ل

See also: J, ك, Ꭻ, and Ꮣ

ل U+0644, ل ARABIC LETTER LAM ← ك [U+0643] Arabic م → [U+0645]

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ل	ـل	ـلـ	لـ

ﻝ U+FEDD, ﻝ ARABIC LETTER LAM ISOLATED FORM ← ﻜ [U+FEDC] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻞ → [U+FEDE]

ﻞ U+FEDE, ﻞ ARABIC LETTER LAM FINAL FORM ← ﻝ [U+FEDD] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻟ → [U+FEDF]

ﻟ U+FEDF, ﻟ ARABIC LETTER LAM INITIAL FORM ← ﻞ [U+FEDE] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻠ → [U+FEE0]

ﻠ U+FEE0, ﻠ ARABIC LETTER LAM MEDIAL FORM ← ﻟ [U+FEDF] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻡ → [U+FEE1]

Acehnese

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [lam]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

ل (lam)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Acehnese alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters: حرف (haraih, harah) (script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

Arabic

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, /ɫ/

Etymology 1

From the Nabataean Aramaic letter 𐢑 (l, “lāmaḏ”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤋 (l, “lāməd”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓌅. See also Classical Syriac ܠ (l, “lāmaḏ”), Hebrew ל (l, “lamed”), Ancient Greek Λ (L), Greek Λ (L), Latin L.

Letter

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل • (lām)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Arabic alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك (k) and followed by م (m).

See also

• Arabic script letters: حُرُوف (ḥurūf) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ث, ج, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي ^[edit]
• Wikipedia article on the Arabic alphabet
• Search for entries beginning with ل

Symbol

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل • (lām)

1. The twelfth numeral symbol of the Arabic alphabet (traditional abjad order, used for list numbering), written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك (k) and followed by م (m).

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic

Proto-Semitic *lV-

Arabic ل

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *lV-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li./

Preposition

لِـ • (li-)

1. to, for, belonging to

   Synonyms: إِلَى (ʔilā), عَلَى (ʕalā), حَتَّى (ḥattā), لَدَى (ladā), نَحْوَ (naḥwa)

   تَيَسَّرَ لِلسَّفَرِ

   tayassara li-s-safari

   Travel became easy.

   (literally, “It became easy for the travel.”)

2. can

   كَيْفَ لَكِ النَّظَرُ إِلَيَّ وَالتَّظَاهُرُ بِأَنْ لَمْ نَلْتَقِ قَطُّ

   How can you look at me and pretend that we've never met?

Usage notes

When لِـ (li-) is followed by the definite article اَلْ (al-, “the”), the alif of the article is dropped from the spelling, resulting in the spelling لِلْ. However, if this would result in three lams in a row, because the first letter following the definite article is also lam, then the lam with sukun is also dropped, resulting in a spelling starting with لِلّـ, with only two lams; for example, لِلَّيْلَة (lil-layla, “for tonight”), لِلّٰهِ (li-llāhi, “to God”). The pronunciation is entirely regular in all of these cases.

Inflection

Inflected forms

base form					لِـ (li-)
Personal-pronoun including forms
	singular		dual	plural
	m	f		m	f
1st person	لِي / لِيَ (lī / liya)		لَنَا (lanā)
2nd person	لَكَ (laka)	لَكِ (laki)	لَكُمَا (lakumā)	لَكُمْ (lakum)	لَكُنَّ (lakunna)
3rd person	لَهُ (lahu)	لَهَا (lahā)	لَهُمَا (lahumā)	لَهُمْ (lahum)	لَهُنَّ (lahunna)

Derived terms

• لِأَنَّ (liʔanna, “because”)
• لِأَنْ (liʔan, “for that”)
• لِمَ (lima, “why”)
• لِمَا (limā, “for what”)
• لِمَاذَا (limāḏā, “why”)
• لِمَنْ (liman, “whose”)
• مَالِ (māli)

Descendants

(via third-person singular masculine form لَهُ (lahu)):

• → Azerbaijani: ləh
• → Persian: له (lah)

Preposition

لَـ • (la-)

1. Used to express admiration

   يَا لَلْعَجَبِ! ― yā la-l-ʕajabi! ― How wonderful!

