אשר

হিব্রু[সম্পাদনা]

From প্রত্ন-Semitic *ʔaṯar-. Cognate to আরবি أَثَر‎ (ʾaṯar, “trace, vestige, impression, relic”) and Ge'ez አሰር (ʾäsär), አሠር (ʾäśär, “trace, vestige; way, road; relic”), more closely Aramaic אַתְרָא‎ / ܐܰܬܪܳܐ‎ (ʾaṯrā), absolute state אֲתַר‎ (ʾăṯar), אָתַר‎ (ʾaṯar) / ܐܰܬܰܪ‎ (ʾaṯar, “spot, place”), אֲתָר‎ শব্দের জুড়ি borrowed from it,^[১] related also to the verb אָשַׁר‎ (ʾāšár, “to go straight on, to make progress”).^[২]

אֲשֶׁר ('ashér)

This conjunction is somewhat archaic, but still sees use in formal writing. Its less formal counterpart is שֶׁ־‎ (she-).
אֲשֶׁר as a conjunction is a relativizer, which is something Standard ইংরেজি doesn't have. It functions somewhat like a relative pronoun, but an additional pronoun (called a resumptive pronoun) remains inside the relative clause. This can happen in ইংরেজি as well, when the internal structure of the clause prevents the internal pronoun from being dropped, but whereas in ইংরেজি it's somewhat rare and normally considered an error, in হিব্রু it's quite common and quite standard. Specifically, in হিব্রু the internal pronoun cannot be dropped when it's the object of a preposition.

אֲשֶׁר ('ashér)

This pronoun is somewhat archaic, but still sees use in formal writing. Its less formal counterpart is שֶׁ־‎ (she-).
As noted above, אֲשֶׁר serves in some cases as a conjunction rather than as a pronoun.