حالا

Arabic

Etymology

Adverbial accusative of حَال (ḥāl, “condition, state, situation”), from حَالَ (ḥāla, “to change”), from ح و ل (ḥ-w-l).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ħaː.lan/

Adverb

حَالًا • (ḥālan)

1. presently, immediately, at once, right away, without delay
2. now, actually, at present

Descendants

• → Persian: حالا, آلی (ālē) (colloquial, Kabuli), حالو (hâlo) (colloquial, Shiraz)
  • → Armenian: հըլը (hələ)
  • → Azerbaijani: hələ
  • → Ottoman Turkish: حالا
    • → Albanian: halá
    • Turkish: hâlâ

See also

• حَالًا بَالًا (ḥālan bālan)

Persian

Alternative forms

• آلی (ālē) (colloquial, Kabuli)
• حالو (hâlo) (colloquial, Shiraz)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic حَالًا (ḥālan).

The pronunciation with final -ā is considered a spelling pronunciation by the Encyclopaedia Iranica. This is, however, an unusual case as the tanwin ending is generally preserved and has even become productive in Persian. Alternatively, حالا (hâlâ) might represent an early borrowing with the Arabic pausal pronunciation.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [hɑː.lɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hɑː.lɑː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [hɑː.lɑː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɑː.leː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔɔː.leː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [hɒː.lɒː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [hɔ.lɔ]

Readings
Classical reading?	hālā
Dari reading?	hālā
Iranian reading?	hâlâ
Tajik reading?	holo

• (Shiraz) IPA^(key): /hɒː.lo/

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Adverb

حالا • (hâlâ)

Dari	حالا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ҳозир

1. now, presently

   Synonyms: (more literary) اکنون (aknun), الان (alân)

   حالا تو را می‌بینم. (more literary) ― hâlâ to-râ mi-binam. ― I see you now.

   حالا می‌بینمت. (more colloquial) ― hâlâ mi-binam-et. ― I see you now.

   • 2018, “سفر از افغانستان به ایران برای سرقت آیفون”, in newspaper.hamshahrionline.ir‎^[3], Hamshahri:

     آن دختر حالا کجاست؟ − انداختمش بیرون. نمی‌دانم کجا رفته.

     ân doxtar hâlâ kojâ-st? — andâxtam-eš birun. ne-mi-dânam kojâ rafte.

     Where is that girl now? — I threw her outside. I do not know where she has gone.

Usage notes

• Compared to فعلا (fe'lan), which has a stronger connotation of a duration of time including the present and stretching into the future, حالا (hâlâ) has a stronger connotation of a moment in the present.

• This colloquial equivalent in Dari is irregular and is pronounced as آلی (ālē) instead of آلا (ālā) in most regions.

Derived terms

• حالاها (hâlâ-hâ, “these days”)

Descendants

• → Armenian: հըլը (hələ)
• → Azerbaijani: hələ
• → Ottoman Turkish: حالا
  • → Albanian: halá
  • Turkish: hâlâ

Urdu

Adverb

حالا • (hālā) (Hindi spelling हाला)

1. now, at this moment, at present