What!とは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From 中期英語 what, from 古期英語 hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”).

Cognate with Scots what, whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”).

Its use as a particle of contradiction or objection in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English is analogous to Cantonese 喎 / 㖞 (wo, etymology 2, sense 3). It is possible that this was historically reinforced by the dated use of what as a sentence-final question tag in British English.

発音

• (wine–whine merger) enPR: wŏt, 韻: -ɒt
  • 異形同音異義語: Watt, watt, wot
  • (Received Pronunciation, New Zealand, New York City) IPA: /wɒt/
  • (Standard Southern British, General Australian) IPA: /wɔt/
  • (Indic) IPA: /wʱɔʈ/
  • (father-bother merger) enPR: wät
    • (米国発音, sometimes) IPA: /wɑt/
    • (General South African) IPA: /wɑt/, /wɜt/
    • (Indic) IPA: /wʱɑʈ/

• (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwŏt, IPA: /ʍɒt/

• (米国発音, Canada, Singapore), 韻: -ʌt
  • (wine–whine merger) enPR: wŭt, IPA: /wʌt/, (Singapore, as a particle) [wɐ(ː)t̚˨˩]
  • (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwŭt, IPA: /ʍʌt/

• (Canada, dialectal) IPA: /hɒt/, Homophone: hot

限定詞

what

1. (interrogative) Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities.

   What colour are you going to use?

   What time is it?

   What kind of car is that?

   Did you buy the groceries? — With what money? We barely have any left.

   • 2022 October 14, Justin Curto, “The 1975’s Matty Healy Prefers Writing Lyrics He’s Afraid Of”, in Vulture‎, archived from the original on 18 October 2022:

     Everyone always asks what my advice is, and my advice is don’t overintellectualize your art.

2. (indirect interrogative) Which.

   I wonder what colour he is going to use.

   I know what colour I am going to use.

   That depends on what answer is received.

3. (relative) Any ... that; all ... that; whatever.

   He seems to have lost what sense he had.

   What money I earn is soon spent.

   • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 40:

     He crammed what little food was left, into the breast of his grey jacket.

4. Emphasises that something is noteworthy or remarkable in quality or degree, in either a good or bad way; may be used in combination with certain other determiners, especially 'a', less often 'some'.

   This shows what beauty there is in nature.

   You know what nonsense she talks.

   I found out what a liar he is.

   1. (exclamative) Used to form exclamations indicating that something is remarkable, in either a good or bad way.

      Synonym: such

      What nonsense!

      Wow! What a speech.

      What beautiful children you have.

      With what passion she sings!

      • Little Red Riding Hood, traditional folk tale

        “Oh Granny, what big eyes you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood.

使用する際の注意点

In cases where both "what" and "which" are possible, with similar meaning, "what" is preferred for open-ended choices, while "which" is preferred for choices from a closed group or set. For example, "Which one of these do you want?" not "What one of these do you want?".

As used to begin an exclamation, what and such are largely interchangeable, with a few exceptions:

• Nouns modified by such need not appear at the beginning of the sentence: She sings with such passion.
• such requires that the noun phrase it modifies be gradable in some way. Such a disaster! is acceptable because a disaster may be minor or major in degree, but Such a movie! is not (except with the unusual meaning that the movie under discussion has especially "movie-like" qualities).

how is another word used at the beginning of a sentence to form an exclamation (How quickly he ran!), but it modifies different syntactic elements (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and certain determinatives).

代名詞

what

1. (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.

   Hammer in that nail —What with? I didn't bring my set of tools.

   What is your name?

   My kids set the neighbor's cat on fire. —They did what?

   Ask them what they want.

   What d’you say that made him so angry?

   I’ve broken the exhaust manifold gasket. - You’ve broken the what?

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     The gym is across from … what? — The gym is across from the lounge. — Across from the lounge. Right. Thanks!

2. (fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that.

   He knows what he wants and what to do to get it.

   What is amazing is his boundless energy.

   And, what's even worse, I have to work on Sunday too.

   What is astonishing, she doesn't want the job. -What’s even more staggering, neither of her friends does either.

3. (fused relative) Anything that; all that; whatever.

   I will do what I can to help you.

