ال

See also: أل and آل

Arabic

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /al-/, /-l-/

Article

اَل • (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 vocalized 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

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 (ʔilā).

Preposition

اِلـ • (il-)

1. (colloquial) to (destination)

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

Alternative forms

• لـ (l-)

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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