   يَا لَهُ مِنْ عَالَمٍ رَائِعٍ!

   yā lahu min ʕālamin rāʔiʕin!

   What a wonderful world!

2. Used to call for help

   يَا لَلْأُمِّ لِلْأَطْفَالِ!

   yā lalʔummi lilʔaṭfāli!

   Oh for mother to the children! (Oh mother, help your children!)

Usage notes

It is often used in the form يَا لَهُ [مِنْ] ..., that is, يَا لَـ followed by an enclitic pronoun that does not refer to any previous noun. Rather the pronoun refers to what follows it, with an optional مِنْ in the middle.

Inflection

Inflected forms

base form					لَـ (la-)
Personal-pronoun including forms
	singular		dual	plural
	m	f		m	f
1st person	لِي / لِيَ (lī / liya)		لَنَا (lanā)
2nd person	لَكَ (laka)	لَكِ (laki)	لَكُمَا (lakumā)	لَكُمْ (lakum)	لَكُنَّ (lakunna)
3rd person	لَهُ (lahu)	لَهَا (lahā)	لَهُمَا (lahumā)	لَهُمْ (lahum)	لَهُنَّ (lahunna)

Conjunction

لِـ • (li-)

2. to, in order to: followed by the subjunctive mood

   دَخَلْتُ ٱلْمَطْبَخَ لِأَشْرَبَ مَاءً.

   daḵaltu l-maṭbaḵa li-ʔašraba māʔan.

   I entered the kitchen to drink water.

3. used with the verbs أَرَادَ (ʔarāda) and أَمَرَ (ʔamara)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 33:33:

     إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللّٰهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ

     ʔinnamā yurīdu llāhu liyuḏhiba ʕankumu r-rijsa

     Allah only intends to purify you of impurity.

4. only to (لَامُ الْعَاقِبَة (lāmu l-ʕāqiba))
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 28:8:

     فَالْتَقَطَهُ آلُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا

     fāltaqaṭahu ʾālu firʿawna li-yakūna lahum ʿaduwwan wa-ḥazanan

     And so the family of the Pharaoh picked him up, only to become an enemy and a grief.

Synonyms

• لِأَنْ (liʔan)

Descendants

• Maltese: lil

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li./
• (after وَ (wa) or فَـ (fa-)) IPA^(key): /l/

Particle

لِـ • (li-)

1. Used to introduce an imperative with a jussive verb; let
   • 9th century, Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj, quoting Muhammad, “كتاب الحج”, in Sahih Muslim:

     لِتَأْخُذُوا مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَإِنِّي لَا أَدْرِي لَعَلِّي لَا أَحُجُّ بَعْدَ حَجَّتِي هَذِهِ

     litaʔḵuḏū manāsikakum faʔinnī lā ʔadrī laʕallī lā ʔaḥujju baʕda ḥajjatī haḏihi

     Learn your rituals from me, for I do not know—perhaps this will be my last Hajj.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 18:29:

     وَقُلِ ٱلْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَمَنْ شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِنْ وَمَنْ شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ

     waquli l-ḥaqqu min rabbikum faman šāʔa falyuʔmin waman šāʔa falyakfur

     And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe; and whoever wills, let him disbelieve."

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la./

Particle

لَـ • (la-)

1. (intensifying particle) truly, verily, certainly, surely
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 29:41:

     وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ ٱلْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ ٱلْعَنْكَبُوتِ

     wa-ʔinna ʔawhana l-buyūti la-baytu l-ʕankabūti

     And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 89:14:

     إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

     ʔinna rabbaka la-bi-l-mirṣādi

     Verily, thy Lord is on the lookout.

Usage notes

Frequently used after إِنَّ (ʔinna).

