ach

See also: ACH, aćh, -ach, ách, and ạch

Translingual

Symbol

ach

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Acholi.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English ache, from Old French ache, from Latin apium (“parsley”).

Alternative forms

• ache

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æt͡ʃ/

Noun

ach (plural aches)

1. (obsolete) Any of several species of plants, such as smallage, wild celery, parsley.

Derived terms

• lovage
• smallage

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æx/, /ɑx/, /əx/

Interjection

ach

1. An expression of annoyance.
   • 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972:

     "Ach." Auntie frowned hugely. "That is all nonsense."

2. An expression of woe or regret.
3. Alternative form of och

Anagrams

• -cha, CAH, CHA, Cha, HAC, HCA, cah, cha

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• aacht (Moselle Franconian)
• aach (Ripuarian)

Etymology

From Middle High German ahte, from Old High German ahto, from Proto-West Germanic *ahtō, from Proto-Germanic *ahtōu, from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

Numeral

ach

1. (Limburgan Ripuarian) eight (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 8; or describing a set with eight elements)

Derived terms

• Ach
• achmoal

Related terms

• achtsieg
• achtsing

Further reading

• “ach” in d'r nuie Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer 2nd ed., 2017.

Chuukese

Determiner

ach

1. First-person plural inclusive general possessive; our (inclusive)

Related terms

Chuukese possessive determiners

		Small objects, concepts	Large objects, living things	Suffix
Singular	First person	ai	nei	-ei
	Second person	omw, om	noum	-om
	Third person	an	noun	-an
Plural	First person	äm (exclusive) ach (inclusive)	nöu̇m (exclusive) nöüch (inclusive)	-em (exclusive) -ach (inclusive)
	Second person	ämi, ami	noumi	-emi
	Third person	ar	nour	-er

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• òich (plural you only)

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronoun

ach

1. (Sette Comuni) accusative of iart: you (plural; polite singular)

See also

Cimbrian personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	dative
1st person singular		ich	mich	miar
2nd person singular	familiar	du	dich	diar
	polite	iart	ach	òich
3rd person singular	m	èar, ar	in, en	iime
	f	zi, ze		iar
	n	es, is	es, 's	iime
1st person plural		bar, bandare	zich	izàndarn
2nd person plural		iart, iartàndare, artàndare	òich, ach	ogàndarn
3rd person plural		ze, zòi, zandare	zich	innàndarn

References

• “ach” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ach
• Rhymes: -ɑx

Interjection

ach

1. oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay

Descendants

• Afrikaans: ag
• → Papiamentu: ag
• → Peranakan Indonesian: ach

Esperanto

Interjection

ach

1. H-system spelling of aĉ

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ach, from Old High German ah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ax/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ax

Interjection

ach

1. oh, alas (expressing surprise, sorrow, or understanding)
   • 1808, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Vor dem Thor”, in Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil [Faust, Part One]‎^[2]; republished as Bayard Taylor, transl., 1870:

     Zwey Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, / Die eine will sich von der andern trennen;

     Two souls, alas! reside within my breast, / And each withdraws from, and repels, its brother.

2. oh (preceding an offhand or annoyed remark)
3. oh (preceding an invocation or address, but rarely a solemn one)

Derived terms

• ach du liebe Güte
• ach du lieber Gott
• ach je
• ächzen

 

Descendants

• Danish: ah
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ah, a
• Yiddish: אַך (akh)

Further reading

• “ach” in Duden online
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “ach”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
• “ach” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /ɑx/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ax/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish acht (“but, except”), from Proto-Celtic *extos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs.

Alternative forms

• acht (obsolete)

Conjunction

ach

1. but

Preposition

ach (plus nominative, triggers no mutation)

1. except, but

Derived terms

• ach oiread (“as well”) (after a negative)

Adverb

ach

1. but, only, merely

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Alternative forms

• ách

Interjection

ach!

1. ah! och! ugh!

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ach”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “acht”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “ach” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “ach” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Lithuanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Polish ach.

