kollu

Icelandic

Noun

kollu

1. inflection of kolla:
   1. indefinite accusative singular
   2. indefinite dative singular
   3. indefinite genitive singular

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic كُلُّهُ (kulluhu, “all of it”). By surface analysis, kull +‎ -u. The reason for the vowel change is that Arabic short -u- was predominantly shifted to -o-, but remained in closed syllables before the tone.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔl.lu/

Pronoun

kollu m (feminine kollha, plural kollha or (rare) kollhom)

1. (with plural meaning) all; all of them

   in-nemel kollu ― all ants

   it-tfal kollha ― all children

2. (with singular meaning) the whole; all the; all of it

   il-ħalib kollu ― all the milk

   id-dinja kollha ― the whole world

   Sabu l-ħalib u xorbuh kollu. ― They found the milk and drank all of it.

   • 1975, Anton Buttigieg, “Il-Kappella tal-Paċi”, in L-Għanja tas-Sittin:

     Ejja ‘l hawn, la tibżax minni,
     bil-katina ma norbtokx;
     norbtok biss bl-għeruq ta’ qalbi,
     f’ħajti kollha ma nħollokx.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Grammatically the word is a pronoun, though its semantic function is more often than not that of a determiner. It usually follows a definite noun or a personal suffix.
• Agreement can seem somewhat confusing with this word, but actually follows the general rules. The form kollu is used with masculine singulars (including collectives like nemel above), while the form kollha is used with feminine singulars and all actual plurals.