ال
Arabic
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Uncertain; Rubin posits that this is a reduced form of the lost singular of Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”); compare rare Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”) and Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”). In this hypothesis, original initial /u/ would be lost due to low stress; the initial /a/ found in phrase-initial position would thus be prothetic.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Article
[edit]اَلْ • (al-)
Usage notes
[edit]- The /l/ of this prefix assimilates to and geminates the first letter of the base word when it begins with a traditionally-coronal consonant, natively called sun letters: ت (t), ث (ṯ), د (d), ذ (ḏ), ر (r), ز (z), س (s), ش (š), ص (ṣ), ض (ḍ), ط (ṭ), ظ (ẓ), ل (l), and ن (n). This does not traditionally include ج (j), as its original pronunciation was palatal rather than coronal, but in regions where it is pronounced /d͡ʒ ~ ʒ/ it can be found assimilating the definite article as well. The ل (l)’s assimilation is not observed by the article's spelling, which is invariably ال (al-); however, in fully vocalised texts, a shadda is written over the following sun letter to reflect gemination.
- The initial vowel a- is only pronounced when the article occurs either after a pause, at the beginning of an utterance, or after the preposition مِنْ (min). Otherwise, the article consists solely of the coronal consonant preceded by the final vowel of the previous word; if this previous word is consonant-final, then i is used as a linking vowel.
Descendants
[edit]- Egyptian Arabic: ال (el)
- Gulf Arabic: ال (il)
- Maltese: il-
- Moroccan Arabic: ال (el)
- → Persian: الـ (al-)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Aaron Rubin (2005) “Definite Articles”, in Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization, Brill, , →ISBN, pages 77-78
Brahui
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- ہَل (hal)
Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *eli. Cognate with Kannada ಇಲಿ (ili), Kodava ಎಲಿ (eli), Gondi యెల్లి (yelli), Tamil எலி (eli), Tulu ಎಲಿ (eli), Telugu ఎలుక (eluka) and Malayalam എലി (eli).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]اَل (al)
Bulgar
[edit]< 40 | 50 | 100 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : ال | ||
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Turkic *ellig.
Numeral
[edit]الُّ (ellü)
Descendants
[edit]- Chuvash: аллӑ (allă)
References
[edit]- Tekin, Talât (1988) Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası [Volga Bulgarian Ephitaphs and Volga Bulgarian Language][1] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, →ISBN, pages 90-91, 144-145, 198
Egyptian Arabic
[edit]Article
[edit]الـ • (el-)
Gulf Arabic
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /(ʔ)ɪl/, [l], (before sun letters) /ɪ/
Etymology 1
[edit]Article
[edit]اِلـ • (il-)
- the definite article; the
Etymology 2
[edit]Contraction of الي (illi, “the relative clause”), itself a contraction of Arabic اَلَّذِي m (allaḏī) and اَلَّتِي f (allatī)
Pronoun
[edit]اِلـ • (il-)
- (colloquial) the relative clause; that, who, which, etc
- Synonym: الي (illi)
Etymology 3
[edit]Could be directly from Arabic إِلَىٰ (ʔilā).
Preposition
[edit]اِلـ • (il-)
- (colloquial) to (destination)
Alternative forms
[edit]- لـ (l-)
Hijazi Arabic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /al/, (before sun letters) /a/
Article
[edit]الـ • (al-)
- the definite article; the
Kalami
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Sanskrit आर्द्र (ārdra).
Adjective
[edit]ال (al) m
References
[edit]- Baart, Joan L. G. (1997) “al”, in The sounds and tones of Kalam Kohistani: with wordlist and texts (Studies in Languages of Northern Pakistan; 1)[2], National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University; Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 77
Karakhanid
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Turkic *o-l (“that”). Cognate with Turkish o (“he, she, it; that”) and Chinese 兀 (wù, “that”).
Pronoun
[edit]ال (ol)
Determiner
[edit]ال (ol)
Postposition
[edit]ال (ol)
- Denotes "to be" for third person singular when at the end of an object; is.
