lah

See also: LAH, -lah, and --lah

Translingual

Symbol

lah

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Lahnda.

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English

WOTD – 9 August 2015

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑ/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ

Etymology 1

An anglicised spelling of la.

Noun

lah (plural lahs)

1. (music) Alternative spelling of la

Etymology 2

From Malay lah, Cantonese 啦 (laa1) or Hokkien 啦 (--la).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore, Malaysia)
  • IPA^(key): (Sense 1) /lɑː˨/, /lah˨/
  • IPA^(key): (Sense 2) /lɑː˦/
  • IPA^(key): (Sense 3) /laː˦˨/

Particle

lah (Manglish, Singlish)

1. Placed at the end of a phrase or sentence either for emphasis or reassurance.

   Don’t think so much lah! ― Don’t overanalyse.

   It’s okay lah. ― It’s all right; don’t worry about it.

   • 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 23:

     "Old Nabby's quite enough during the day-lah."

   • 1978, Leong Choon Cheong, Youth in the Army, Singapore: Federal Publications, OCLC 6144357, page 75:

     Don’t know lah […] this is very hard to say.

   • 1994, C. S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, Singapore: Times Books International, →ISBN, page 58:

     Oh well, it was xiong, but overall OK, lah.

   • 2000 April 2, Tee Hun Ching, The Sunday Times (Singapore), page 14:

     ‘No, lah!’ he says with a wave of his hand. […] ‘No need, lah! People in the industry know me. […] ’

   • 2001 February 23, Susan Long, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”, in The Straits Times (Singapore), page H12:

     His says his attitude then, as it still is, was: ‘Try lah, won’t go wrong one lah.’

   Nehmind, can one lah! ― Don’t worry too much about it, you'll definitely be able to do it!

2. Used sarcastically to state the obvious.

   No lah, no lah. ― It ‘isn't’ (when it in fact is).

3. Emphasizes that something is obvious or self-evident.

   Of course lah!/Yah lah!/Han nah! ― Of course, without a single doubt, it is.

See also

• leh, lor, meh, mah, hor, what

Further reading

• Singlish "lah", with a possible deep connection to colloquial Arabic from Language Log
• Manglish "lah" and its affinity to Arabic "muhibbah" from Language Log

Anagrams

• Ahl, HAL, HLA, Hal, LHA

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Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lah/

Particle

lah

1. (informal) Final particle indicating an imperative, reassurance or emphasis.

   Saya ada di sini lah. ― I'm here.

   Kau ni bodoh betul lah! ― You are so stupid!

   Diam lah! ― Shut up!

   Pergi sana lah! ― Go there!

Descendants

• → English: lah (or directly from Cantonese 啦)

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• laȝ, laȝgh, laghe, lawe, law, louȝ, lou, loȝ, logh, lough, low, lowe, loue

Etymology

From Old Norse lágr, from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑːx/

Adjective

lāh (plural and weak singular lāhe, comparative lāhere, superlative lāhest)

1. low

Related terms

• aloue

Descendants

• English: low
• Scots: laich

References

• “loue, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.