لغة

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ل غ و (l-ḡ-w). Related to Hebrew לוע / לֹעַ (lṓaʿ, “throat, pharynx, maw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.ɣa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

لُغَة • (luḡa) f (plural لُغَات (luḡāt))

1. language

   Synonym: لِسَان (lisān)

   هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ ٱلْحَدِيثَ بِغَيْرِ لُغَتِكَ ٱلْْأُمِّ ؟

   hal tastaṭīʕu l-ḥadīṯa biḡayri luḡatika l-ʔummi ?

   Can you speak another language besides your mother tongue?

2. dialect, vernacular

   Synonym: لَهْجَة (lahja)

3. jargon
4. (linguistics) a variant
   • 1290, Ibn Manẓūr, “وي”, in لسان العرب [The Tongue of the Arabs]‎^[1], فصل الحاء المهملة [The section of the undotted letter ح (ḥāʔ)], page 211:

     حَيِيَ حَياةً وَحَيَّ يَحْيَا وَيَحَيُّ فَهُوَ حَيٌّ، وَلِلْجَمِيعِ حَيُّوا، بِٱلتَّشْدِيدِ، قَالَ: وَلُغَةٌ أُخْرَى حَيَّ يَحَيُّ وَلِلْجَمِيعِ حَيُوا، خَفِيفَة.

     ḥayiya ḥayātan wa-ḥayya yaḥyā wa-yaḥayyu fa-huwa ḥayyun, wa-li-l-jamīʕi ḥayyū, bi-t-tašdīdi, qāla: wa-luḡatun ʔuḵrā ḥayya yaḥayyu wa-li-l-jamīʕi ḥayū, ḵafīfa.

     He lived a life, and he lived, he lives and he lives so he is alive, and in the plural they lived, with gemination; [it was] said: another variant is he lived, he lives, and in the plural they lived, [without gemination].

   • (Can we date this quote?), الفَرَّاء، أَبُو زَكَرِيَّا يَحْيَا بِن زِيَاد [al-farrāʔ, ʔabū zakariyyā yaḥyā bin ziyād, Al-Farrāʾ], edited by جَابِر بِن عَبْدِ اللهِ السُّرَيِّع [jābir bin ʕabdi llāhi s-surayyiʕ], كِتَابٌ فِيهِ لُغَاتُ القُرْآن (kitābun fīhi luḡātu al-qurʔān) [A book containing variant readings of the Qur'an], published 2014:

     وَفِي (نَسْتَعِينُ) لُغَتَانِ: قُرَيْشٌ وَكِنَانَةُ يَنْصِبُونَ النُّونَ، وَعَامَّةُ العَرَبِ مِن بَنِي قَيْسِ وَرَبِيعَةَ يَقُولُونَ: نِسْتَعِينُ...

     wa-fī (nastaʕīnu) luḡatāni: qurayšun wa-kinānatu yanṣibūna n-nūna, wa-ʕāmmatu l-ʕarabi min banī qaysi wa-rabīʕata yaqūlūna: nistaʕīnu...

     And there are two variants of نَسْتَعِينُ (nastaʕīnu): Quraysh and Kinanah pronounce it with na-, [whereas] the general Arab public of the tribes Tamim, Qays, and Rabīʿa say: nistaʿīnu...

5. (with the definite article) Classical Arabic
6. lexicography, lexicographic literature, lexicographers
   • a. 1050, مروان بن جناح [Marwān ibn Janāḥ], edited by Gerrit Bos, Fabian Käs, كتاب التلخيص [kitāb at-talḵīṣ] [On the Nomenclature of Medicinal Drugs], Leiden: Brill, published 2020, →DOI, →ISBN, 825 (fol. 70r,14–v,1), page 963:

     القبج بالفارسية هو الحجل عنه ومن كتاب أهرن وفي اللغة: القبج ذكر الحجل، قال الصنوبري
     يٰأخِي قُمْ فَقَدْ شَجَجْنا لَكَ الرَّاحَ … فَخُذْها مَشْجُوجَةً أيّ شَجّ
     قَطَعَ المَاءُ جِسْمَها قِطَعًا لَمْ … تَغْذِ أَمْثالَها مَناقِيرُ قَبْج

     Al-qabj is Persian for partridge ibidem [in ar-Rāzī’s Ḥāwī]. From ʾAhrun’s book and the lexicographers: It is the male partridge. Aṣ-Ṣanawbarīy said:
     O brother, get up! We have mixed wine for you.
     Take it in a mixed state in whichever fashion!
     The water has stripped down its substance into bits,
     of size smaller than chukar beaks eat.

