Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: WHAT |
WHATInterrogatory adverb1. Why? For what purpose? On what account? Noun1. Something; thing; stuff. Pronoun, adjective, & adverb1. Used adverbially, in part; partly; somewhat; -- with a following preposition, especially, with, and commonly with repetition. 2. Whatever; whatsoever; what thing soever; -- used indefinitely. 3. Used adverbially in a sense corresponding to the adjectival use; as, he picked what good fruit he saw. 4. Used adjectively, equivalent to the . . . which; the sort or kind of . . . which; rarely, the . . . on, or at, which. 5. Used substantively with the antecedent suppressed, equivalent to that which, or those [persons] who, or those [things] which; -- called a compound relative. 6. As a relative pronoun 7. Sometimes prefixed to adjectives in an adverbial sense, as nearly equivalent to how; as, what happy boys! 8. Used adjectively, meaning how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage! 9. As an exclamatory word: -- (a) Used absolutely or independently; -- often with a question following. 10. As an interrogative pronoun, used in asking questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this? what did you say? what poem is this? what child is lost? |
Date "WHAT" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: What \What\, pron., a., & adverb [Anglo-Saxon hw[ae]t, neuter of hw[=a] who; akin to Old Saxon hwat what, Old Flemmish hwet, Dutch & Low German wat, German was, Old High German waz, hwaz, Icelandic hvat, Swedish & Danish hvad, Gothic hwa. See Who.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: What, That. That is applied to persons, animals, and things. What is applied to things. The antecedent of what should not be expressed. What is both antecedent and relative. "All what he saw he described." Say, "What he saw," or "All that he saw," etc. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
WHAT | English | World Humanity Action Trust | Social Sciences |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: WHAT |
| English words defined with "WHAT": What a vengeance, What if, What the vengeance, What time, What time as. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "WHAT": But what ♦ what are you all about?, What is the Dilly-Wack?, What we Gave we Have, What we Spent we Had, What we Had we Lost, What You Get Is What You Never Thought You Had, What You See Is More Or Less What You Get, What's What. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "WHAT": Whenceforth. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | So this is what the inside of a courtroom looks like (A Few Good Men; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin) What the hell are you doing here (American Pie; writing credit: Adam Herz) You know what I mean (On the Town; writing credit: Adolph Green and Betty Comden) What would your wife think (A Time to Kill; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman) Jane, what if he worships you (American Beauty; writing credit: Alan Ball) | |
Lyrics | No matter what they teach us (No Matter What; performing artist: Boyzone) What the hell I don't have time (What About Us?; performing artist: Brandy) What a field-day for the heat ("For What It's Worth"; performing artist: Buffalo Springfield) Cuz I wouldn't want my baby to go through what I went (What Would You Do; performing artist: City High) I don't know what the world mayneed, (Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now); performing artist: Cracker) | |
Clever | Faith is believing what you know ain't so. (references; author: Mark Twain) Examine what is said, not him who speaks. (references; author: Arabian Proverb) He who buys what he doesn't need steals from himself. (references; author: Swedish Proverb) What do they use to ship Styrofoam? (references; author: unknown) Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. (references; author: unknown) | |
Tongue Twisters | What a shame such a shapely sash should such shabby stitches show. (references; author: unknown) What time does the wristwatch strap shop shut? (references; author: unknown) What veteran ventriloquist whistles? (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Violence: What Price? Who Pays? No. 5 (1974) What a Carry On! (1973) Just What Can You Do? (1972) I Want What I Want (1972) | |
Song Titles | I Want To Know What Love Is (performing artist: Foreigner) What Did You Do On Election Day (performing artist: The Foremen) Do What You Gotta Do (performing artist: Garth Brooks) WHAT IS LIFE (performing artist: George Harrison ) What Is Love (performing artist: Haddaway) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Five illustrations showing the methods of surgical treatment that may be used: lumpectomy; modified radical mastectomy; partial mastectomy (also called segmental mastectomy), radical mastectomy (also called Halsted radical mastectomy), and total (simple) mastectomy. These illustrations appeared in "What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer." See artwork WYTK-05. Credit: Jeanne Kelly (Artist). |  | Anti-cancer drugs can now be tested on human cancer cell lines in vitro for cytotoxicity and effectiveness without the use of animals. In an assay color changes in the wells show what proportion of cultured cancer cells remain alive after they have been exposed to the test drug. The plates are read by computer, and results are automatically sent to a centralized computer where they are converted into graphic reports. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |
