là

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

Corsican

Etymology

From Latin labii, the first word of the sixth line of Ut queant laxis, on which the names for the notes of the solfège were based. Compare Italian la and French la.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/
• Homophone: la

Noun

là

1. (music) la, the note 'A'.

References

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French la, from Old French la, from Latin illāc. The grave accent on the a was added to disambiguate with la (“the”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

• audio (France)

  (file)

• (Quebec), IPA^(key): (formal) /la/, (formal) /lɑ/, (informal) /lɔ/
• Homophone: la

Adverb

là

1. referring to physical place
   1. there

      Antonym: ici

      Je t'attendrai là. ― I'll wait for you there.

   2. here; present (used with être)

      Synonym: ici (with verbs other than être )

      Je suis (toujours) là.

      I'm (still) here.

2. referring to an abstract destination or goal; there

   Je suis presque là. ― I've almost got it. (literally, “I'm almost there.”)

Usage notes

• Some compounds formed with là are traditionally written with hyphens while others are not. Larousse gives a non-exhaustive list which nevertheless illustrates examples of each group, where certain patterns can be detected:

with hyphen

• de-ci de-là / de-ci, de-là
• jusque-là
• là-bas
• là-dedans
• là-dessous
• là-dessus
• là-haut
• par-ci par-là / par-ci, par-là

 

without hyphen

• ça et là
• de là
• d'ici là
• là contre
• là même
• là où
• par là
• par là même

 

Derived terms

• çà et là
• ici et là
• oh là là
• là-bas
• là-dehors
• là-haut
• par là

See also

• y (near-synonym in certain contexts)

References

• “là”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin illāc. Compare Spanish allá, Portuguese lá.

The original geminated -ll-, though lost in the standard language, is still found in most regional Italian varieties.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/^*

  • Audio (Italy)

    (file)

• (regional) IPA^(key): ^*/ˈla/^*
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: là

Adverb

là

1. there

   Synonym: lì

Usage notes

• See usage notes at lì.

Derived terms

• ehilà

Further reading

• là in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• là in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

• al

Lahu

Verb

là

1. to come

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• la – nonstandard

Romanization

là (la⁴, Zhuyin ㄌㄚˋ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 剌
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嘑／呼
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 拉
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 揧
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 擶
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 攋／𪮶
7. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 楋
8. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 爉
9. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 瓎
10. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 瘌
11. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 癞
12. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 癤／疖
13. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 翂
14. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 腊
15. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 臈／腊
16. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 臘／腊
17. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 萺
18. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蜛
19. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蝋
20. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蝲
21. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蠟／蜡
22. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 辢
23. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 辣
24. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鑞／镴
25. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鬎
26. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鯻／𬶟
27. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蜡

Middle French

Adverb

là

1. (late Middle French) Alternative form of la (there; at a given location)

Mochica

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/

Noun

là

1. water

Synonyms

• leng

References

• José Antonio Salas, Diccionario mochica-castellano, castellano-mochica (2002)

Muong

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *laː (“to work”). Cognate with Vietnamese là.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː²/

Verb

là

1. (Mường Bi) to do

   Là chi đĩ?

   What are you doing?

   là wiêc ― to work

Derived terms

• là ản
  • là ăn
  • là ăn là ỏng
  • là ấu
  • là bài
  • là bất
  • là bẫy
  • là bong
  • là cải
  • là cao
  • là cháng
  • là chảu
  • là chay
  • là chẩng
  • là chẩy
  • là chi
  • là chỉn
  • là chú
  • là có
  • là cỗ
  • là cổl lõ tâm ăn
  • là công
  • là cồng
  • là cơm
  • là cun
  • là cương
  • là dac
  • là dảng
  • là dàu
  • là du
  • là đaỉnh
  • là đảng
  • là đẩu

 

Verb

là

1. (Mường Bi) to be

References

• Nguyễn Văn Khang; Bùi Chỉ; Hoàng Văn Hành (2002) Từ điển Mường - Việt (Muong - Vietnamese dictionary), Nhà xuất bản Văn hoá Dân tộc Hà Nội

Mwan

Postposition

là

1. under, in

Portuguese

Adverb

là (not comparable)

1. Obsolete spelling of lá

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin illāc.