Declension

Declension of noun لُغَة (luḡa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَة luḡa	اللُّغَة al-luḡa	لُغَة luḡat
Nominative	لُغَةٌ luḡatun	اللُّغَةُ al-luḡatu	لُغَةُ luḡatu
Accusative	لُغَةً luḡatan	اللُّغَةَ al-luḡata	لُغَةَ luḡata
Genitive	لُغَةٍ luḡatin	اللُّغَةِ al-luḡati	لُغَةِ luḡati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَتَيْن luḡatayn	اللُّغَتَيْن al-luḡatayn	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Nominative	لُغَتَانِ luḡatāni	اللُّغَتَانِ al-luḡatāni	لُغَتَا luḡatā
Accusative	لُغَتَيْنِ luḡatayni	اللُّغَتَيْنِ al-luḡatayni	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Genitive	لُغَتَيْنِ luḡatayni	اللُّغَتَيْنِ al-luḡatayni	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Plural	sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَات luḡāt	اللُّغَات al-luḡāt	لُغَات luḡāt
Nominative	لُغَاتٌ luḡātun	اللُّغَاتُ al-luḡātu	لُغَاتُ luḡātu
Accusative	لُغَاتٍ luḡātin	اللُّغَاتِ al-luḡāti	لُغَاتِ luḡāti
Genitive	لُغَاتٍ luḡātin	اللُّغَاتِ al-luḡāti	لُغَاتِ luḡāti

Derived terms

• لُغَة أَجْنَبِيَّة (luḡa ʔajnabiyya, “foreign language”)
• لُغَة عَامِّيَّة (luḡa ʕāmmiyya, “popular language”)
• لُغَة الْمُحَادَة (luḡat al-muḥāda, “colloquial language”)
• لُغَة الْمِحْنَة (luḡat al-miḥna, “professional jargon, slang”)
• لُغَة الْمَوْلِد (luḡat al-mawlid, “mother tongue”)
• أَهْل اللُّغَة (ʔahl al-luḡa, “philologists, lexicographers”)
• عِلْم اللُّغَة (ʕilm al-luḡa, “lexicography, philology, linguistics”)
• لُغَوِيّ (luḡawiyy, “linguistic, philological, lexicographical”)

Related terms

• لَغَا (laḡā)
• لَغِيَ (laḡiya)
• أَلْغَى (ʔalḡā)
• لَغْوَة (laḡwa, “dialect, idiom, vernacular”)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: لغة (luḡa)
• → Azerbaijani: lüğət
• → Malay: loghat (“dialect”)
  • Indonesian: logat
• → Ottoman Turkish: لغت (lüğat)
  • Turkish: lügat
  • Crimean Tatar: luğat
• → Persian: لغت (loğat)
• → Sindhi: لغت
• → Somali: luuqada
• → Swahili: lugha
• → Tajik: луғат (luġat)
• → Urdu: لغت (luġat, “dictionary”)
• → Uyghur: لۇغەت (lughet)
• → Uzbek: lugʻat

References

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

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ل غ و
2 terms

Etymology

From Arabic لُغَة (luḡa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.ɣa/, [ˈlʊ.ɣa]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

لغة • (luḡa) f (plural لغات (luḡāt))

1. language

   لغة أجنبية ― luḡa ʔajnabiyye ― foreign language

   اللغة الأم ― il-luḡa il-ʔumm ― native language, mother tongue

   Audio (Ramallah):

   (file)

See also

• لهجة (lahje, “dialect”)