 | Program Includes: General epidemiology of WNV, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and testing issues; laboratory testing, serological classification and laboratory diagnostics; update on WNV cases and what states are doing in response to WNV; panel discussion. Credit: CDC. |  | Streptococci are subdivided into groups based on what antibodies recognize their surface antigens. Group D contains five species, S. faecalis, S. faecium, S. durans, S. avium, and S. bovis. Credit: CDC. |
 | The Hubble telescope has given astronomers their first direct look at what is possibly a ... Credit: NASA. |  | A survey of galaxy clusters by the Hubble telescope has found what could be some of the most ... Credit: NASA. |
 | Computer generated surface view of Gula Mons.For this image, we also have a special treat. Because the vertical scale on theseimages is so exaggerated (a factor of 22.5, remember), we thought you might wantto see what one of them would look like with a more realistic vertical scale.This image ofGula Mons( 8k) has beenaltered to more closely resemble the actual vertical scale. Credit: NASA. |  | The Mayn River, seen here with what is thought to be a portion of the Anadyr River, flows through the far northeastern corner of Siberia. Credit: NASA. |
 | Another tower with a bad day Standing at the top (or what was the top). Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Occupying station for reconnaissance along arc from Fairbanks to 141st Meridian Reconnaissance party of Sam O. White What a grand dog!. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "What are you looking at?" by Carlos Villela Commentary: "My girlfriend's little acquatic turtle." | "Alone, but what a view" by Martin Kessel Commentary: "Just a nice place... walking, well sitting, in the Austrian Tirol region. Ricoh i-500 shot." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Anton Chekhov | Man is what he believes. |
Francois Rabelais | Do what thou wilt. |
Heinrich Heine | Oh what lies lurk in kisses! |
Lord Byron | Think not I am what I appear. |
Lucius Annaeus Seneca | What fools these mortals be. |
Nero | What an artist dies with me! |
Red Auerbach | Just do what you do best. |
Seneca | What is true belongs to me! |
St. Augustine | Love, and do what you like. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under age, shall take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonable produce, reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the wardship of the lands of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other who is responsible to us for its issues, and he has made destruction or waster of what he holds in wardship, we will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we shall assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any such land to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he shall lose that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner as aforesaid. (reference) |
John Locke | 1690 | Laws therefore human, of what kind so ever, are available by consent. (Second Treatise of Government) |
US Constitution | 1791 | Clause 2: No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. (reference) |
Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | And if they can open it at all, what part of it are they forbidden to read or to oey? (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | Precisely so; that is just what we intend. (reference) |
Abraham Lincoln | 1863 | The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. (The Gettysburg Address) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | In the event of any failure to carry out such an award, the Council shall propose what steps should be taken to give effect thereto. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | There is nothing here but what you see. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Brown v. Board of Education | 1954 | What others in Congress and the state legislatures had in mind cannot be determined with any degree of certainty. (reference) |
John F. Kennedy | 1961 | Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring these problems which divide us. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
The Little Prince | Antoine de Saint-Exupery | What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well |
Emma | Austen, Jane | What a horrible idea |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | But it were really me what put it there |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | The grasp, cold as it was, took away what was dreariest in the interview |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | So, what a nursery of aspirations is a seminary |
Cymon and Iphigenia | John Dryden | He trudg'd along unknowing what he sought, And whistled as he went, for want of thought |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | What was the right answer to the question |
Something Wicked This Way Comes | Ray Bradbury | That's friendship, each playing the potter to see what shapes we can make of the other |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | What, shall I stab him as he sleeps |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | No one yet knows what causes sarcoidosis. (references) | |
