# sound of surprise, admiration



## ThomasK

In Dutch we would say : 

- "*Oei*", I had not seen that [transliterated as /oo-y/ in English], showing surprise and some kind of shock, mixed with regret... 

- (Flemish) *"Amaai",* I could not do that ! [transliterated as /ah-my/ in E], betraying admiration. 

Do you have that kind of short words as well for those emotions? _(We explored variants of "ouch" elsewhere, but I only find this thread )_


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## apmoy70

In Greek:
Usually the interjenction «οπ» or «ωπ» (op) is heard when someone is surprised or shocked. 
For admiration, «όπα» or «ώπα» (both  spellings are used interchangeably) is common.


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## Rallino

In Turkish,

The sound for shock or surprise is *Hiii!*, but we make this sound through inhaling the air.

There is also: _*Ayyy!*_ But that's too effeminate, men almost never use it.

More slang sounds are: _*Ohaa! *_or *Çüşş!* These are actually the sounds that the shepherd makes to stop his donkey or camel. But they are used in colloquial speech to show surprize. Women use them less often. 

In some regions (Anatolia, East-Anatolia), people say: *Amanın!* Or some people start with: *Ananı...!* (i.e. 'your mother' in accusative form), they don't mean to insult but, I guess thats what happens when you make a habit of using curse words 24/7...


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## rusita preciosa

Russian:
*Ой!* - /oy/ - surprise
*Ого!* - /oho ("h' here is something between *h* in "house" and first *g* in "garage")/ - admiration
People use *Wow!* more and more, probably borrowed from American movies.


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## Nizo

In Esperanto, the common exclamations of surprise are *aĥ!, ha!, oho!*


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## ThomasK

Rallino said:


> There is also: _*Ayyy!*_ But that's too effeminate, men almost never use it.
> 
> More slang sounds are: _*Ohaa! *_or *Çüşş!* These are actually the sounds that the shepherd makes to stop his donkey or camel. But they are used in colloquial speech to show surprize. Women use them less often.


 
It is funny to hear about these sex-related words. We don't have that difference in simple exclamations, I think. If of course we talk about cursing/ swearing, then I can see a similar phenomenon: women's language is considered softer. But are we still talking about either surprise-with-shock/regret and admiration?


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## ThomasK

rusita preciosa said:


> Russian:
> *Ой!* - /oy/ - surprise
> *Ого!* - /oho ("h' here is something between *h* in "house" and first *g* in "garage")/ - admiration
> People use *Wow!* more and more, probably borrowed from American movies.


 
/oy/ looks very much like our "oei", but is that surprise mixed with shock? 

The "wow" is extremely common, here too. But there are longer expressions for that, which I can't go into here...


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## Rallino

ThomasK said:


> It is funny to hear about these sex-related words. We don't have that difference in simple exclamations, I think. If of course we talk about cursing/ swearing, then I can see a similar phenomenon: women's language is considered softer. But are we still talking about either surprise-with-shock/regret and admiration?


_*
Ayy!*_,_* Amanın!*_ and *Ananı..!* are said when surprized with shock. While the first one (ayy) can also be said in regret.

*Ohaa! *and _*Çüşş!*_ are just surprize sounds (without shock), or said in admiration. For example, let's say that I take you from the airport and we're going to my place for the new year's party. I tell you, the house is somewhat big, don't get scared. And you tell me: "Oh don't worry pal, I am used to big houses." Then we arrive home, and you - upon seeing the 5-storey mansion with a huge huge garden, say: _*Ooohaaa!*_

Got it?


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## rusita preciosa

ThomasK said:


> /oy/ looks very much like our "oei", but is that surprise mixed with shock?


This is probably the most verstaile interjection in Russian. It can signify any emotion, from regret to embarrassment to admiration or shock


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## ThomasK

@ Rusita: then it is like the English 'ah' or 'oh', isn't it? With us there is some negative element in it; positive surprise is associated with the clear 'a', I think. But I am just venturing upon such a hypothesis. 

@ Rallino: the *Ooohaaa* meaning sounds a little strange to me, when I compare it with the Dutch 'ou' /aw/ used in those circumstances. Or maybe yes, Dutch 'ho (maar)' sounds related: it can be used when trying to stop one's horse, donkey (camel ? ;-)) around here. Surprise and stopping are related, I think, even literally in some languages. Interesting, thanks !


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## rusita preciosa

ThomasK said:


> @ Rusita: then it is like the English 'ah' or 'oh', isn't it? With us there is some negative element in it; positive surprise is associated with the clear 'a', I think. But I am just venturing upon such a hypothesis.


 Nope. In Russian *ой!* can be positive too. Depending on the intonation and the context, it really can be anything.


