ل

ل U+0644, ل ARABIC LETTER LAM ← ك [U+0643] Arabic م → [U+0645]

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ل	ـل	ـلـ	لـ

ﻝ U+FEDD, ﻝ ARABIC LETTER LAM ISOLATED FORM ← ﻜ [U+FEDC] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻞ → [U+FEDE]

ﻞ U+FEDE, ﻞ ARABIC LETTER LAM FINAL FORM ← ﻝ [U+FEDD] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻟ → [U+FEDF]

ﻟ U+FEDF, ﻟ ARABIC LETTER LAM INITIAL FORM ← ﻞ [U+FEDE] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻠ → [U+FEE0]

ﻠ U+FEE0, ﻠ ARABIC LETTER LAM MEDIAL FORM ← ﻟ [U+FEDF] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻡ → [U+FEE1]

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [lam]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [l]

ل (lam) (no case)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Acehnese alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

• Arabic script letters: حرف (haraih, harah) (script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, /ɫ/

From the Nabataean Aramaic letter 𐢑 (l, “lāmaḏ”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤋 (l, “lāməd”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓌅. See also Classical Syriac ܠ (l, “lāmaḏ”), Hebrew ל (l, “lamed”), Ancient Greek Λ (L), Latin L.

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل • (lām) (no case)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Arabic alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك (k) and followed by م (m).

• Arabic script letters: حُرُوف (ḥurūf) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ث, ج, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي ^[edit]
• Wikipedia article on the Arabic alphabet
• Search for entries beginning with ل

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل • (lām)

1. The twelfth numeral symbol of the Arabic alphabet (traditional abjad order, used for list numbering), written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك (k) and followed by م (m).

From Proto-Semitic *lV-.

• IPA^(key): /li./

لِـ • (li-)

1. to, for, belonging to

   Synonyms: إِلَى (ʔilā), عَلَى (ʕalā), حَتَّى (ḥattā), لَدَى (ladā), نَحْوَ (naḥwa)

   تَيَسَّرَ لِلسَّفَرِ

   tayassara li-s-safari

   Travel became easy.

   (literally, “It became easy for the travel.”)

When لِـ (li-) is followed by the definite article اَلْ (al-, “the”), the alif of the article is dropped from the spelling, resulting in the spelling لِلْ. However, if this would result in three lams in a row, because the first letter following the definite article is also lam, then the lam with sukun is also dropped, resulting in a spelling starting with لِلّـ, with only two lams; for example, لِلَّيْلَة (lil-layla, “for tonight”), لِلّٰهِ (li-llāhi, “to God”). The pronunciation is entirely regular in all of these cases.

(via third-person singular masculine form لَهُ (lahu)):

• → Azerbaijani: ləh
• → Persian: له (lah)

لَـ • (la-)

1. Used to express admiration

   يَا لَلْعَجَبِ! ― yā la-l-ʕajabi! ― How wonderful!

   يَا لَهُ مِنْ عَالَمٍ رَائِعٍ!

   yā lahu min ʕālamin rāʔiʕin!

   What a wonderful world!

2. Used to call for help

   يَا لَلْأُمِّ لِلْأَطْفَالِ!

   yā lalʔummi lilʔaṭfāli!

   Oh for mother to the children! (Oh mother, help your children!)

It is often used in the form يَا لَهُ [مِنْ] ..., that is, يَا لَـ followed by an enclitic pronoun that does not refer to any previous noun. Rather the pronoun refers to what follows it, with an optional مِنْ in the middle.^[1]

لِـ • (li-)

2. to, in order to: followed by the subjunctive mood

   دَخَلْتُ ٱلْمَطْبَخَ لِأَشْرَبَ مَاءً.

   daḵaltu l-maṭbaḵa li-ʔašraba māʔan.

   I entered the kitchen to drink water.

3. used with the verbs أَرَادَ (ʔarāda) and أَمَرَ (ʔamara)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 33:33:

     إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللّٰهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمُ الرِّجْسَ

     ʔinnamā yurīdu llāhu liyuḏhiba ʕankumu r-rijsa

     Allah only intends to purify you of impurity.

4. only to (لَامُ الْعَاقِبَة (lāmu l-ʕāqiba))
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 28:8:

     فَالْتَقَطَهُ آلُ فِرْعَوْنَ لِيَكُونَ لَهُمْ عَدُوًّا وَحَزَنًا

     fāltaqaṭahu ʾālu firʿawna li-yakūna lahum ʿaduwwan wa-ḥazanan

     And so the family of the Pharaoh picked him up, only to become an enemy and a grief.