Derived terms

• لَقَدْ (laqad)

Etymology 5

Verb

لِ • (li) (form I) /li/

1. second-person masculine singular imperative of وَلِيَ (waliya)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “ل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Balti

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l~lʱ~ɭ~ɫ̥]

Letter

ل (transliteration needed)

1. The thirty-seventh letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

Burushaski

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l]

Letter

ل (l)

1. The thirty-eighth letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology 1

• From Arabic ل (l). The letter's name comes from Ottoman Turkish لام (lām) or a Learned borrowing from Arabic لَام (lām)

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (l)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Egyptian Arabic alphabet, called لام (lām) and written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters: حروف (script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ث, ج, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي ^[edit]

Etymology 2

From Arabic لِـ (li-, “to; for”), usurping the usages of إِلَى (ʔilā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/
• IPA^(key): /l/ (after vowels)

Preposition

لـ • (li- or l-)

1. to, towards

   Synonym: نحية (niḥyit)

2. for

   عملت لأخويا كيكة ― ʕamalt l-aḵūya kēka ― I made a cake for my brother

3. Marks the beneficiary of ditransitive verbs: to

   قلت لأخويا ― ult l-aḵūya ― I told my brother

Usage notes

After الـ (il-, “the”), produces للـ (li-l-), which also assimilates with following consonants (see الـ).

When attached before pronouns in a verbal sentence, produces ـلـ (-l-), attaching after the verb (or after the attached patient pronoun) and acting as part of it, lengthening the vowel it directly follows. Resulting /ll/ clusters often go unwritten (see Arabic diacritics § Shaddah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).

• جالي وقالّي ― gā-li wi-ʔal-li ― He came to me and said to me
• عملتلك كيكة ― ʕamalti-lak kēka ― I made a cake for you
• ادّتهالك ― iddithā-lak ― I gave it to you

Kashmiri

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (l)

1. The thirty-sixth letter of the Kashmiri alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

Kazakh

Alternative scripts

Arabic	ل
Cyrillic	Л, л
Latin	L, l

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /læm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (l) (Cyrillic equivalent Л or л)

1. The nineteenth letter of the Kazakh alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڭ (ŋ) and followed by م (m).

See also

• Arabic script letters: әріптер (äripter) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ج, چ, ح, د, ر, ز, س, ش, ع, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, ە, ھ, و, ۇ, ۋ, ۆ, ى, ي ^[edit]

Khowar

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lam/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل (lām)

1. The thirty-ninth letter of the Khowar alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by ڵ, the first of two letters derived from Arabic لَام (lām) (⟨ل⟩).

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [lam]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [l]

Letter

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic لِـ (li-, “to, for, toward”), with the base form possibly suppleted by Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”). The suffixed forms continue Arabic لِـ (li-), however, not إِلَى (ʔilā).

This is surprising, as the إلـ (ʔil-) of suffixed forms like إلَك (ʔilak, “to you”) superficially resembles Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā) as well. However, the preposition's ending in North Levantine Arabic does not match the -ay- of forms like Arabic إِلَيْكَ (ʔilayka, “to you”). In fact, the actual descendants of the suffixed forms of إِلَى (ʔilā) lost their initial syllable إِ (ʔi-) entirely due to the general instability of ء (ʔ) in Arabic's history, and their North Levantine Arabic reflex is لَيْـ (lay-), as in ليك (layk, “to you”). See Etymology 3 below for the survival of this variant in North Levantine Arabic.

North Levantine Arabic إلـ (ʔil-) instead comes from Arabic لِـ (li-) via epenthesis, which may have been motivated by a phonetic constraint in early North Levantine Arabic against short monosyllables like *لَك (lak, “to you”). This is the same constraint that may have motivated the development of the initial syllable in إِجَا (ʔija, “to come”) and South Levantine Arabic إِشِي (ʔiši, “something”), which see.

Nevertheless, even if the suffixed form إلـ (ʔil-) reflects Arabic لِـ (li-, “to, for, towards”), the a vowel of the base form لَـ (la-) indicates that it alone may still be from Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”). If not, then an alternative possibility is that it was generalized from the Arabic allomorph لَـ (la-), originally used only when attaching pronouns.

Preposition

لَـ • (la)

1. to, towards

   Synonyms: عَ (ʕa), عَلَى (ʕala), صَوْب (ṣawb, ṣōb)

2. for

   Near-synonym: كِرْمَال (kirmāl, “for the sake of”)

3. by; pertaining to; belonging to

Usage notes

• Personal suffixes are attached to the stem ʔil-: إلي (ʔili, “to me”), إلك (ʔilak, “to you”), etc. Often, however, reduplicated forms from the stem laʔil- are used, thus لإلي (laʔili, “to me”), لإلك (laʔilak, “to you”).