No one knows for sure what causes autism. (references) | ||
What part of the body the cancer is found. (references) | ||
Business | What constitutes "control" is not defined. (references) | |
Roman Law prohibits what it does not permit. (references) | ||
Price is the determining factor of what brand to purchase. (references) | ||
Children | Haiti | It also called for the establishment of a commission to determine what disciplinary measures would be appropriate for schools to take. (references) |
Seychelles | Children are required to attend school through the 10th grade and until the age of 16 or 17, depending on what age they are when they finish the 10th grade. (references) | |
Yemen | In 1998 the Government mandated the acceptance of persons with disabilities in universities, exempted them from paying tuition, and required that schools be made more accessible to persons with disabilities; however, it is unclear to what extent these laws have been implemented. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Tunisia | Maaoui did not specify what punishment the agent would receive. (references) |
Mexico | Flores later was found dead, in what appeared to be an execution-style murder. (references) | |
Equatorial Guinea | After resolving what likely was a family dispute, Radio Asonga reopened within a week of its closure. (references) | |
Economic History | Turkey | This is similar to what is occurring worldwide in the IT industry. (references) |
China | However, debate continues over what additional legislation is needed. (references) | |
Bulgaria | The Code extends what some complain are excessive protections for workers. (references) | |
Human Rights | South Africa | In 2000 two guards were shot to death in Cape Town in what police believe was a strike-related attack. (references) |
Korea | It was not specified how many persons were to be amnestied or what crimes were covered by the amnesty. (references) | |
Zimbabwe | Her husband was asked what party he supported and, upon answering that he supported the MDC, the four men immediately attacked him. (references) | |
Indigenous People | Guyana | Under the act, the Government may determine who is an Amerindian and what is an Amerindian community, appoint Amerindian leaders, and annul decisions made by Amerindian councils. (references) |
Botswana | The ultimatum highlights the fact that the Government has made little real progress since 1996 when international attention was focused on the problem of resettling Basarwa living in the CKGR. Both the Basarwa and the Government are seeking out concerned NGO's to assist with the resettlement process and to address the larger issue of improving the Basarwa's standard of living without sacrificing what remains of their traditional way of life. (references) | |
Minorities | Nigeria | Religious tensions underscored what were predominantly ethnic confrontations throughout the year. (references) |
Political Economy | Hungary | Prosecutors and judges may impose what amounts to unlimited pretrial detention. (references) |
Yemen | Ideological infighting and disorganization have vitiated what political power it once had. (references) | |
Mexico | But, perhaps what most Mexicans expect from a Fox Administration is a vigorous attack on corruption and crime. (references) | |
Political Rights | Uganda | On November 17, a by-election was held; Nduhuura won in what observers viewed to be a generally free and fair election. (references) |
Guinea-Bissau | This "coalition" government unraveled when President Yala sought to assert what he perceived as his legitimate constitutional authority. (references) | |
Haiti | These results were based on what opposition parties and independent observers termed a flawed interpretation of both the Constitution and the electoral law. (references) | |
Trade | Italy | It is best to first confirm what form of payment is accepted. (references) |
Sweden | In 1998, the European Court of Justice ruled in what has become known as the Silhouette Case. (references) | |
Argentina | The buyer and seller share responsibility in determining what product standard is applicable. (references) | |
Travel | Vietnam | However, you get what you pay for. (references) |
Ghana | Add extra salt to your food to replace what your body loses in perspiration. (references) | |
Philippines | No matter what the final result, the discussions should always end cheerfully. (references) | |
Women | Afghanistan | The Taliban decreed what women could wear in public. (references) |
Russia | Police are reluctant and sometimes unwilling to intervene in what they regard as purely domestic disputes. (references) | |
China | However, a recent Government survey found that women were paid only 70 to 80 percent of what men received for the same work. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Uruguay | This amount approximates what a child might earn working on the street. (references) |
Azerbaijan | Idle factory workers earn a fraction of what they received a decade ago. (references) | |