Adverb

là

1. there

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l̪ˠaː/

Noun

là m (genitive singular là, plural làithean)

1. Alternative form of latha

Usage notes

• Usually used for special days of the calendar.

Derived terms

• Là Bealltainn (“Beltane, May Day”)
• Là Buidhe Bealltainn (“Beltane, May Day”)
• Là na Bliadhna Ùire (“New Year's Day”)
• Là na Gogaireachd (“April Fool's Day”)
• Là nam Màthraichean (“Mother's Day”)
• Là nam Pòg (“Saint Valentine's Day”)
• Là nan Amadan (“April Fool's Day”)
• Là nan Athraichean (“Father's Day”)
• Là nan Trì Rìghrean (“Epiphany”)
• Là Nollaige (“Christmas Day”)

 

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [laː˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [laː˦˩]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [laː˨˩]

• Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)

  (file)

Etymology 1

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 羅 (SV: la).

Noun

là • (𬗢, 纙, 羅, 罗)

1. fine silk
   • 15th century, Nguyễn Trãi, “Ngôn chí 言志 3”, in Quốc âm thi tập (國音詩集):

     𩛷(Bữa)咹(ăn)油(dù)固(có)𦼞(dưa)㙁(muối)
     襖(Áo)默(mặc)奈(nài)之(chi)錦(gấm)羅(là)

     [I don't mind] Even if my meals only have pickles [on the side],
     [and] I have no reason to demand good silk for clothing.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *laː (“to work”). Doublet of làm.

Verb

là • (羅, 𱺵, 𪜀, 𦉼)

1. (copula) to be
   • 1946, Tố Hữu, “Từ ấy [That Moment]”, in Từ ấy [That Moment]:

     Tôi đã là con của vạn nhà
     Là em của vạn kiếp phôi pha
     Là anh của vạn đầu em nhỏ
     Không áo cơm, cù bất cù bơ…

     I became the son of all families
     The little brother of all fading lives
     The big brother of all young ones
     Who were starving, shivering and wandering…

Usage notes

The verb là is used before a noun, which is part of the nominal predicate, but is not used before an adjectival predicate.

Hải là kĩ sư. ― Hải is an engineer.

Tôi ø ngốc quá. ― I was so silly.

When a noun which follows là as the nominal predicate indicates professions or occupations, là and the verb làm are interchangeable.

Bà ấy là / làm giáo viên ở trường này hơn hai mươi năm rồi. ― She has been a teacher at this school for more than twenty years.

Là may be used as the predicate to indicate existence, which is equivalent to "there is" or "there are". The word order is: place + là (+ classifier) + noun.

Giữa hồ là (một) hòn đảo. ― There is an island in the middle of the lake.

In formal Vietnamese, the verb là can be placed in front of an adjective as an intensifier for the emphasis denoted by the adjective which functions as the predicate. Compare the following sentences:

Vấn đề này quan trọng. ― This issue is important. (No emphasis.)

Tất cả chúng tôi đều thấy rằng vấn đề này là quan trọng, nên... ― We all realized that this issue is important indeed, therefore... (The emphasis is placed on the adjective quan trọng, and the verb là is used as an intensifier for the emphatic statement.)

As a copula verb that is somewhat semantically empty. It is not perfectly equivalent to copulae in other languages (such as English be, French être, Japanese です (desu), Hindi है (hai)), as it only links the subject to a noun or noun phrase. Teachers of foreign languages typically translate copulae of those languages to là, but also to thì (for linking to adjectives) to compensate this incompatibility.

See also

• bị
• được
• ở

Etymology 3

Verb

là • (󱧭)

1. (usually Northern Vietnam) to iron

   Synonym: ủi

   Là trong "giặt là hơi" là là chứ không phải là là.

   The là in "giặt là hơi" means ironing, not being. / "Giặt là hơi" means "wash and iron with steam", not "wash is steam".

Notes

Chữ Nôm character is composed of (⿰火𬙛).