Conjunction

لَـ • (la)

1. in order to; so that

Synonyms

• تَـ (ta) ~ تَا (ta)
• حَتَّالا (ḥattāla) ~ حَتَّالِي (ḥattāle) ~ حَتَّال (ḥattāl)
• حَتَّالتي (ḥattālte)
• حَتَّى (ḥatta)
• عَشَان (ʕašān)
• كِرْمَال (kirmāl)
• مِنشَان (minšān) ~ مِشَّان (miššān) ~ مِشَان (mišān) ~ مْشَان (mšān)

Suffix

ـلـ • (-l-, -ill-)

1. to, for; dative suffix

   صِرت قَايلِتلَك مَليوْن مَرَّة مَا تدَعْوِسْلِي عَالأرض وْصِبَّاطَك كِلًّو وَحْل!

   ṣirt ʔāylitlak malyōn marra ma tdaʕwisli ʕal-ʔarḍ w-ṣibbatak killo waḥl!

   I've told you a million times, don't step all over the floor when your shoes are all dirty!

   (literally, “I've said to you a million times, don't step [for] me all over the floor and your shoes are all mud[dy]!”)

Usage notes

Usage notes

• Immediately followed by a personal suffix. ل (-l-) almost-always avoids creating superheavy syllables before itself.
  • Superheavy syllables CVVC are avoided by contracting the long vowel, such as when attaching to a hollow verb. In particular, long ā, even when raised to ē as in much of Lebanon, always contracts to a rather than to i — and North Levantine varieties have overwhelmingly merged short u and short i into i, meaning that ū and ī also both contract into i.

    جَاب (jāb (jēb), “he brought”) ⇒ جَبلِي (jabli, “he brought me”, literally “he brought to me”), not *جَابلِي (*jābli (*jēbli)).

    شُوف (šūf, “look at, check out”, masculine imperative) ⇒ شِفلِي (šifli, “look at [...] for me, check out for me”)

  • Some speakers extend this to the plural ending -īn of active participles.

    قَايلِين (ʔāylīn, “have said”, pl) ⇒ قَايلِينلي (ʔāylīnli) or قَايلِنلي (ʔāylinli, “have told me”, plural, literally “have said to me”).

  • The suffix avoids all other kinds of heavy syllables by attaching to the base as either -ill- or -all-. The -all- ending is used for geminate verbs in certain contexts (see below), and the -ill- ending everywhere else.

    حَطّ (ḥaṭṭ, “he set down”, transitive) ⇒ حَطَّلِّي (ḥaṭṭalli, “he set down for me”, transitive)

    مشِيت (mšīt, “you walked”, masculine) ⇒ مشِيتِلِّي (mšītilli, “you walked to me; you walked for me”)

    كَتَبت (katabt, “you wrote”, masculine) ⇒ كَتَبتِلِّي (katabtilli, “you wrote to me; you wrote for me”)

    • This gives rise to a marginal tense distinction for certain verbs. The following system is attested in Michel Jiha's 1964 monograph on the dialect of Bishmizzin:

      ضَلّ (ḍall, “he stayed”, past), ضَلَّلِّي (ḍallalli, “he stayed for me”)

      ضَلّ (ḍall, “stay!”, nonpast), ضَلِّلِّي (ḍallilli, “stay for me!”)

    But this distinction is not universal. Speakers may also use forms like the following, always assimilating to the previous vowel:

    ضَلِّلِّي (ḍallalli, “stay for me!”, nonpast)

    عَمْ تِنْرَدَّلِّي الرُّوح ― ʕam tinraddalli r-rūḥ ― I'm regaining my energy (rather than تِنْرَدِّلِّي (tinraddilli))

  • In other cases, i.e. in environments where sticking -l- directly onto the end of the base would not create a final heavy syllable, it attaches as is.

    كَتَبِت (katabit, “she wrote”) ⇒ كَتَبَِتلِي (katabitli, “she wrote to me; she wrote for me”)

• Unlike in Egyptian Arabic, the Levantine form of this suffix can only attach to the base word, not to any preceding suffixes. This means it bumps any object suffixes off into their own words.