Australia | Legislation that went into force in 1994 legalized what had always been an implicit right to strike. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | TIGHTS, n. An habiliment of the stage designed to reinforce the general acclamation of the press agent with a particular publicity. Public attention was once somewhat diverted from this garment to Miss Lillian Russell's refusal to wear it, and many were the conjectures as to her motive, the guess of Miss Pauline Hall showing a high order of ingenuity and sustained reflection. It was Miss Hall's belief that nature had not endowed Miss Russell with beautiful legs. This theory was impossible of acceptance by the male understanding, but the conception of a faulty female leg was of so prodigious originality as to rank among the most brilliant feats of philosophical speculation! It is strange that in all the controversy regarding Miss Russell's aversion to tights no one seems to have thought to ascribe it to what was known among the ancients as "modesty." The nature of that sentiment is now imperfectly understood, and possibly incapable of exposition with the vocabulary that remains to us. The study of lost arts has, however, been recently revived and some of the arts themselves recovered. This is an epoch of renaissances, and there is ground for hope that the primitive "blush" may be dragged from its hiding-place amongst the tombs of antiquity and hissed on to the stage. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Bill Maher | Well when this queen story broke today, I said, I have got to get back on the air because I don't know what. |
Dennis Miller | Say what you will about drug addicts, at least they move slowly. |
James Lipton | Yeah, but I didn't have that option, because I want to go through the whole career. I've got to know what happened to them. |
Jesse Ventura | Get unicameral or single-house on the ballot so that the people of Minnesota could have a choice of what their government would be. |
Julie Andrews | My. Well, a lot of people have passed on. And Dudley, I think, is one of the saddest of them all. What a waste. |
Pamela Anderson | A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. And in this world, you got to use everything you got. |
Robert Atkins | Of course. Because everybody heard low fat, low fat, low fat, they had to eat more carbohydrates. That's what caused the epidemic. |
Rush Limbaugh | Look what America has allowed me to do. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | On this call, momentous in the extreme, I sought and weighted what might best subdue the crisis. |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | From his cradle to his grave he is learning to do what he sees others do. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | People everywhere are coming to realize that what is involved is material well-being, human dignity, and the right to believe in and worship God. |
John F. Kennedy | 1961-1963 | Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | Every President lives, not only with what is, but with what has been and what could be. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | Our greatness as a nation has been our capacity to do what had to be done when we knew our course was right. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Excellence is what makes frcedom ring. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | What a group of kids we've sent into the world. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | All we can do is decide what we're going to do. |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | And in this time of war, I can assure you this government is spending what is necessary to win the war. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "WHAT" is generally used as a determiner (wh-) -- approximately 99.99% of the time. "WHAT" is used about 249,217 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Determiner (wh-) | 99.99% | 249,202 | 44 |
| Total | 100.00% | 249,217 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "WHAT": a full stomach does not know what hunger is ♦ about what ♦ after what ♦ against what ♦ and heaven knows what ♦ and what not? de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis ♦ ascertain what happened ♦ at what ♦ at what time ♦ before what ♦ bless the boy! what has he been doing? ♦ but what ♦ by what right? ♦ come what may ♦ come what may! ♦ come what will ♦ come what will! ♦ cost what it may ♦ cost what it may! ♦ deciding what to say ♦ do what you want! ♦ fiddlestick end! fiddlededee! never mind! n'importe! what signifies it ♦ for what ♦ for what it is worth ♦ for what purpose? ♦ for what reason ♦ from what ♦ give your mind to what you are doing ♦ happen what may ♦ have what it takes ♦ he does not know what is right from what is wrong ♦ heaven knows what ♦ how is it? what is the reason? what's the matter ♦ i am blest if i know what to do! ♦ i can't think what you mean ♦ i don't care what people say ♦ i mean what i say ♦ i scarcely head what he said ♦ i'll be blest if i know what to do! ♦ in what ♦ in what manner ♦ in what way ♦ Interjection: what on earth! what in the world! What the devil! Holy cow! Can you top that? ♦ it's just what the doctor ordered ♦ know what is what ♦ know what it is ♦ know what one is about ♦ know what to do ♦ know what's what ♦ listen to what follows! ♦ make smb. do what one like ♦ mark what i say! ♦ mean what one says ♦ mind what you are about! ♦ never do to others what you would not have them do to ♦ never put off till tomorrow what you can do today ♦ no matter what ♦ no matter what happens ♦ not but what ♦ obtain what one has begged for ♦ of what ♦ of what avail is it? ♦ on what ♦ on what account ♦ on what grounds? ♦ out of what ♦ over what ♦ reason what ♦ so what ♦ the sum and substance of what he said ♦ there! what did i tell you? ♦ think what you are doing! ♦ to what ♦ to what degree ♦ to what degree? ♦ to what end? ♦ to what extent ♦ to what purpose? ♦ under what ♦ up to what time? ♦ what ..! ♦ what ... like ♦ what a ..! ♦ what a bind! ♦ what a blessing! ♦ what a bother! ♦ what a brute! ♦ what a con! ♦ what a damned nuisance! ♦ what a damned nuisance! hang it! ♦ what a darling house! ♦ what a darling little kitten! ♦ what a day! ♦ what a drag! ♦ what a farce! ♦ what a fool! ♦ what a fun! ♦ what a good thing! ♦ what a heck! ♦ what a huge house! ♦ what a joke!. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "WHAT": what-a, what-all, what-are-you-doing-here, what-did-you-call-it, what-do-you-call-it, what-do-you-call-them, what-do-you-think-we-are, What-d'ye-call, what-d'you-call-'em, what-d'you-call-'ems, what-d'you-call-it, what-ever, what-for, what-goes-on, what-grows-naturally, what-happens-next, what-have-you, what-if, what-ifs, what-i'm-not, what-i-say, what-is-it, what-i-think, what-maner, What-may-perhaps-be, what-might-have-been, what-not, what-nots, what-not-to-eat, what-on-earth-are-you-doing-here, what-questions, what-so-ever, what-the-butler-saw, what-the-hell, what-they-now-are, what-to-do, what-were-their-chances, what-what, what-you-see, what-you-see-is-what-you-get. | |
Ending with "WHAT": wh-what, w-what, you-know-what. | |
Containing "WHAT": aw-shucks-gee-look-what-happened-to-me-when-i-wasn't-trying, clerk-cum-what-have-you, come-what-may, depends-what-you-mean, I-don't-know-what-all, take-what-you-want, who-got-what-in-which-treaty, who-knows-what-enough, who-said-what-to-whom, who-what-why-and-when, you-know-what-again. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "WHAT"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | wat (that, which, which one, who). (various references) | |
Albanian | çfarë (how, that). (various references) | |
Arabic | يا لها من, يا له من, ماذا, ما, الذي (that, which, who, whom, whose), أي (any, namely, viz, which). (various references) | |
Basque | zer. (various references) | |
Breton | petra. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | що за, що, това което, кой (which, who, whom, whose), колко (how, how far, how many, how much), какъвто (whatever, whatsoever), какъв (the, what kind of), какво. (various references) | |
Catalan | que (that), què. (various references) | |
Chinese | 甚麼 , 怎麼著 , 曷 (how, when, where, why), 何 (carry, how, which, why), 孰 (which, who), 多麼 (how, however), 什么, 哪些 (which, who), 如何 (how, what way). (various references) | |
Croatian | èemu, što. (various references) | |
Czech | co (eh, since, which, who). (various references) | |
Danish | hvad (that). (various references) | |
Dutch | wat (any, anything, as, how, like, rather, some, something, somewhat, such as, that, to some extent), hetgeen (that, which). (various references) | |
Esperanto | kio (that, which). (various references) | |
Estonian | mis, mida (which). (various references) | |
Faeroese | sum (as, how, how many, how much, like, such as, that, which, who), hvat (that, what a, what kind of, what sort of, which, who). (various references) | |
Farsi | هرچه (Whatever, Whatsoever), چه مقدار, چه اندازه , چه (Any, Or, Whether), چقدر (Any), کدام (Any, Which), حرف ربط, علامت استفهام , انچه (Whatever). (various references) | |
Finnish | mitä (how, most), mikä (that, which). (various references) | |
Flemish | wat (some), hoe (how). (various references) | |
French | quoi (which), que (whether, which, whom). (various references) | |
French Canadian | quelles, quelle (which), quel, que (as, not, only, that, which). (various references) | |
Frisian | hoe'n (what a, what kind of, what sort of). (various references) | |
Galician | que (that, to), qué. (various references) | |
German | was (any, anything, how much, some, something, that, what for, what's, which, why), welche (any, some, that, which, which one, whichever, who), wie (as, as well as, eh, how, in what way, like, such as, than, when). (various references) | |
Greek | τι. (various references) | |
Guarani | mba'epa, mba'épa. (various references) | |
Haitian Creole | sa (it, that, this), kisa, ki (that, which, who). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | çka (that), çfarë (that). (various references) | |
Hebrew | איזה (any, which). (various references) | |
Hungarian | mit (that), mi (cui bono?, how is business?, our withers are unwrung, that, times we live in, we), mik, amit (that, which), ami (I've taken sg on myself which, that, which, who). (various references) | |
Icelandic | sem, hvert (where), hverju, hver (that, which, who), hvað (that). (various references) | |
Indonesian | apa (which). (various references) | |
Irish | cad (what is), cén (what is), céard (what is). (various references) | |
Italian | che (as, or, such, than, that, whether, which, whichever, who, whom, whoseever), come (as, as well as, both ... and, for, how, like, such, such as, what ... like, whereby), che cosa. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 何 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | なにごと (everything, nothing, something), なにら (any, whatever), なに, なんたる, なんら (any kind of, nothing whatever, what sort of, whatever), なんと (constellation in Sagittarius, how, southern capital, whatever), なん (defect, difficulty, hardships, south), どの (Mister, Mr, person, which), どんな (what kind of). (various references) | |
Korean |