   What I'll do is, I'll phone you to let you know.

   What is mine is yours.

4. (relative, nonstandard) That; which; who.

   Look! It's that bloke again what was 'ere yesterday!

   • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, page 60:

     "I'll tell it ye from the beginning," he said. "My time is from ten at night to six in the morning. At eleven there was a fight at the 'White Hart'; but bar that all was quiet enough on the beat. At one o'clock it began to rain, and I met Harry Murcher—him who has the Holland Grove beat—and we stood together at the corner of Henrietta Street a-talkin'. Presently—maybe about two or a little after—I thought I would take a look round and see that all was right down the Brixton Road. It was precious dirty and lonely. Not a soul did I meet all the way down, though a cab or two went past me. I was a strollin' down, thinkin' between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same house. Now, I knew that them two houses in Lauriston Gardens was empty on account of him that owns them who won't have the drains seen to, though the very last tenant what lived in one of them died o' typhoid fever. I was knocked all in a heap therefore at seeing a light in the window, and I suspected as something was wrong. When I got to the door——"

   • 1902, J. M. Barrie, The Admirable Crichton:

     That’s her; that’s the thing what has stole his heart from me.

   • 1949 November, Nelson Algren, “Rumors of Evening”, in The Man with the Golden Arm: A Novel, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, page 77:

     A diploma in the waiting room revealed Big Boy to be a member of The American Association of Medical Hydrology, whatever that might be. Furthermore he was a deacon of the Royal Aryan Society for Positive Christianity and as such was privileged to throw in divine healing without extra charge. That went right along with the three-dollar treatment for a touch of the astral power and a short lecture on the latent powers possessed by all of us. “Pow-wers what vassly transent our normaller ones,” was just how Big Boy put it.

   • 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:

     For, it is a name what strikes fear in the heart of anyone what hears it.

副詞

what (not comparable)

1. (interrogative) In what way; to what extent.

   What does it matter?

   What do you care?

   It must be, what, twenty-five years since we first met.

2. Used before a prepositional phrase to emphasise that something is taken into consideration as a cause or reason; usually used in combination with 'with' (see what with), and much less commonly with other prepositions.
   • 1787, Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Letters on the Study and Use of History: A Letter to Sir William Windham, page 83:

     In short; what by the indiscretion of people here, what by the rebound which came often back from London, what by the private interests and ambitious views of persons in the French court, and what by other causes unnecessary to be examined now, the most private transactions came to light [...]

   • 1815, Rev. Mr. Milne, letter reprinted in The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Volume 23, page 82. [2]

     The Chinese of all ranks, and in every place, received my books gladly, and listened with patience to what I had to say about the true God.—So that what from opportunities of attending to the object of my Mission among the Chinese—what from seasons of religious instruction to Dutch and English—what from intercourse with gentlemen of education and knowledge of the world—what from occasions of stating clearly the object of Missions, and of endeavouring to remove prejudices against them—and what from the view of a highly cultivated country, happy under an enlightened and liberal government, I have much reason to be satisfied with this journey [...]

間投詞

what

1. An expression of surprise or disbelief.

   What! That’s amazing!

   wait this song is so good whattt

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?

2. What do you want? An abrupt, usually unfriendly enquiry as to what a person desires.

   What? I'm busy.

3. (British, colloquial, dated) Clipping of what do you say?, used as a type of tag question to emphasise a statement and invite agreement, often rhetorically.

   It’s a nice day, what?

   • 1918, Denis Garstin, The Shilling Soldiers‎, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 83:

     “That’s riled them,” said my compaion. “Good work, what?”

   • 1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

     Chuffy: WHAT? No, no, no, no, no. My casa is your casa, what?

4. What did you say? I beg your pardon? This usage is often considered impolite, with the more polite "Pardon?" or "Excuse me?" preferred.

   — Could I have some of those aarrrrrr mmmm ...
   — What?

5. Indicating a guess or approximation, or a pause to try to recall information.

   I must have been, what, about five years old.