Interjection

ach (archaic)

1. o (used to address someone or a group)

Further reading

• Wojciech Smoczyński (2018) “ach”, in Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin, Germany: Peter Lang, →DOI, →ISBN, page 4

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/, [ax], [ɑχ]

Interjection

ach

1. oh (an expression of grievance or displeasure)

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian achta. Compare West Frisian acht.

Numeral

ach

1. (Heligoland) eight

Old Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *axъ, ultimately a natural expression. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /ax/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ax/

Interjection

ach

1. ah! (expresses surprise)
   • 1915 [End of the 15th century], Jan Łoś, editor, Przegląd językowych zabytków staropolskich do r. 1543‎^[3], page 315:

     Ach boze moy, pomozy my

     [Ach Boże moj, pomoży mi]

   • 1915 [Middle of the 15th century], Jan Łoś, editor, Przegląd językowych zabytków staropolskich do r. 1543‎^[4], page 514:

     Ach nyestocze proch dolor

     [Ach niestocie proch dolor]

   • 1885 [End of the 15th century], Jan Baudouina de Courtenay, Jan Karłowicz, Antoni Adam Kryńskiego, Malinowski Lucjan, editors, Prace Filologiczne‎^[5], volume III, page 289:

     Ach gelacze heu

     [Ach jełacie heu]

   • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[6], page 56:

     Takoż płakał rzekąc: Ach mnie nędznemu

     [Takoż płakał rzekąc: Ach mnie nędznemu]

Descendants

• → Lithuanian: ach
• Polish: ach

References

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “ach”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Peranakan Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch ach (“oh”).

Interjection

ach

1. oh, expresses compassion, surprise and dismay

   Ach, ia laen tida minta doeit. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish ach, from Proto-Slavic *axъ, ultimately a natural expression.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ax/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ax/, /ɒx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ax
• Syllabification: ach

Interjection

ach

1. ah! (expresses surprise)

   Synonyms: och, ojej, ależ

Derived terms

adjective

• ach i och

 

interjections

• (Middle Polish) achcie
• (Middle Polish) achcież

 

noun

• achy i ochy

 

verbs

• achać impf, achnąć pf

 

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), ach is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 0 times in scientific texts, 0 times in news, 0 times in essays, 10 times in fiction, and 44 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 54 times, making it the 1186th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Further reading

• ach in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ach in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “ach, ah”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Krystyna Siekierska (08.06.2022) “ACH”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) Słownik języka polskiego‎^[7], volume 1, pages 3-4
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “ach”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎^[8]
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “ach”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎^[9] (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 6

Scots

Etymology

In imitation of a cry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑx/

Interjection

ach

1. An exclamation of impatience, disappointment, contempt, remonstrance.
2. expression of satisfaction or pleasure.

References

• “ach, int.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish acht (“but, except”), from Proto-Celtic *extos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs-tos.

Conjunction

ach

1. but

   Thèid mise ach cha tèid thusa. ― I'll go but you won't [go].

2. except, only

   Cha robh ann ach trì daoine. ― There were only three people (literally "there was not there but/except for three people").

Etymology 2

Shortened form of feuch.

Conjunction

ach

1. so that

   Dh'aontaich e ach am biodh adhartas air choireigin ann. ― He agreed so that there would be some progress.

References

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “acht”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Temascaltepec Nahuatl

Adverb

ach

1. maybe

Welsh

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *akkā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekkeh₂ (compare Latin Acca (Larentia), a Roman goddess, Ancient Greek Ἀκκώ (Akkṓ, “nurse of Demeter”), Sanskrit अक्का (akkā, “mother”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːχ/
• Rhymes: -aːχ

Noun

ach f (plural achau or achoedd)

1. kinship
2. pedigree, ancestry
3. (in the plural) lineage
4. (in the plural) genealogy, family roots

Derived terms

• achres (“genealogical table”)
• achydd (“genealogist”)
• achyddiaeth (“genealogy”)
• achyddol (“genealogical”)
• ers achau (“for ages”)

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

och, ych

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aχ/

Interjection

ach

1. yuck

Derived terms

ach-y-fi

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ach	unchanged	unchanged	hach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ach”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies