baa

The letter ب in the Arabic script.

Pronunciation

  • IPA: [bɑː] · Context: UK
  • IPA: [bæ] · Context: US
  • IPA: [bɑ] · Context: US
  • IPA: [bæ̰ː]
  • IPA: [bæ̰ˀæ̰ˀæ̰ˀæ̰ˀ]
  • Context: Received Pronunciation · Audio
  • Context: General American · Audio
  • Rhymes: -ɑː
  • Rhymes: -æ
  • Homophone: bah
  • Homophone: bar (in some pronunciations)
  • IPA: /bɑː/

Interjection

  1. The characteristic cry of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.

    onomatopoeia

Origin

Compare German bäh, mäh; an imitative word.

Notes on phonological development

The pronunciation /bɑː/ is perhaps a development from earlier /bæː/ reflecting the shift of /æː/ to /ɑː/ during the 18th and 19th centuries. Compare Early Modern English bae, bea, both "to baa", respectively displaying the then current pronunciation of Middle English /aː/ as /æː/ and the failure of Middle English /ɛː/ to raise, and the replacement of mew with meow for another instance where recent sound change has made onomatopoeia opaque.

Forms

bah

Noun onomatopoeic

  1. The characteristic cry or bleating of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.

    onomatopoeia

    • Near-synonyms: bleat, bleating

    Synonyms: bleat bleating

Forms

baas bah

Derived

baa-lamb

Noun Entry 3

  1. The letter ب in the Arabic script.

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic بَاء (bāʔ).

Forms

baas

Verb

  1. To make the characteristic cry of a sheep or (broader) a sheep or goat.
    • Near-synonyms: blat, bleat (broad enough to include calves too)
    • He treble baas for help, but none can get. - a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590
    • The lamb bunted several irresponsive objects - never its dam's udder - baaing listlessly. - 1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 44

    Synonyms: blat bleat

Forms

baas baaing baaed bah