# היכן / איפה / איה



## dukaine

When do you use היכן?  My feeling is, based on the context in which I read it, that it's used to gain information rather than to locate, if that makes sense - like "Where are you?" would be "eifo", and "Where are you in this picture?" would be "heychan".  Is that right?


----------



## anipo

היכן and איפה are synonyms, the latter being of common use. היכן is higher and used mostly in formal occasions.


----------



## origumi

Synonyms, as anipo wrote. איפה is Biblical, היכן Gemaraic.


----------



## TrampGuy

there's also איה which is either higher or maybe archaic


----------



## airelibre

Are היכן and איפה perfect synonyms? For example could the following sentence be used equally correctly with איפה substituted in?

אני בטוח שהוא בדיוק היכן שהוא צריך להיות.


----------



## origumi

In th sentence above, and practically everywhere in Modern Hebrew, the two can substitute each other. In high-register language there are subtle differences, see here for example:
http://www.safa-ivrit.org/style/eifo.php


----------



## Ali Smith

TrampGuy said:


> there's also איה which is either higher or maybe archaic


I don't think אַיֵּה (aye) is ever used in modern Hebrew, regardless of how formal the speaker wishes to be. You can't get more formal than היכן.


----------



## Drink

It can be used in poetry.


----------



## Ali Smith

What about just _ey_? I mean אי. Actually, I don't know whether it's pronounced _ey_ or _e_ in modern Hebrew.

וַיֹּאמֶר יהוה אֶל־קַיִן אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ‎


----------



## Drink

It certainly is not used in ordinary Modern Hebrew. I'd guess that if it's used in poetry at all, then only rarely. Most likely any use of it would be references to specific Biblical verses, such as this one.


----------



## Ali Smith

Drink said:


> It can be used in poetry.


When it is used, is איה pronounced _a-ye_ or _a-ya_? I thought it was _a-ye_, but then I heard someone say _a-ya_! Not that it makes much of a difference, because you almost never hear it in modern Hebrew, even if the occasion is very formal.


----------



## bazq

Ali Smith said:


> When it is used, is איה pronounced _a-ye_ or _a-ya_? I thought it was _a-ye_, but then I heard someone say _a-ya_! Not that it makes much of a difference, because you almost never hear it in modern Hebrew, even if the occasion is very formal.



Yes it's [aye], aya is some kind of bird. 
Maybe the speaker you heard was saying aya!! (Ouch!), or perhaps he didn't know the how to pronounce איה.


----------



## Ali Smith

Could someone tell me whether איפה is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable or the second? EY-fo or ey-FO? My textbook says it's pronounced with the stress in the default position, i.e. on the last syllable, but I've heard Israelis say it with the stress on the first syllable.


----------



## Ali Smith

Another word for "where" is אָנָה (with stress on the first syllable), but it is rarely used in modern Hebrew.


----------



## amikama

Ali Smith said:


> Another word for "where" is אָנָה


It doesn't mean "where" but "to where". A flowery/archaic synonym of לאן.


----------



## Ali Smith

amikama: Thanks! So, is אָנָה used instead of לאן in formal situations in modern Hebrew?


----------



## amikama

Ali Smith said:


> is אָנָה used instead of לאן in formal situations in modern Hebrew?


No. As I said before, it's archaic. But you may find it in poetry and literature.


----------



## JAN SHAR

Add אי-מזה to your list of words that mean "where" but are only used in high register Hebrew.


----------