別の表記

• wha
• wat

同意語

• (colloquial British interjection): what-what, wot
• (what did you say?): come again, pardon; see also Thesaurus:say again

名詞

what (countable and uncountable, plural whats)

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Something; thing; stuff.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 7:

     They prayd him sit, and gave him for to feed / Such homely what as serves the simple clowne, / That doth despise the dainties of the towne […]

2. (countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what.
   • 2005, Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, page 493:

     The emphasis on the interplay between the hows and whats of interpretive practice is paramount.

3. (countable) Something that is addressed by what, as opposed to a person, addressed by who.
   • 2012, "We Are Both", season 2, episode 2 of Once Upon a Time

     Regina: What are you?

     Rumplestiltskin: What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question! I am not a what.

不変化詞

what

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener.

   Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]

   — Sian sia, nearby here don’t have library.
   — The National Library is a five-minute walk from here what, no meh?

   • 1978, L. C. Cheong, Youth in the Army, page 142:

     Most things come from Europe what.

   • 1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 5–9:

     Susan: Jalan Sultan, ah? Quite far from Jurong, you know. I may not be able to get there on time.
     Jackson: […] I’ll tell Beng Huat to wait for you, lah. It’s not that far, what.

   • 2007, yansimon52, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

     […] they can't be the same what?

   • 2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 85‒86:

     I told him to go to Woodlands to buy durian for me. He came back and said no durian. But he some more said-ah, he got see people selling durian in Bukit Timah. I ask him-ah. Why you never buy from Bukit Timah. On your way what.

   • 2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii, page 21:

     boon: […] You want to go see snow or not, Ma?
     mother: See for what? I open freezer can see already what.
     boon: Not the same, lah… Imagine snowflakes drifting down, melting when they touch your skin. […]

   • 2024, Jojo Chia, Afternoon Yuan Yang Club, Epigram Books, →ISBN:

     Aiyah, we will always chat or message what... We’ll keep in touch lah, hor?

2. (Singlish, Manglish) Used to invite agreement or acknowledgment when something is assumed to be straightforward or already obvious to begin with; similar in function to “right?” and “as you know”.

   Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]

   Synonym: mah

   If it doesn’t get sunlight, it won’t grow what, so you should consider moving it closer to the window.

   • 2018, Weimin Toh, quoting Nasir, A Multimodal Approach to Video Games and the Player Experience, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 2016:

     […] like Joel you can just melee what. Melee your way through if you can’t handle them […]

3. (Singlish, Manglish) Used after a direct assertion to reinforce a disagreeing opinion.

   Synonym: (less assertive) leh

   Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]

   The lava cakes are not that bad what.

使用する際の注意点

Only used at the end of sentences.

派生語

参考

参照

• Low, Ee Ling; Brown, Adam (2005), English in Singapore: An Introduction, →ISBN
• Kuteva, Tania; Rhee, Seongha; Ziegeler, Debra; Sabban, Jessica (2018), “On sentence-final “what” in Singlish: Are you the Queen of England, or what?”, in Journal of Language Contact‎

アナグラム

• HAWT, Thaw, Wath, hawt, thaw, wath

別の表記

• whad, whote, watte, wath, wad, qhat
• whæt, whæht, waht, waet, wæht, weht, hweat (Southern West Mid)

発音

• IPA: /ʍat/, /wat/

代名詞

what

1. what

派生した語

• English: what
• Scots: what, whate, whit, whut, wha', quhat, quat, fat, faht, phat, fit, fut, fout, at
• Yola: faade, fhaade, faad, fade, f'ad

副詞

what

	A user suggests that this Middle English entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “This 1641 citation is NOT Middle English”.
	Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

1. Why.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Sompners Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     What shulde I tel the answere of the knyght?

     Why should I tell the answer of the knight?

   • 1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavses that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC; republished in (Please provide a date or year):

     But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates?

2. Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both...and...
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “primum”, in Le Morte Darthur, book III:

     And as for on C good knyghtes I haue my self / but I fawte / l / for so many haue ben slayne in my dayes / and so Ladegreans delyuerd his doughter Gweneuer vnto Merlyn / and the table round with the C knyghtes / and so they rode fresshly with grete royalte / what by water and what by land / tyl that they came nyghe vnto london

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

派生した語

• Yola: fad

参照

• “what, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “what, adv. & conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

語源 2

名詞

what

1. alternative form of whate