وال

Arabic

Root
و ل ي (w l y)
22 terms

Etymology 1

Derived from the active participle of وَلِيَ (waliya, “to administer, to govern”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waː.lin/

Noun

وَالٍ • (wālin) m (construct state وَالِي (wālī), plural وُلَاة (wulāh))

1. wali, regent, governor, prefect of a province (وِلَايَة (wilāya))

Declension

Declension of noun وَالٍ (wālin)

singular	singular triptote in ـٍ (-in)
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	وَالِي wālī	الْوَالِي al-wālī	وَالِي wālī
nominative	وَالٍ wālin	الْوَالِي al-wālī	وَالِي wālī
accusative	وَالِيًا wāliyan	الْوَالِيَ al-wāliya	وَالِيَ wāliya
genitive	وَالٍ wālin	الْوَالِي al-wālī	وَالِي wālī
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	وَالِيَيْن wāliyayn	الْوَالِيَيْن al-wāliyayn	وَالِيَيْ wāliyay
nominative	وَالِيَانِ wāliyāni	الْوَالِيَانِ al-wāliyāni	وَالِيَا wāliyā
accusative	وَالِيَيْنِ wāliyayni	الْوَالِيَيْنِ al-wāliyayni	وَالِيَيْ wāliyay
genitive	وَالِيَيْنِ wāliyayni	الْوَالِيَيْنِ al-wāliyayni	وَالِيَيْ wāliyay
plural	broken plural triptote in ـَاة (-āh)
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	وُلَاة wulāt	الْوُلَاة al-wulāt	وُلَاة wulāt
nominative	وُلَاةٌ wulātun	الْوُلَاةُ al-wulātu	وُلَاةُ wulātu
accusative	وُلَاةً wulātan	الْوُلَاةَ al-wulāta	وُلَاةَ wulāta
genitive	وُلَاةٍ wulātin	الْوُلَاةِ al-wulāti	وُلَاةِ wulāti

Descendants

• → English: wali
• → Persian: والی (vâli)
  • → Tajik: воли (vol-i)
• → Hausa: wali
  • → Yoruba: wòlíì
• → Indonesian: wali
• → Kurdish: walî
• → Ottoman Turkish: والی (vali)
  • → Turkish: vali
  • → Georgian: ვალი (vali)
  • → Laz: ვალი (vali)
  • → Romanian: valiu
• → Tatar: вали (wali)
• → Uyghur: ۋالى (wali)
• → Uzbek: voli

Etymology 2

Verb

وَالِ • (wāli) (form III) /waː.li/

1. second-person masculine singular imperative of وَالَى (wālā)

References

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “وال”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[1], London: W.H. Allen

Persian

Alternative forms

• اوال (avâl), افال (afâl) (obsolete)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Iranian *(s)káras, from Proto-Iranian *(s)káras, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos. Compare Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬭𐬀 (kara, “kind of fish”). Distant cognate with English whale.

Noun

وال • (vâl) (plural وال‌ها (vâl-hâ))

1. whale
2. sperm whale

Descendants

• → Ottoman Turkish: وال (val)

Punjabi

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀯𑀸𑀮 (vāla), from Sanskrit वाल (vā́la). Cognate with Gujarati વાળ (vāḷ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /ʋäːɭᵊ/

Noun

وال or واࣇ • (vāl or vāḷ) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਵਾਲ਼ or ਵਾਲ)

1. hair

Declension

Declension of وال

	singular	plural
direct	واࣇ (vāḷ)	واࣇ (vāḷ)
oblique	واࣇ (vāḷ)	واࣇاں (vāḷāṉ)
vocative	واࣇا (vāḷā)	واࣇو (vāḷo)
ablative	واࣇوں (vāḷoṉ)	—
locative	واࣇے (vāḷe)	واࣇِیں (vāḷīṉ)
instrumental	واࣇوں (vāḷoṉ)	–

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “وال”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• “وال”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “vā́la”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 674

Saraiki

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit वाल (vāla)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vaːl/

Noun

وال (vāl) m

1. hair