لا

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Arabic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *lā. Compare Hebrew לֹא (lo), which, in older texts, is used in the negative imperative and the negative existential indicative.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/

• Audio

  (file)

Particle

لَا • (lā)

1. no
2. not; negates an indicative present-tense verb
3. do not; expresses prohibition with a jussive verb

   لَا نَنْسَ… ― lā nansa… ― Let us not forget…

   لَا يَفُتْكُمْ ― lā yafutkum ― You shall not miss it.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 49:11:

     يَا أَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِنْ نِسَاءٍ عَسَى أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهُنَّ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِٱلْأَلْقَابِ

     yā ʔayyuhā llaḏīna ʔāmanū lā yasḵar qawmun min qawmin ʕasā ʔan yakūnū ḵayran minhum wa-lā nisāʔun min nisāʔin ʕasā ʔan yakunna ḵayran minhunna wa-lā talmizū ʔanfusakum wa-lā tanābazū bi-l-ʔalqābi

     O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by names.

   • Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma

     يَا حَارِ لَا أُرْمَيَنْ مِنْكُمْ بِدَاهِيَةٍ / لَمْ يَلْقَهَا سُوقَةٌ قَبْلِي وَلَا مَلِكُ

     yā ḥāri lā ʔurmayan minkum bidāhiyatin / lam yalqahā sūqatun qablī walā maliku

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • Al-Farazdaq

     إِذَا مَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ دِمَشْقَ فَلَا نَعُدْ / لَهَا أَبَدًا مَا دَامَ فِيهَا الْجُرَاضِمُ

     ʔiḏā mā ḵarajnā min dimašqa falā naʕud / lahā ʔabadan mā dāma fīhā l-jurāḍimu

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. there is not, there is no, there is nothing, nothing is

   لَا طَالِبَ حَاضِرٌ. ― lā ṭāliba ḥāḍirun. ― No student is present.

5. not; negates any non-verbal sentence element
6. neither, nor

Usage notes

As shown in the example, sense 4 generally governs a noun in the determinate state and the accusative case — that is, a noun without nunation. However, subsequent adjectives are in the indeterminate state, meaning they are nunated:

• لَا طَالِبَ مُجْتَهِدًا حَاضِرٌ ― lā ṭāliba mujtahidan ḥāḍirun ― No hard-working student is present.

If, instead of an adjective, there is an attributive prepositional phrase, the initial noun can be in either state:

• لَا طَالِبَ لَدَيْنَا مُجْتَهِدًا حَاضِرٌ ― lā ṭāliba ladaynā mujtahidan ḥāḍirun ― No hard-working student of ours is present.
• لَا طَالِبًا لِلْعِلْمِ مُقَصِّرٌ ― lā ṭāliban lilʕilmi muqaṣṣirun ― No seeker of knowledge is delinquent.

Additionally, sense 4 can govern a preposition alone, with an implicit third-person singular masculine subject and no visible case or state. This is the origin of لَا عَلَيْكَ (lā ʕalayka, “no worries”, literally “there is not [anything] on you”) and similar collocations.

Isolated form	Final form
لا	ـلا

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “no”): نَعَم (naʕam)
• (antonym(s) of “expresses prohibition with a jussive verb”): لِـ (li-)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: لَأْ (laʔ, “no”), لا (la, “don't (used before imperatives)”)
• South Levantine Arabic: لأ (laʔ), لا (la, “don't (with imperative or subjunctive)”)
• Maltese: la, le
• → Swahili: la

Conjunction

لَا • (lā)

1. not, and not

   أَحْضِرْ وَثَائِقَكَ لَا كُتُبَكَ

   ʔaḥḍir waṯāʔiqaka lā kutubaka

   Bring your documents, not your books.

Antonyms

• بَلْ (bal)

Derived terms

• مُكْرَهٌ أَخَاكَ لَا بَطَلٌ (mukrahun ʔaḵāka lā baṭalun, proverb)^[sic]

Prefix

لَا • (lā)

1. non-, un-, in-

   لَاسُلْطَوِيّ (lāsulṭawiyy)

   لَاسِلْكِيّ (lāsilkiyy)

   لَامُبَالَاة (lāmubālāh)

   لَافَقَارِيَّات (lāfaqāriyyāt)

   لَامَرْكَزِيَّة (lāmarkaziyya)

Derived terms

• وَلَا سِيَّمَا (walā siyyamā)
• لَا جَرَمَ (lā jarama)
• لَا بَأْسَ (lā baʔsa)
• لَا بُدَّ (lā budda)
• لَا مَحَالَةَ (lā maḥālata)

See also

• إِلَّا (ʔillā)
• بَلْ (bal)
• غَيْر (ḡayr)
• عَدَم (ʕadam)
• كَلَّا (kallā)
• لَيْسَ (laysa)
• لَمْ (lam)
• لَمَّا (lammā)
• لَنْ (lan)
• مَا (mā)

Etymology 2

Particle

لَا • (la)

1. (Classical Arabic, before a hamza) Alternative spelling of لَ (la, “truly, indeed”)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 27:21:

References

• Fischer, Wolfdietrich (2006) Grammatik des Klassischen Arabisch (in German), 4^th edition, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, →ISBN, § 318

Persian

Etymology 1

From French la.

Noun

لا • (lâ)

1. (music) A, La (the sixth note of the fixed-Do solfège scale)
2. (music) La (the sixth note of the movable-Do solfège scale, i.e. the submediant)

Etymology 2

From Arabic لَا (lā).

Particle

Dari	لا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ло

لا • (lâ)

1. (rare) un-

Synonyms

• (no, not): نه (na), نیست (nist)
• (-un): نا (nâ)

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• لای (lây)

Noun

Dari	لا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ло

لا • (lâ)

1. fold
2. layer
3. ply
4. strand

Shina

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/

Noun

لا (lā)

1. cucumber

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لَا (lā).

Particle

لا • (la)

1. don't (negative imperative)

   Synonyms: ما (mā), ـش (-š)

   لا تنسى تعمل واجباتك!

   la tinsa tiʕmil wājbātak

   Don't forget to do your homework!

2. may it not (with subjunctive verb)

   لا يكون صابه إشي.

   la ykūn ṣābo ʔiši

   May it not be that something hurt him.

Usage notes

• The negative imperative with لا (la) is more formal, while ما (mā) and the suffix ـش (-š) are more common in informal speech.
• لا يكون (la ykūn) is often used a fixed expression not conjugated by person and number and might be written as one word ليكون (laykūn).

See also

• لأ (laʔ, “no”)