ال

See also: أل‎, آل‎, and إل‎

Arabic

Alternative forms

• اَمْ‎ (am) – dialectal

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al-/, /-l-/

• Audio

  (file)

Article

اَلْ • (al-)

1. the

Usage notes

• 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

• Egyptian Arabic: ال‎ (el)
• Gulf Arabic: ال‎ (il)
• Maltese: il-
• Moroccan Arabic: ال‎ (el)

See also

• moon letter
• sun letter

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Egyptian Arabic

Article

الـ • (el-)

1. the

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Gulf Arabic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(ʕ)ɪl/, [l], (before sun letters) /ɪ/

Etymology 1

From Arabic اَلْ‎ (al-).

Article

اِلـ • (il-)

1. the definite article; the

Etymology 2

Contraction of الي‎ (illi, “the relative clause”), itself a contraction of Arabic اَلَّذِي‎ m (allaḏī) and اَلَّتِي‎ f (allatī)

Pronoun

اِلـ • (il-)

1. (colloquial) the relative clause; that, who, which, etc

   Synonym: الي‎ (illi)

Etymology 3

Could be directly from Arabic إِلَىٰ‎ (ʾilā).

Preposition

اِلـ • (il-)

1. (colloquial) to (destination)

   Synonyms: (colloquial) لي‎ (lē), (colloquial) ل‎ (li)

Alternative forms

• لـ‎ (l-)

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Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic اَلْ‎ (al-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al/, (before sun letters) /a/

Article

الـ • (al-)

1. the definite article; the

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Kalami

Adjective

ال (al) m

1. wet

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North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic ال‎ (al-).

Article

الـ • (l-)

1. the

Usage notes

• 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

Reduction of the definite relative pronoun اللي‎ (lli) or its alternative form لي‎ (li).

Pronoun

ال • (l-)

1. contraction of اللي‎
   • 1961, Said Akl, Yara‎^[1]:

     ‏يَارَا الجّدَايِلهَا شُقْر‎

     yāra j-jdāyilha šuʾr

     Yara, whose braids are gold

     (literally, “Yara who her braids are gold”)

Usage notes

• 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.

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Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *el, *elig.

Noun

ال • (el)

1. hand

Descendants

• Turkish: el

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Persian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ال • (al)

1. (Dari) plough; the beam of a plough

Derived terms

• ال زدن‎ (al zadan)

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South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic ال‎ (al-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l]

Article

الـ • (l-)

1. the (definite article)

Usage notes

• 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.

  ‏الميّ الباردة‎‎ ― (i)l-mayy (i)l-bārde ― the cold water

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏الشباب الشاطرين‎‎ ― (i)š-šabāb (i)š-šāṭrīn ― the smart guys

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  ‏الكتاب الكبير‎‎ ― li-ktāb li-kbīr ― the big book

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

• 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:

  ‏الزلمة الزغير‎‎ ― (i)z-zalame li-zḡīr ― the small man

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)