ليس
Arabic
Etymology 1
Uncertain. Traditionally taken to be a contracted pronunciation of either an earlier form لَيِسَ (layisa), whose ultimate origin is in turn unknown or unexplored, or of لَا (lā, “not”) + an existential أَيْس (ʔays)[1] that has a proposed etymology in Proto-Semitic *ys < *yṯ. This existential would be a native cognate to Hebrew יֵשׁ (yēš)[2] and Akkadian 𒌇 (/išu/, “to have or own; to be”, also used copulatively), although Al-Jallad (2018) expresses doubt that it is anything more than a back-formation from the negative, in other words implying that لَا (lā, “not”) + *أَيْس (*ʔays, existential) is just a folk etymology from which أَيْس (ʔays) was created artificially. Al-Jallad proceeds to attest a form of لَيْسَ (laysa) in a Safaitic inscription dated between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, whose form, he says, invalidates the possibility of an origin in a verb لَيِسَ (layisa); he thereby argues that لَيْسَ (laysa) may either be a loan from Neo-Assyrian 𒆷𒀸𒋗 (la-aš-šu /laššu/, “there is not”) or from Taymanitic 𐪁𐪚𐪏 (lys3 /lāʾis, lāyis/, “not existing or being”).[3]
Pronunciation
Verb
لَيْسَ • (laysa)
- (copulative) not to be
- not to exist; (third person) there is not
- (third person) not (refers to a preceding context, alternatively analyzable as negating an unrepeated verb or verb phrase)
- وُلِدْتُ فِي القَاهِرَةِ وَلَيْسَ فِي بَيْرُوت
- wulidtu fī l-qāhirati wa-laysa fī bayrūt
- I was born in Cairo, not in Beirut.
Usage notes
This is a defective verb. It has only perfect indicative forms with a present-tense meaning. It governs a noun or adjective in the accusative, or takes بِـ (bi-) and the genitive.
- لَسْتُ عَالِمًا ― lastu ʕāliman ― I am not learned
- لَسْتُ بِعَالِمٍ ― lastu bi-ʿālimin ― I am not learned
Conjugation
- Before consonantal endings, the diphthong -ay- is reduced to a short -a-:
singular | dual | plural | |
---|---|---|---|
1st person | لَسْتُ (lastu) | — | لَسْنَا (lasnā) |
2nd person m | لَسْتَ (lasta) | لَسْتُمَا (lastumā) | لَسْتُمْ (lastum) |
2nd person f | لَسْتِ (lasti) | لَسْتُنَّ (lastunna) | |
3rd person m | لَيْسَ (laysa) | لَيْسَا (laysā) | لَيْسُوا (laysū) |
3rd person f | لَيْسَتْ (laysat) | لَيْسَتَا (laysatā) | لَسْنَ (lasna) |
See also
- كَانَ (kāna)
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Verb
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- to be valiant, to be brave, to be courageous
Conjugation
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Etymology 3
Noun
لَيَس • (layas) m
- verbal noun of لَيِسَ (layisa) (form I)
Declension
Etymology 4
Adjective
لِيس • (līs) m pl
References
- ^ Lane, Edward William (1863) “ليس”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[1], London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1625-1627
- ^ David Wilmsen (2016), page 330, Another Croft cycle in Arabic: The laysa negative existential cycle. Advance online publication.
- ^ Ahmad Al-Jallad (2018), The earliest attestation of laysa and the implications for its etymology. Advance online publication.
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