là

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

Corsican[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

Noun[edit]

là

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

References[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

  • IPA(key): /la/
  • audio (France)(file)
  • (Quebec), IPA(key): (formal) /la/, (formal) /lɑ/, (informal) /lɔ/
  • Homophone: la

Adverb[edit]

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[edit]

  • Some compounds formed with là are traditionally written with hyphens while others are not. Larousse[1] gives a non-exhaustive list which nevertheless illustrates examples of each group, where certain patterns can be detected:
with hyphen
without hyphen

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

  • y (near-synonym in certain contexts)

References[edit]

  1. ^ “là” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin illāc. Compare Spanish allá, Portuguese lá, French là.

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Adverb[edit]

là

  1. there
    Synonym: lì

Usage notes[edit]

  • See usage notes at lì.

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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

Anagrams[edit]

Lahu[edit]

Verb[edit]

là

  1. to come

Mandarin[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Romanization[edit]

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[edit]

Adverb[edit]

là

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

Mochica[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

là

  1. water

Synonyms[edit]

References[edit]

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

Muong[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

là

  1. (Mường Bi) to do
    Là chi đĩ?
    What are you doing?
    là wiêc ― to work

Derived terms[edit]

Verb[edit]

là

  1. (Mường Bi) to be

References[edit]

  • 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[edit]

Postposition[edit]

là

  1. under, in

Portuguese[edit]

Adverb[edit]

là (not comparable)

  1. Obsolete spelling of lá

Romansch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin illāc.

Adverb[edit]

là

  1. there

Scottish Gaelic[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

là m (genitive singular là, plural làithean)

  1. Alternative form of latha

Usage notes[edit]

  • Usually used for special days of the calendar.

Derived terms[edit]

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Verb[edit]

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[edit]

Chữ Nôm character is composed of (⿰火𬙛).

Etymology 4[edit]

Combining form[edit]

là

  1. reduplicant of lạ, only used in là lạ
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