أما

Univerbation of أَن‎ (ʔan, “that”) +‎ مَا‎ (mā, relative), the original thought being “that this matter be touched”, “be it that”, or just a dialectal variant of disjunctive إِمَّا‎ (ʔimmā, “be it that”) as أَمَّا‎ (ʔammā) can well be used for positing two alternatives.

• IPA^(key): /ʔam.maː/

أَمَّا • (ʔammā)

1. as for; followed by a noun or pronoun, itself followed by the particle فَـ‎ (fa-)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 92:4-10:

     ‏إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّى
     فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَٱتَّقَى
     وَصَدَّقَ بِٱلْحُسْنَى
     فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى
     وَأَمَّا مَن بَخِلَ وَٱسْتَغْنَى
     وَكَذَّبَ بِٱلْحُسْنَى
     فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْعُسْرَى‎

     ʔinna saʕyakum lašattā
     fa-ʔammā man ʔaʕṭā wa-ttaqā
     wa-ṣaddaqa bi-l-ḥusnā
     fa-sanuyassiruhu li-l-yusrā
     wa-ʔammā man baḵila wa-staḡnā
     wa-kaḏḏaba bi-l-ḥusnā
     fa-sanuyassiruhu li-l-ʕusrā

     Indeed, your efforts are diverse.
     As for he who gives and fears Allah
     And believes in the best [reward],
     We will ease him toward ease.
     But as for he who withholds and considers himself free of need
     And denies the best [reward],
     We will ease him toward difficulty.

   • ‏وَلَمْ أَرَ كَٱلمَعْرُوفِ؛ أَمَّا مَذَاقُهُ / فَحُلْوٌ، وَأَمَّا وَجْهُهُ فَجَمِيلُ‎

     wa-lam ʔara ka-l-maʕrūfi; ʔammā maḏāquhu / fa-ḥulwun, wa-ʔammā wajhuhu fa-jamīlu

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

• أَمَّا بَعْدُ‎ (ʔammā baʕdu)

• Maltese: imma
• Moroccan Arabic: أما‎ (ʔamma)
• → Azerbaijani: amma
• → Bashkir: әммә (ämmä)
• → Persian: اما‎ (ammâ)
• → Ottoman Turkish: اما‎ (ammâ)
  • Turkish: ama
  • → Albanian: ama (Kosovo)
  • → Armenian: ամա (ama), ամմա (amma)
  • → Laz: ამა (ama)
• → Urdu: اما‎ (ammâ)
• → Hausa: àmmā
  • → Yoruba: àmọ́ (اموَْ)
    • → Gun: àmɔ́
  • → Nupe: àmáà

From Arabic أَمَّا‎ (ʔammā).

• IPA^(key): /ʔam.ma/

• Audio

  (file)

أما • (ʔamma)

1. as for
2. but

From Arabic أَمَّا‎ (ʔammā).

• IPA^(key): /ʔam.ma/, [ˈʔam.ma]

• Audio (al-Lidd)

  (file)

أما • (ʔamma)

1. whereas, as for, but

   ‏ألف شيكل ممكن اعطيك — أمّا ألفين، هلا والله ما بقدر.‎‎

   ʔalf šēkel mumken aʕṭīk, ʔamma ʔalfēn halla walla mā baʔdar.

   I can give you a thousand shekels — as for two thousand, I really can't right now.

   ‏كل هادا، معليش — أمّا يكذب علي كمان؟‎‎

   kull hāda, maʕlēš — ʔamma yikzeb ʕalay kamān?

   All of this is fine — but that he should lie to me too?

   Synonym: بسّ‎ (bass)

2. used to indicate surprise or other strong feelings in an exclamation

   ‏دخلنا جول — أمّا شو جول!‎‎

   daḵalna gōl — ʔamma šū gōl!

   We scored a goal — what a goal!

   Synonym: ما‎ (ma)

• Note that ما‎ (ma) can only be used in the third sense before an elative adjective, whereas أمّا‎ (ʔamma) is more flexible. Although أمّا‎ (ʔamma) could be used before an elative adjective, it is most commonly seen before a nominal phrase introduced by شو‎ (šū).