الـ

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ال (al-, “the”, definite article).

Pronunciation

• See usage notes.

Particle

الـ • (al- or -l-)

1. Used in certain unadapted borrowings from Arabic.

   علیٰالتحقیق ― ala-l-tahqīq/ala-l-tahqiq ― certainly, surely

   ابوالهول ― abu-l-hawl / abo-l-howl ― sphinx

   بالکل ― bi-l-kull / be-l-koll ― totally, entirely

2. of; used as the equivalent of the ezâfe between Arabic borrowings to form compound words, which often do not exist in Arabic.

   ‎بین (beyn, “between”) + ‎الـ (-l-) + ‎ملل (melal, “nations”) + ‎ـی (-i) → ‎بین‌المللی (beyno-l-melali, “international”)

   ‎حق (haqq, “wage, payment”) + ‎الـ (-s-) + ‎سکوت (sokut, “silence”) → ‎حق‌السکوت (haqqo-s-sokut, “hush money”)

   ‎دستور (dastur, “rule, guideline”) + ‎الـ (-l-) + ‎عمل (amal, “action”) → ‎دستورالعمل (dasturo-l-'amal, “written instructions”)

   ‎مجمع (majma', “assembly”) + ‎الـ (-l-) + ‎جزایر (jazâyer, “islands”) → ‎مجمع‌الجزایر (majma'o-l-jazâyer, “archipelago”)

Usage notes

• When used word-initially, the vowel of ا is pronounced as /a/.
• When used to form compound words, the letter ا becomes silent and joins the final vowel of the former word to the first consonant of the latter word. If the former word does not end with a vowel, the vowel ـُ is added (/o/ in Iranian Persian, otherwise a variation of /u/), regardless of what the vowel would actually be in Arabic. Otherwise, if the former part does end in a vowel, the final vowel is used. If the final vowel is long, it is pronounced as it's short equivalent.
• The consonant of ل assimilates to Arabic rules; see ال (al-).