët	lehën
perfect	kam lehur	ke lehur	ka lehur	kemi lehur	keni lehur	kanë lehur
past perfect	kisha lehur	kishe lehur	kishte lehur	kishim lehur	kishit lehur	kishin lehur
aorist II	pata lehur	pate lehur	pati lehur	patëm lehur	patët lehur	patën lehur
future1	do të leh	do të lehësh	do të lehë	do të lehim	do të lehni	do të lehin
future perfect2	do të kem lehur	do të kesh lehur	do të ketë lehur	do të kemi lehur	do të keni lehur	do të kenë lehur
subjunctive	present	të leh	të lehësh	të lehë	të lehim	të lehni	të lehin
imperfect	të lehja	të lehje	të lehte	të lehnim	të lehnit	të lehnin
perfect	të kem lehur	të kesh lehur	të ketë lehur	të kemi lehur	të keni lehur	të kenë lehur
past perfect	të kisha lehur	të kishe lehur	të kishte lehur	të kishim lehur	të kishit lehur	të kishin lehur
conditional1, 2	imperfect	do të lehja	do të lehje	do të lehte	do të lehnim	do të lehnit	do të lehnin
past perfect	do të kisha lehur	do të kishe lehur	do të kishte lehur	do të kishim lehur	do të kishit lehur	do të kishin lehur
optative	present	lehsha	lehsh	lehtë	lehshim	lehshi	lehshin
perfect	paça lehur	paç lehur	pastë lehur	paçim lehur	paçit lehur	paçin lehur
admirative	present	lehkam	lehke	lehka	lehkemi	lehkeni	lehkan
imperfect	lehkësha	lehkëshe	lehkësh	lehkëshim	lehkëshit	lehkëshin
perfect	paskam lehur	paske lehur	paska lehur	paskemi lehur	paskeni lehur	paskan lehur
past perfect	paskësha lehur	paskëshe lehur	paskësh lehur	paskëshim lehur	paskëshit lehur	paskëshin lehur
imperative	present	—	leh	—	—	lehni	—
1) indicative future identical with conditional present 2) indicative future perfect identical with conditional perfect

Adverb

leh

1. Arvanitika form of lehtë

Adjective

leh

1. Arvanitika form of i lehtë

Noun

leh m

1. Arvanitika form of luan

Further reading

• “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

Czech

Etymology

Deverbal from lehat.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

leh m inan

1. lying position

Declension

Declension of leh (velar masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	leh	lehy
genitive	lehu	lehů
dative	lehu	lehům
accusative	leh	lehy
vocative	lehu	lehy
locative	lehu	lezích
instrumental	lehem	lehy

Related terms

adverbs

• ležmo
• vleže

nouns

• leháro
• nocleh

verbs

• lehat
• lehávat
• lehnout
• ležet

Further reading

• “leh”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “leh”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “leh”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of leh – see 咧 (“in the process of; currently”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 咧).

K'iche'

Noun

leh

1. (Classical K'iche') corn tortilla

Malay

Etymology

Clipping of boleh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleh/ [ˈleh]

Verb

léh

1. (colloquial) apheretic form of boleh.

References

• Hoogervorst, Tom (2015), “Malay youth language in West Malaysia”, in NUSA‎^[15], volume 58, number 3, →DOI, archived from the original on 26 April 2025, page 29

Mizo

Conjunction

leh

1. and

   kei leh nang

   me and you

Derived terms

• a nih leh

Slovene

Noun

leh

1. genitive dual/plural of leha

Somali

Etymology

Synchronically a compound of la (“with”) + ah (“be”).

Adjective

leh (suffixation -le, verbal lahaa)

1. possessing

References

• “leh”, in Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, 2012

Turkish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

leh (definite accusative lehi, plural lehler)

1. (chiefly in possessive, with dative or locative) Being in favor of, favorable for or 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.

Declension

Declension of leh

singular plural nominative leh lehler definite accusative lehi lehleri dative lehe lehlere locative lehte lehlerde ablative lehten lehlerden genitive lehin lehlerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular lehim lehlerim 2nd singular lehin lehlerin 3rd singular lehi lehleri 1st plural lehimiz lehlerimiz 2nd plural lehiniz lehleriniz 3rd plural lehleri lehleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular lehimi lehlerimi 2nd singular lehini lehlerini 3rd singular lehini lehlerini 1st plural lehimizi lehlerimizi 2nd plural lehinizi lehlerinizi 3rd plural lehlerini lehlerini dative singular plural 1st singular lehime lehlerime 2nd singular lehine lehlerine 3rd singular lehine lehlerine 1st plural lehimize lehlerimize 2nd plural lehinize lehlerinize 3rd plural lehlerine lehlerine locative singular plural 1st singular lehimde lehlerimde 2nd singular lehinde lehlerinde 3rd singular lehinde lehlerinde 1st plural lehimizde lehlerimizde 2nd plural lehinizde lehlerinizde 3rd plural lehlerinde lehlerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular lehimden lehlerimden 2nd singular lehinden lehlerinden 3rd singular lehinden lehlerinden 1st plural lehimizden lehlerimizden 2nd plural lehinizden lehlerinizden 3rd plural lehlerinden lehlerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular lehimin lehlerimin 2nd singular lehinin lehlerinin 3rd singular lehinin lehlerinin 1st plural lehimizin lehlerimizin 2nd plural lehinizin lehlerinizin 3rd plural lehlerinin lehlerinin

Derived terms

• aleyh
• aleyhe dönmek
• aleyhinde olmak
• lehinde olmak
• lehine olmak
• lehtar

Further reading

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

Wagi

Noun

leh

1. water

Further reading

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

Zou

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lēʔ]
• Hyphenation: leh

Conjunction

leh

1. Coordinating conjunction: and; as well as
   • 1992, Holy Bible In Zou, Siemchilbu 1:1:

     Achiil in Paisan Lei leh Van asiem.

     In the beginning God created the Earth and Heaven.

References

• Philip Thangliènmâng (2010), Minimal dictionary and Self-tutor Functional Grammar in Zo-English-Hindi, New Delhi: Zoculsin, →ISBN, page 120
• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou (PhD thesis), Canchipur: Manipur University, page 164