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## Selyd

In ukrainian:
Ой, ойой! - unexpectedness, pain, stress
Ого - surprise
Aгa, Щасс - disagreement 
Угу - consent
Тю - neglect
Тьху - disappointment
Ох - unexpectedness
Оппа - something occurs unexpectedly


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## origumi

Hebrew:

Ho (admiration)
Oi / Oi Vei (surprise when something bad happens, from Yiddish)
Waw (admiration, from English)
Ya (surprise)
Ya ba ye (stronger surprise)
Pshhh (admiration)


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## ThomasK

Selyd said:


> In ukrainian:
> Ой, ойой! - unexpectedness, pain, stress
> Ого - surprise
> Aгa, Щасс - disagreement
> Угу - consent
> Тю - neglect
> Тьху - disappointment
> Ох - unexpectedness
> Оппа - something occurs unexpectedly


You seem to have more variation than we do. 

But you are referring to Rusita's contribution, but are you suggesting there are more than in Russian? _(Please translate because more people may not be able to perfectly read the Cyrillic signs, especially the vowels, I think)_


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## Selyd

ThomasK said:


> _Please translate because more people may not be able to perfectly read the Cyrillic signs, especially the vowels, I think_


In ukrainian:
Ой, ойой! (oy, oyoy) - unexpectedness, pain, stress
Ого (oho) - surprise
Aгa, Щасс (aha, stchass) - disagreement 
Угу (uhu) - consent
Тю (tyu)- neglect
Тьху (t'chu) - disappointment
Ох (och) - unexpectedness
Оппа (oppa) - something occurs unexpectedly


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## Maroseika

ThomasK said:


> But you are referring to Rusita's contribution, but are you suggesting there are more than in Russian? _(Please translate because more people may not be able to perfectly read the Cyrillic signs, especially the vowels, I think)_


All the interjections Selyd produced they exist in Russian too, maybe save of тю. This is pure Ukranian and can be encountered in Russian mostly in the South, in the neighborhood with the Ukraine.
On the other hand щас is a loan from Russian (< сейчас - now).
Russian for тьху is тьфу (t'fu - imitation of the spitting sound, meaning spitting with vexation).


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## ThomasK

P_hew_ in English, maybe also _foei_ in Dutch, might refer to your тьху/ тьфу, though their meanings do not perfectly correlate.


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## rusita preciosa

ThomasK said:


> P_hew_ in English, maybe also _foei_ in Dutch, might refer to your тьху/ тьфу, though their meanings do not perfectly correlate.


*Phew *in English I think is rather a sigh of relief or bad smell.
*Тьфу* in Russian could also refer to disgust
But none of there signify admiration or surprise.


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## tyhryk

These words aren't Ukrainian. 


Selyd said:


> Щасс
> Оппа


Such words Ukrainians call "суржик" (surzhyk) that means the words, mixed from Ukrainian and Russian languages. Indeed they're not exist nor in Ukrainian neither in Russian language. It often writes to destroy Ukrainian language. Simple example. A word "hello" is "привіт" in Ukrainian and "привет" in Russian, in Ukrainian-Russian суржик (not slang) this word is written as "прівєт". It's not and wasn't an Ukrainian word. The same situation with "щасс", "оппа" - they aren't exist in Ukrainian orthography.


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## Selyd

tyhryk said:


> These words aren't Ukrainian.
> 
> Such words Ukrainians call "суржик" (surzhyk) that means the words, mixed from Ukrainian and Russian languages. Indeed they're not exist nor in Ukrainian neither in Russian language. It often writes to destroy Ukrainian language. Simple example. A word "hello" is "привіт" in Ukrainian and "привет" in Russian, in Ukrainian-Russian суржик (not slang) this word is written as "прівєт". It's not and wasn't an Ukrainian word. The same situation with "щасс", "оппа" - they aren't exist in Ukrainian orthography.


I agree. Not literary words.


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## Tjahzi

Just for the record, isn't Surzhyk _прівєт_ nothing else than Russian _привет _written with Ukrainian orthography?


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## mataripis

Tagalog:  _Talaga!/ naman!_ / Ay!


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## Messquito

In Taiwan:

哇(wa)-surprise
derivations:
哇屎(wa sài)-surprise and admiration-lit. wow shit
哇靠(wa càu)-surprise and admiration(or disdain)-lit. wow cry

蛤(hã(nasalized))-surprise and doubt and probably anger-("What (are you talking about?)")-also used when you don't catch what they are saying
(It is assumed to be the quick and babbling version of 什麼(she meh)(what)-->啥(shã(nasalized))-->蛤(hã))

We seldom use these sounds to express surprise, though. We usually use actual words, like "really?" "It can't be!" or curses instead.


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