𐩡

𐩡 U+10A61, 𐩡 OLD SOUTH ARABIAN LETTER LAMEDH ← 𐩠 [U+10A60] Old South Arabian 𐩢 → [U+10A62]

Old South Arabian

Etymology

Compare Arabic ل (l).

Letter

𐩡 (l)

1. The second letter of the Old South Arabian abjad, called lamed.

See also

• Old South Arabian script letters: 𐩠, 𐩡, 𐩢, 𐩣, 𐩤, 𐩥, 𐩦, 𐩧, 𐩨, 𐩩, 𐩪, 𐩫, 𐩬, 𐩭, 𐩮, 𐩯, 𐩰, 𐩱, 𐩲, 𐩳, 𐩴, 𐩵, 𐩶, 𐩷, 𐩸, 𐩹, 𐩺, 𐩻, 𐩼 ^[edit]

Sabaean

Etymology

Cognate with Arabic لِـ (li-, “to, for”), Hebrew לְ־ (lə-, “to, for”), Aramaic ל־ (l-, “to, for”), and Ge'ez ለ (la-, “to, for”).

The jussive and optative use belongs to a wider Semitic pattern of *l- (“modal or directive particle”) before finite verbal forms; compare 𒇻 (lū, “may, let”).

Preposition

𐩡 (l-)

1. to, towards; marking direction, goal, or movement toward a point.
   • “CIH 555”, in DASI: Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions‎^[1]:

     ns¹r ms²rqn w-ns¹r mʿrbn l-ʾrkn ḏ-byn

     towards east and towards west into the dimension between them

2. for, for the benefit of; marking recipient, beneficiary, purpose, or dative relation.
   • “CIH 105”, in DASI: Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions‎^[2]:

     k-l y[h]qnyn-hw ṣlmm l-wfy brw-hw Lḥyʿṯtr

     that he should dedicate to Him a statue for the safety of his son Lḥyʿṯtar

3. belonging to, of; marking possession or association.
4. on, at; introducing dates or time expressions, especially in dating formulae.
5. Before an infinitive or verbal noun, marking purpose: in order to, so as to.

Particle

𐩡 (l-)

1. Before a prefix-conjugation verb, marking jussive, directive, or optative force: may, let, must, should.
   • “CIAS 32.21/r 1”, in DASI: Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions‎^[3]:

     k-mn-m ʾns¹ ḏ-yḥẓrn w-l yḏbḥn ḏbḥm

     that anyone who incurs a ban must offer a sacrifice

   • “al-Jawf 04.16”, in DASI: Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions‎^[4]:

     f-l ys²mn wfy hwt ġlmn Yhʿn w-l ys²fn-hw bn bʾs¹tm w-nkym

     may He preserve the well-being of that boy Yhʿn, and may He protect him from harm and injury

2. With a following clause-introducing particle, especially 𐩹𐩩 (ḏt), introducing reason or purpose: because, so that, for that.
   • “MAFRAY-al-Miʿsāl 5”, in DASI: Corpus of South Arabian Inscriptions‎^[5]:

     s²ms¹-hw ʿlyt bʿlt qyfy ʿrn S²ḥrrm l-ḏt tḫmrn-hmw

     his Solar deity ʿlyt, Lady of the citadel S²ḥrrm, because She granted to them

Usage notes

𐩡 (l-) is one of the broadest Sabaean clitics. As a preposition, it covers direction, goal, purpose, possession-like relations, dative relations, beneficiaries, and time expressions. As a verbal particle, it commonly gives a prefix-conjugation verb jussive or optative force.

The same spelling is split into several Sabaweb entries because its functions are syntactically distinct. A live Wiktionary entry is clearer when these are kept as senses under one page, with the source split noted in References.

Two marginal uses should be treated carefully. Sabaweb records a debated affirming use, roughly “indeed, truly”, but marks the interpretation as controversial in the older discussion. It also records a Minaean negative use “not”; that should not be imported as an ordinary Sabaean sense.

Derived terms

• 𐩡𐩹𐩩 (l-ḏt)
• 𐩡𐩬 (ln)
• 𐩡𐩫𐩹 (l-k-ḏ-)

See also

• 𐩥 (w-)
• 𐩨 (b-)
• 𐩫 (k-)
• 𐩹𐩩 (ḏt)

References

• Sabaweb, lemmas “l-” 002431–002439.
• A. F. L. Beeston et al., Sabaic Dictionary, pp. 81–82.
• Peter Stein, “Sabaic”, in The Semitic Languages, 2nd ed., 2019, pp. 81–82.
• DASI: CIH 555.
• DASI: CIH 105.
• DASI: CIAS 32.21/r 1.
• DASI: al-Jawf 04.16.
• DASI: MAFRAY-al-Miʿsāl 5.