ولا

Arabic

Etymology

Morphologically وَ (wa, “and”) +‎ لَا (lā, “not”).

Conjunction

وَلَا • (wa-lā)

1. For non-idiomatic uses, see وَ (wa) and لَا (lā).

   أَقْرَأُ ٱلْكِتَابَ وَلَا أَفْهَمُ شَيْئًا مِنْهُ

   ʾAqraʾu l-kitāba wa-lā ʾafhamu šayʾan minhu.

   I’m reading the book, and I do not understand anything in it.

2. (idiomatic) nor; (with a preceding negative) or

   لَمْ أَشْعُرْ بِٱلْحُزْنِ وَلَا بِٱلْفَرَحِ

   Lam ʾašʿur bi-l-ḥuzni wa-lā bi-l-faraḥi.

   I did not feel sadness nor joy.

   (literally, “I did not feel sadness, and neither joy.”)

3. (idiomatic, used to emphasize a negative) (not) even; (not) at all

   لَنْ تَجِدَ خَيْرًا مِن هٰذَا وَلَا فِي أَمْرِيكَا

   Lan tajida ḵayran min hāḏā wa-lā fī ʾAmrīkā.

   You won’t even find anything better than this in America.

   (literally, “You won’t find anything better than this, and not in America.”)

   لَا تَفْهَمُ وَلَا شَيْئًا

   Lā tafhamu wa-lā šayʾan.

   You don’t understand anything at all.

   (literally, “You don’t understand, and not a thing.”)

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Hijazi Arabic

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) +‎ أَلَّا (ʔallā, “except”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /walːa/

Conjunction

وَلَّا • (walla)

1. or

   تبغى هذا؟ وَلَّا هذا؟

   tibḡa hāda? walla hāda?

   do you want this? or that?

Synonyms

• أو (ʼaw)

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) +‎ لَا (lā, “not”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wala/

Conjunction

وَلَا • (wala)

1. nor, neither

   لا هذا ,وَلَا هذاك

   lā hāda, wala hadāk

   not this, nor that