  • حَطَّيْناها (ḥaṭṭaynāha, “we put it”) ⇒ حَطَّيْنالِك ياها (ḥaṭṭaynālik yāha, “we put it for you”)

• This suffix isn't limited to appearing on verbs and active participles. It can also attach to elatives, passive participles of verbs, and even other parts of speech.
  • It only rarely appears on other parts of speech, and when it does, it's the result of an originally-unbound لَ (la, “to, for”) merging into a word it commonly appears with. That's the case with بَعدِلّـ (baʕdill-, “(of time) remaining for”), from بَعْد (baʕd, “still; remaining”, adverb, literally “[there is] still [time]”) + لـ (l-, “for; belonging to”).
  • It's also uncommon for this suffix to attach to passive participles, which means that passive participles that have a final-syllable ū may only productively be able to contract it into a short u instead of fully merging it into a short i. Two somewhat-common examples are مَسمُحلـ (masmuḥl-, “permitted for”) and مقَدَّرلـ (mʔaddarl-, “fated for, preordained for”).
  • It attaches to elatives to refer to the better or best of a set of choices, like أَريَحَلِي (ʔaryaḥli, “more/most comfortable for me”). It's generally invalid to use it on an elative that describes a negative trait, like *أَوْسَخلَك (*ʔawsaḵlak, “dirtier/dirtiest for you”) or *أصعَبلَك (ʔaṣʕablak, “more/most difficult for you”), because it imparts a positive slant on the trait the elative describes. In contrast, عَلَى (ʕala, “in relation to”) can construe elatives no matter what they mean: أَهيَن علَيك (ʔahyan ʕlēk, “easier for you”) is synonymous with أَهيَنلَك (ʔahyanlak, “easier for you”), but the only valid antonym is أَصعَب علَيك (ʔaṣʕab ʕlēk, “more/most difficult for you”, literally “more/most difficult in relation to you”) instead of *أصعَبلَك (ʔaṣʕablak, “more/most difficult for you”).

Etymology 2

From Arabic لِـ (li-, jussive particle) and لَـ (la-, intensifying particle), especially the latter's use with لَوْ (law, “if”).

Particle

لَـ • (la-)

1. first-person hortative; let me, let's, or had better

   تأخّر الوقت، لقوم نام وإرتاح

   tʔaḵḵar l-waʔt, la ʔūm nām w ʔirtāḥ

   It's getting late, let me head to sleep and rest up

3. (optional) introduces the consequent clause of لَوْ (law, “if”) or more rarely إِذَا (ʔiza, “if”)

   لَوْمَا مَرْتِي لَكِنت بَعْدْنِي قَاعِد بَلَا شِغْل

   lawma marti la kint baʕdni ʔāʕid bala šiḡl

   If not for my wife, then I'd still be sitting around unemployed

Usage notes

• Etymology 2 sense 2 is primarily used to introduce the verb كَان (kān, “to be”).

Etymology 3

From Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”).

Preposition

ل • (la)

1. to, toward; alternative form of لـَ

Usage notes

• Its suffix-base form is lay-, similarly to عَلَى (ʕala). This distinguishes it from the variant above when constructed with a personal suffix.
• Some dialects prefer this form to the above one in all situations. In dialects that don't, speakers may still use it in the phrases مِنُّو لَيه (minno lē, “in its entirety; altogether”, literally “from it to it”), قِدِر لَ (ʔidir la, “to be able to handle”, literally “to be able toward”), فِيه لَ (fī la, “can handle”, literally “can toward”), and إِجَا لَ (ʔija la, “to come for”). Other verbs of motion may also be substituted for إِجَا (ʔija) in the last sense, in which case the ل (la) retains the narrowed sense of “intent to apprehend or cause harm” suggested by come for.

Old Ruthenian

Letter

ل • (l) (Middle Belarusian Arabica)

1. A letter of the Old Ruthenian alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ث, ج, چ, ح, د, ࢮ, ر, ز, ژ, ش, ࢯ, ص, ض, ط, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي (خ, ذ, ڛ, س, ظ, ع, ء) ^[edit]

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic ل (lām).

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ˈlɑːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, /ɫ/

Letter

ل / لـ / ـلـ / ـل • (lam)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet, called لام (lam) and written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڭ and followed by م.

