-h

English

Etymology

An orthographic device that forces the preceding vowel to be read ‘short’: ⟨dih⟩ /dɪ/, ⟨bruh⟩ /bɹʌ/, etc. (not */da͡ɪ, bɹu/). Although the letter h has long been used ad-hoc for this purpose in English — see uh and meh — the practice of clipping content words to humorous effect took off as an Internet meme in 2025 and created a productive association between -h and such clippings.

Suffix

-h

1. (Internet slang, also originally African-American Vernacular) Used to censor words.

   ‎dick + ‎-h → ‎dih

   ‎ass + ‎-h → ‎ahh

2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Used to form new words.

   ‎brother + ‎-h → ‎bruh

   ‎no + ‎-h → ‎nah

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -h

-ahh

ahh

bih

dih

fih

puh

shi

shii

yeah

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-h/ [-h]

Suffix

-h

1. Marks the benefactive case: for ...'s benefit
2. Marks the allative case: towards
3. Marks the prolative case: by way of
4. Marks the instrumental case: using; with
5. Marks the adessive case: on; on top of
6. Marks the temporal case: during; on
7. Marks the causal case: because of
8. Marks the estimative case: of about
9. Marks the assertive mood: really
10. (+ én or geytimé) Marks the verbal noun
11. Used after the genitive case of nouns ending on a vowel, before words beginning with a vowel

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎^[1], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 357

Beja

Suffix

-h

2. 3nd-person possessive suffix: his, her, their

See also

Beja personal pronouns

Personal pronouns
		singular		plural
		masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
1st person	nominative	áni		hinín
	accusative	anééb
	genitive	aní		hiní
2nd person	nominative	barúúk	batúúk	baráákna	batáákna
	accusative	baróók	batóók	baréékna	batéékna
	genitive	bariiyóók	batiiyóók	bareeyóókna	bateeyóókna
3rd person	nominative	barúúh	batúúh	barááh	batááh
	accusative	baróóh	batóóh	barééh	batééh
	genitive	bariiyóóh	batiiyóóh	bareeyóóh	bateeyóóh
Possessive pronoun suffixes
		singular		plural
1st person		-∅		-n
2nd person		-k		-kna
3rd person		-h
Object pronoun suffixes
		singular		plural
		masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
1st person		-heeb		-hoon
2nd person		-hook		-hookna
3rd person		-∅
Copula person suffixes
		singular		plural
		masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
1st person		-(b)u	-(t)u	-(b)a	-(t)a
2nd person		-(b)uwa, -wa	-(t)uwi	-(b)aana	-(t)aana
3rd person		-(b)u	-(t)u	-(b)a	-(t)a

Classical Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ʔ/

Etymology 1

Suffix

-h

1. Used to form the plural of absolutive noun forms.

Examples:

cōconeh, plural form of conētl (“child”)

māmazah, plural form of mazātl (“deer”)

tēteoh, plural form of teōtl (“god”)

Usage notes

Some nouns pluralized with -h undergo the reduplication of their first or second syllable.

Synonyms

• (used to form the plural of a noun): -meh, -queh, -tin

Derived terms

• see Category:Classical Nahuatl plurals

Etymology 2

Suffix

-h

1. Forms the plural of verbs. Only used for animate subjects.

   titītza (“to stretch something”) → quititītzah (“They stretch it”)

   itta (“to see something”) → quittah (“They see it”)

   tolīnia (“to bother someone, to make suffer”) → ammotolīniah (“You (plrl.) suffer, You are bothered”)

   titītza (“to stretch something”) → motitītzah (“They stretch (themselves)”)

   itta (“to see something”) → tiquittah (“We see it”)

   pāca (“to wash something”) → tlapācah (“They wash something, they wash things”)

Karelian

Etymology 1

Regional variants of -h

North Karelian (Viena)	-h
South Karelian (Tver)	-h

From Proto-Finnic *-hen. Cognates include Finnish -Vn and Veps -he.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-h/

Suffix

-h

1. Used to form the illative case: into

   ‎linna (“town”) + ‎-h → ‎linnah (“into a town”)

Etymology 2

Regional variants of -h

North Karelian (Viena)	-h
South Karelian (Tver)	-h

From Proto-Finnic *-hen. Cognates include Finnish -Vn and Veps -ze.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-h/

Suffix

-h

1. Used to mark the possession of the third person: his, her, their

   ‎jalka (“leg”) + ‎-h → ‎jalkah (“his/her leg(s)”)

References

• P. M. Zaykov (1999), Грамматика Карельского языка (фонетика и морфология) [Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology)] (in Russian), →ISBN, page 47

Lower Tanana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Suffix

-h

1. (uncommon) A suffix appearing in a small number of nouns

Derived terms

Lower Tanana terms suffixed with -h

-k'ah

-k'ehanh

References

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, page 222

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ħ/

Suffix

-h m

1. alternative form of -u (“him, it”), used after a vowel

   ‎qatlu (“they killed”) + ‎-h → ‎qatluh (“they killed him”)

Related terms

• hu, huwa