- Denotes third person singular after various tenses.
Khalaj
[edit]Noun
[edit]اَل (əl) (definite accusative اَلی, plural اَللَر)
Declension
[edit]North Levantine Arabic
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Article
[edit]الـ • (l-)
Usage notes
[edit]- The article in fact consists solely of the consonant /l/, which is assimilated to the same onsets as in Standard Arabic (see above). Following the usage note there, some speakers extend this process of assimilation to the now-coronal ج (j /ʒ/).
- An epenthetic linking vowel is added as phonotactically necessary, be it before the article or after, in order to avoid a three-consonant cluster. Note that its notation with a schwa is not meant to represent IPA [ə], as its actual value varies between /i~e~o/ depending on context:
- النص المكتوب ― n-naṣṣ əl-maktūb ― the written text
- الكتاب المقدس ― lə-ktāb lə-mʾaddas ― the Holy Book, i.e. the Bible
- Assimilation is optionally ignored when the article precedes a consonant cluster where the initial consonant would normally trigger assimilation, as the epenthetic vowel separates them if it appears:
- الولاد الصغار ― lə-wlād lə-ṣḡār ― the small children
Etymology 2
[edit]Reduction of the definite relative pronoun اللي (lli) or its alternative form لي (li).
Pronoun
[edit]ال • (l-)
- contraction of اللي
Usage notes
[edit]- Although this contraction is superficially identical to the definite article, some speakers do not assimilate it to a following coronal, allowing the two to be told apart in this context. Other speakers do, such as Said Akl in the reading linked from the quote above.
Ottoman Turkish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Turkic *el, *elig.
Noun
[edit]ال • (el)
Derived terms
[edit]- ال دكرمنی (el değirmeni, “handmill”)
- ال عربهسی (el arabası, “handcart”)
Descendants
[edit]- Turkish: el
Persian
[edit]Etymology
[edit](This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
[edit]ال • (al)
Derived terms
[edit]- ال زدن (al zadan)
South Levantine Arabic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Article
[edit]الـ • (l-)
- the (definite article)
Usage notes
[edit]- Phonemically, the article consists solely of the consonant /l/, which is assimilated to the same onsets as in Standard Arabic (see above), with some speakers extending the assimilation to the now-coronal ج (j /ʒ/). While the epenthetic vowel [ɪ] may be added before or after in order to avoid problematic consonant clusters, different speakers may be more or less tolerant of these clusters; those who tolerate an initial two-consonant cluster may not insert the vowel before /l/, meaning the article may be virtually inaudible in cases that the /l/ is assimilated.
- Assimilation is optionally ignored when the article precedes a consonant cluster where the initial consonant would normally trigger assimilation, as the epenthetic vowel separates them if it appears:
- Arabic terms with unknown etymologies
- Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Arabic terms with audio pronunciation
- Arabic lemmas
- Arabic articles
- Brahui terms inherited from Proto-Dravidian
- Brahui terms derived from Proto-Dravidian
- Brahui terms with IPA pronunciation
- Brahui lemmas
- Brahui nouns
- brh:Mammals
- brh:Rodents
- Bulgar terms inherited from Proto-Turkic
- Bulgar terms derived from Proto-Turkic
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- Bulgar numerals
- Egyptian Arabic lemmas
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- Gulf Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Gulf Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
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- Hijazi Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
- Hijazi Arabic terms derived from Arabic
- Hijazi Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Hijazi Arabic lemmas
- Hijazi Arabic articles
- Kalami terms inherited from Sanskrit
- Kalami terms derived from Sanskrit
- Kalami lemmas
- Kalami adjectives
- gwc:Water
- Karakhanid terms inherited from Proto-Turkic
- Karakhanid terms derived from Proto-Turkic
- Karakhanid lemmas
- Karakhanid pronouns
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- Karakhanid postpositions
- Khalaj lemmas
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- North Levantine Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
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- Ottoman Turkish terms inherited from Proto-Turkic
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- ota:Body parts
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- Dari
- South Levantine Arabic terms inherited from Arabic
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