What is hello?

Question

Meaning of hello. Who made the word hello.

Answer 1

Its current popularization as "HELLO" meaning "greetings" especially used to start phone converations coincided with the rising use of the telephone in the late 1800's. Alexander Graham Bell had actually favored "Ahoy" instead of "hello." Ahoy normally has its association with calling out upon sailing ships, boats, ferries and all other types of sea vessels. The ancestral origin of the word "hello", in all likelihood, does as well.

The word hello has its origins (according to the Online Etymology Dictionary) in Continental/European usage with the most logical and historic connection at least as early as 1400 to the German "hala/hola" which is the imperative of "hollen" which means to fetch". It was used to get the attention of people far away on a ferry boat by those who wanted to hitch a ride by yelling out to the ferryman "HALLO!" (fetch me over here!). 

For OED references, see:  http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hello

and for Collins German translation of "fetch": http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-german/fetch?

and http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hello 

where you will find

According to Merriam Webster: hello- an expression or gesture of greeting —used interjectionally in greeting, in answering the telephone, or to express surprise

Answer 2

This a greeting or salutation.  One can use it answering the phone, when meeting people or when writing someone known to you.  Recently, the word "Hello" has been used as slang for "Am I right?" or "Do I make sense", i.e., "He really upset me - hello!"

Answer 3

Hello was actually borrowed by the English in the middle ages from the french ho la.  It was used as a shout or call and indicated pay attention to me.  The word was changed by the English again and again in the 1500s and 1600s to eventually a call of hulloo or haloo.  Then a gradual English shift to the present hello.  Thus, the French really invented it, but the evolution of the word was actually English.  Hope this helps.

 

Answer 4

Hello is an alteration of hallo -- a shout to call attention. Hello dates back to about 1883 and has become the most used greeting, especially on the telephone. Hello can be used to express surprise and it can be used as a verb with the inflected forms being; helloed, helloing, helloes.

Answer 5

Let's make it simple: "Hello" is a greeting to invite someone else into interaction, and its part of speech would be an Interjection; therefore, if you start a written sentence with "Hello", you would need to place a comma after it to write the rest of your complete sentence. 

Answer 6

People have started using this word as a starter in the telephone conversation. Hello is simply a greeting as an salutation nothing more. Also it didnt exist in english language but Thomas Edison invented that word as a way of greeting a caller on the phone.

Answer 7

Language evolves over time. The reference to the German verb to fetch, now known as "holen" when hailing a ferryman is interesting. Look at how all languages pick up on others: hello, hallo (german) , hola (spanish). Evolution and adopted words creep into our languages all the time.

Answer 8

Here are some etymology references on the orign of "hello".. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hello http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello Hope that helps. Please remember to click the thumbs up if this helped you! Thank you :)