See also

• Arabic script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, ژ, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, و, ه, ی, ء ^[edit]

Pashto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lɑm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (lâm)

1. The thirty-fourth letter of the Pashto alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ګ and followed by م.

Persian

Pronunciation

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Letter

ل / لـ / ـلـ / ـل • (lâm)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Persian alphabet, called لام and written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

Punjabi

Alternative forms

• Gurmukhi letter: ਲ (lallā)

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /läːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, [l̪]

Letter

ل • (lām)

1. The thirtieth letter of the Punjabi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ک (kāf) and followed by ࣇ (aḷām).

Sindhi

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (lām) (Devanagari equivalent ल, Khudabadi equivalent 𑋚)

1. The forty-fifth letter of the Sindhi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڱ (ṅ) and followed by م (m).

See also

• Arabic script letters: اَکَرَ (akhara) (script appendix): ا, ب, ٻ, ڀ, ت, ٿ, ٽ, ٺ, ث, پ, ج, ڄ, جھ, ڃ, چ, ڇ, ح, خ, د, ڌ, ڏ, ڊ, ڍ, ذ, ر, ڙ, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ڦ, ق, ڪ, ک, گ, ڳ, گھ, ڱ, ل, م, ن, ڻ, و, ه, ء, ي ^[edit]

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic

Proto-Semitic *lV-

Arabic لِ (li)

South Levantine Arabic ل

Inherited from Arabic لِ (li).

Preposition

لـ • (la-)

1. to (someone); belonging to; for
2. to (a place)

   Synonym: على (ʕala)

3. until, up to

   Synonyms: حتّى (ḥatta), لحدّ (la-ḥadd)

Conjunction

لـ • (la-)

1. so that (before a subjunctive verb)

   Synonyms: حتّى (ḥatta-), عشان (ʕašan), منشان (minšān)

Suffix

ـلـ • (-l-, il, -ill-)

1. to; for (indirect object suffix with an attached enclitic pronoun)

   Synonym: (detached version for emphasis) إلـ (ʔil-)

Usage notes

• This suffix is attached to a verb expressing the indirect object.
• If the verb ends in a consonant cluster, the "-l-" is geminated and the stress shifts before an enclitic pronoun starting with a vowel.

Inflection

Inflection of ل

base form			ـلـ (-l-)
Personal-pronoun including forms
	singular		plural
	m	f
1st person	ـلي (-li, -illi)		ـلنا (-lna, -ilna)
2nd person	ـلك (-lak, -illak)	ـلك (-lek, -illek)	ـلكم (-lkom, -ilkom)
3rd person	ـله (-lo, -illo)	ـلها (-lha, -ilha)	ـلهم (-lhom, -ilhom)

Examples
		Vowel	One consonant	Two consonants
Example		حكى (ḥáka, “he talked”)	كتب (kátab, “he wrote”)	كتبت (katábt, “I/you wrote”)
1st	singular	حكالي (ḥakā-li)	كتبلي (katáb-li)	كتبتلي (katabt-ílli)
	plural	حكالنا (ḥakā-lna)	كتبلنا (katab-ílna)	كتبتلنا (katabt-ílna)
2nd	masculine	حكالك (ḥakā-lak)	كتبلك (katáb-lak)	كتبتلك (katabt-íllak)
	feminine	حكالك (ḥakā-lek)	كتبلك (katáb-lek)	كتبتلك (katabt-íllek)
	plural	حكالكم (ḥakā-lkom)	كتبلكم (katab-ílkom)	كتبتلكم (katabt-ílkom)
3rd	masculine	حكاله (ḥakā-lo)	كتبله (katáb-lo)	كتبتله (katabt-íllo)
	feminine	حكالها (ḥakā-lha)	كتبلها (katab-ílha)	كتبتلها (katabt-ílha)
	plural	حكالهم (ḥakā-lhom)	كتبلهم (katab-ílhom)	كتبتلهم (katabt-ílhom)

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /lɑːm/
• (phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (lām)

1. The thirtieth letter of the Urdu alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

Uyghur

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /le/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل • (le)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Uyghur alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڭ (ng) and followed by م (m).

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lí/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

Letter

ل (transliteration needed) (Latin equivalent L or l)

1. The thirteenth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك and followed by م.