על

Aramaic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕal/

Preposition

על • (transliteration needed)

1. on, upon
2. over
3. about, concerning

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Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ע־ל־ה‎ (ʿ-l-h)

Cognate to Arabic عَلَى‎ (ʿalā), Ge'ez ላዕለ (laʿlä), Maltese għal.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew, Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /al/
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʕal/, /ŋal/
• (Tiberian Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʕal/
• Rhymes: -al

Preposition

עַל • (al)

1. (literally) On, on top of.
2. (figuratively) On.
3. (with enclitic pronoun and followed by ל־‎) Must.
   • c. 3rd century, "Aleynu leshabei'ach":

     ‏עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל‎

     Aleinu l'shabeach la'adon hakol

     We must praise the master of all

     (literally, “It is upon us to praise the master of all”)

Usage notes

• Various verbs are construed with the preposition על; for example, ויתר על (vitér al) means “to give up on”.

Inflection

Inflection table

Non-personal-pronoun-including form				עַל‎ ('al)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
First person	עליי / עָלַי‎ ('alái)		עָלֵינוּ‎ ('aléinu)
Second person	עָלֶיךָ‎ ('alékha)	עלייך / עָלַיִךְ‎ ('aláyikh)	עֲלֵיכֶם‎ ('aleikhém)	עֲלֵיכֶן‎ ('aleikhén)
Third person	עָלָיו‎ ('aláv)	עָלֶיהָ‎ ('aléha)	עֲלֵיהֶם‎ ('aleihém)	עֲלֵיהֶן‎ ('aleihén)

Prefix

עַל • (ál)

1. Super-: above; more than; larger than.

   מִשְׁפָּחָה‎ (mishpakhá, “family”) → עַל־מִשְׁפָּחָה‎ (ál-mishpakhá, “superfamily”)

   יַבֶּשֶׁת‎ (yabéshet, “continent”) → יַבֶּשֶׁת־עַל‎ (yabéshet-ál, “supercontinent”)

   טִבְעִי‎ (tiv'í, “natural”) → עַל־טִבְעִי‎ (ál-tiv'í, “supernatural”)

Usage notes

• Typically used to form calques from English and other languages.
• Sometimes attached to the following word via a hyphen; otherwise, separated by a space.
• In some compounds, follows the base word as a suffix rather than preceding it as a prefix.

Antonyms

• (super-): תת־‎ (tát-, “sub-”)

Suffix

עַל • (ál)

1. Alternative form of the prefix; see above.