الـ

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Persian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • See usage notes.

Particle

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الـ (al- or -l-)

  1. Used in certain unadapted borrowings from Arabic.
    علیٰالتحقیقala-l-tahqīq/ala-l-tahqiqcertainly, surely
    ابوالهولabu-l-hawlabo-l-howlsphinx
    بالکلbi-l-kullbe-l-kolltotally, 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

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  • 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-).