habla

See also: hablá

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈabla/ [ˈa.β̞la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -abla
• Syllabification: ha‧bla

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish fabla, from Latin fābula (“discourse”). Compare fábula, a borrowed doublet.

Noun

habla f (plural hablas)

1. speech (faculty of speech)
2. speaking (action)

Usage notes

• Before feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like habla, the singular definite article takes the form of el (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usual la: el habla. This includes the contracted forms al and del (instead of a la and de la, respectively): al habla, del habla.

This also applies to the indefinite article, which takes the form of un, which is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una also occurs): un habla or una habla. The same is true with determiners algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g., veintiún/veintiuna).

However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la, una etc.) are used: la mejor habla, una buena habla.

• In these cases, el and un are not masculine but feminine, deriving from Latin illa and una, respectively, even though they are identical in form to the corresponding masculine singular articles. Thus, they are allomorphs of the feminine singular articles la and una.
• The use of these allomorphs does not change the gender agreement of the adjectives modifying the feminine noun: el habla única, un(a) habla buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine plural articles and determiners (las, unas, etc.) are always used.

Derived terms

• acto de habla
• al habla
• sin habla

Related terms

• fabla (“pseudo-archaic style”)
• hablar (“to speak”)

Descendants

• → Tagalog: abla

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

habla

1. inflection of hablar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

   Habla. ― He [or she] speaks.

   (Usted) habla. (formal singular) ― (You) speak.

   ¡Habla! (informal singular) ― Speak!

Further reading

• “habla”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Early Modern Spanish hablar. Attested in Fr. San Buenaventura's Vocabulario de lengua tagala (1613). Doublet of abla and pabula, later borrowings.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /habˈla/ [hɐbˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: hab‧la

Noun

hablá (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜊ᜔ᜎ)

1. (law) accusation; complaint (in court)

   Synonyms: sakdal, demanda, akusasyon, reklamo

Derived terms

• hablahan
• ihabla
• ipaghabla
• maghabla
• mahabla
• paghablahan
• paghahabla
• palahabla

Further reading

• “habla”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de; Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves, y coordinado por…, ultimamente aumentado y corregido por varios religiosos de la Orden de Agustinos calzados.‎^[1] (overall work in Spanish and Classical Tagalog), Manila: Ramírez y Giraudier.
• Santos, Fr. Domingo de los (1835), Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala, primera y segunda parte. En la primera, se pone primero el Castellano, y despues el Tagalo. Y en la segunda al contrario, que son las raíces simples con sus acentos.‎^[2] (overall work in Spanish and Classical Tagalog), Manila: La Imprenta nueva de D. José María Dayot, por Tomás Oliva.
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[3] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag.
  • page 19: “Acuſar) Habla [(pc)] quejandole de otro”
  • page 223: “Denunçiar) Habla [(pc)] poniendo algun pleyto”
  • page 485: “Pleyto) Habla (pc) que vno pone ſobre algunas tierras oro caſas o otra coſa”
  • page 506: “Quejarſe) Habla (pc) ante algun tribunal”