• لِأَنْ (liʔan)

• Maltese: lil

• IPA^(key): /li./
• (after وَ (wa) or فَـ (fa-)) IPA^(key): /l/

لِـ • (li-)

1. Used to introduce an imperative with a jussive verb; let
   • 9th century, Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj, quoting Muhammad, “كتاب الحج”, in Sahih Muslim:

     لِتَأْخُذُوا مَنَاسِكَكُمْ فَإِنِّي لَا أَدْرِي لَعَلِّي لَا أَحُجُّ بَعْدَ حَجَّتِي هَذِهِ

     litaʔḵuḏū manāsikakum faʔinnī lā ʔadrī laʕallī lā ʔaḥujju baʕda ḥajjatī haḏihi

     Learn your rituals from me, for I do not know—perhaps this will be my last Hajj.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 18:29:

     وَقُلِ ٱلْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَمَنْ شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِنْ وَمَنْ شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ

     waquli l-ḥaqqu min rabbikum faman šāʔa falyuʔmin waman šāʔa falyakfur

     And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe; and whoever wills, let him disbelieve."

• IPA^(key): /la./

لَـ • (la-)

1. (intensifying particle) truly, verily, certainly, surely
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 29:41:

     وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ ٱلْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ ٱلْعَنْكَبُوتِ

     wa-ʔinna ʔawhana l-buyūti la-baytu l-ʕankabūti

     And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 89:14:

     إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

     ʔinna rabbaka la-bi-l-mirṣādi

     Verily, thy Lord is on the lookout.

Frequently used after إِنَّ (ʔinna).

• لَقَدْ (laqad)

لِ • (li) (form I) /li/

1. second-person masculine singular imperative of وَلِيَ (waliya)

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “ل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l~lʱ~ɭ~ɫ̥]

ل (transliteration needed) (no case)

1. The thirty-seventh letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l]

ل (l) (no case)

1. The thirty-eighth letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

From Arabic لِـ (li-, “to; for”), usurping the usages of إِلَى (ʔilā).

• IPA^(key): /li/
• IPA^(key): /l/ (after vowels)

لـ • (li- or l-)

1. to, towards

   Synonym: نحية (niḥyit)

2. for

   عملت لأخويا كيكة ― ʕamalt l-aḵūya kēka ― I made a cake for my brother

3. Marks the beneficiary of ditransitive verbs: to

   قلت لأخويا ― ult l-aḵūya ― I told my brother

After الـ (il-, “the”), produces للـ (li-l-), which also assimilates with following consonants (see الـ).

When attached before pronouns in a verbal sentence, produces ـلـ (-l-), attaching after the verb (or after the attached patient pronoun) and acting as part of it, lengthening the vowel it directly follows. Resulting /ll/ clusters often go unwritten (see Arabic diacritics § Shaddah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).

• جالي وقالّي ― gā-li wi-ʔal-li ― He came to me and said to me
• عملتلك كيكة ― ʕamalti-lak kēka ― I made a cake for you
• ادّتهالك ― iddithā-lak ― I gave it to you

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /laːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (l) (no case)

1. The thirty-sixth letter of the Kashmiri alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /læm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (l) (no case, Cyrillic equivalent Л or л)

1. The nineteenth letter of the Kazakh alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڭ and followed by م.

• Arabic script letters: әріптер (ärıpter) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ج, چ, ح, د, ر, ز, س, ش, ع, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, ە, ھ, و, ۇ, ۋ, ۆ, ى, ي ^[edit]

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lam/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل (lām) (no case)

1. The thirty-ninth letter of the Khowar alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by ڵ, the first of two letters derived from Arabic لَام (lām) (⟨ل⟩).

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [lam]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [l]

ل / ل‍ / ‍ل‍ / ‍ل (no case)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

• Arabic script letters (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

From Arabic لِـ (li-, “to, for, toward”), with the base form possibly suppleted by Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”). The suffixed forms continue Arabic لِـ (li-), however, not إِلَى (ʔilā).

This is surprising, as the إلـ (ʔil-) of suffixed forms like إلَك (ʔilak, “to you”) superficially resembles Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā) as well. However, the preposition's ending in North Levantine Arabic does not match the -ay- of forms like Arabic إِلَيْكَ (ʔilayka, “to you”). In fact, the actual descendants of the suffixed forms of إِلَى (ʔilā) lost their initial syllable إِ (ʔi-) entirely due to the general instability of ء (ʔ) in Arabic's history, and their North Levantine Arabic reflex is لَيْـ (lay-), as in ليك (layk, “to you”). See Etymology 3 below for the survival of this variant in North Levantine Arabic.

North Levantine Arabic إلـ (ʔil-) instead comes from Arabic لِـ (li-) via epenthesis, which may have been motivated by a phonetic constraint in early North Levantine Arabic against short monosyllables like *لَك (lak, “to you”). This is the same constraint that may have motivated the development of the initial syllable in إِجَا (ʔija, “to come”) and South Levantine Arabic إِشِي (ʔiši, “something”), which see.

Nevertheless, even if the suffixed form إلـ (ʔil-) reflects Arabic لِـ (li-, “to, for, towards”), the a vowel of the base form لَـ (la-) indicates that it alone may still be from Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”). If not, then an alternative possibility is that it was generalized from the Arabic allomorph لَـ (la-), originally used only when attaching pronouns.

لَـ • (la)

1. to, towards

   Synonyms: عَ (ʕa), عَلَى (ʕala), صَوْب (ṣawb, ṣōb)

2. for

   Near-synonym: كِرْمَال (kirmāl, “for the sake of”)

3. by; pertaining to; belonging to

• Personal suffixes are attached to the stem ʔil-: إلي (ʔili, “to me”), إلك (ʔilak, “to you”), etc. Often, however, reduplicated forms from the stem laʔil- are used, thus لإلي (laʔili, “to me”), لإلك (laʔilak, “to you”).

لَـ • (la)

1. in order to; so that

ـلـ • (-l-, -ill-)

1. to, for; dative suffix

   صِرت قَايلِتلَك مَليوْن مَرَّة مَا تدَعْوِسْلِي عَالأرض وْصِبَّاطَك كِلًّو وَحْل!

   ṣirt ʔāylitlak malyōn marra ma tdaʕwisli ʕal-ʔarḍ w-ṣibbatak killo waḥl!

   I've told you a million times, don't step all over the floor when your shoes are all dirty!

   (literally, “I've said to you a million times, don't step [for] me all over the floor and your shoes are all mud[dy]!”)

From Arabic لِـ (li-, jussive particle) and لَـ (la-, intensifying particle), especially the latter's use with لَوْ (law, “if”).

لَـ • (la-)

1. first-person hortative; let me, let's, I should, we should

   تأخّر الوقت، لقوم نام وإرتاح

   tʔaḵḵar l-waʔt, la ʔūm nām w ʔirtāḥ

   It's getting late, let me head to sleep and rest up

3. (optional) introduces the consequent clause of لَوْ (law, “if”) or more rarely إِذَا (ʔiza, “if”)

   لَوْمَا مَرْتِي لَكِنت بَعْدْنِي قَاعِد بَلَا شِغْل

   lawma marti la kint baʕdni ʔāʕid bala šiḡl

   If not for my wife, then I'd still be sitting around unemployed

• Etymology 2 sense 2 is only used to introduce the verb كَان (kān, “to be”).

From Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā, “to, for, toward”).

ل • (la)

1. to, toward; alternative form of لـَ

• Its suffix-base form is lay-, similarly to عَلَى (ʕala). This distinguishes it from the variant above when constructed with a personal suffix.
• Some dialects prefer this form to the above one in all situations. In dialects that don't, speakers may still use it in the phrases مِنُّو لَيه (minno lē, “in its entirety; altogether”, literally “from it to it”), قِدِر لَ (ʔidir la, “to be able to handle”, literally “to be able toward”), فِيه لَ (fī la, “can handle”, literally “can toward”), and إِجَا لَ (ʔija la, “to come for”). Other verbs of motion may also be substituted for إِجَا (ʔija) in the last sense, in which case the ل (la) retains the narrowed sense of “intent to apprehend or cause harm” suggested by come for.

ل • (l) (no case)^[1]

1. (Middle Belarusian Arabica) A letter of the Old Ruthenian alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

• Arabic script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ث, ج, چ, ح, د, ࢮ, ر, ز, ژ, ش, ࢯ, ص, ض, ط, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي (خ, ذ, ڛ, س, ظ, ء) ^[edit]

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lɑm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (lâm) (no case)

1. The thirty-fourth letter of the Pashto alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ګ and followed by م.

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

ل / لـ / ـلـ / ـل • (lâm) (no case)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Persian alphabet, called لام and written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

• Gurmukhi letter: ਲ (lallā)

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /läːm/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/, [l̪]

ل • (lām) (no case)

1. The thirtieth letter of the Punjabi alphabet, written in the Shahmukhi script; preceded by ک (kāf) and followed by [[:ࣇ]#Punjabi|ࣇ]]] (aḷām).

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lam/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (lām) (no case)

1. The forty-sixth letter of the Sindhi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڱ and followed by م.

• Arabic script letters: اکر (akharu) (script appendix): ا, ب, ٻ, ڀ, ت, ٿ, ٽ, ٺ, ث, پ, ج, ڄ, جھ, ڃ, چ, ڇ, ح, خ, د, ڌ, ڏ, ڊ, ڍ, ذ, ر, ڙ, ڙھ, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ڦ, ق, ڪ, ک, گ, ڳ, گھ, ڱ, ل, م, ن, ڻ, و, ه, ء, ي ^[edit]

From Arabic لِ (li).

لـ • (la-)

1. to (someone); belonging to; for
2. to (a place)

   Synonym: على (ʕala)

3. until, up to

   Synonyms: حتّى (ḥatta), لحدّ (la-ḥadd)

لـ • (la-)

1. so that (before a subjunctive verb)

   Synonyms: حتّى (ḥatta-), عشان (ʕašan), منشان (minšān)

ـلـ • (-l-, il, -ill-)

1. to; for (indirect object suffix with an attached enclitic pronoun)

   Synonym: (detached version for emphasis) إلـ (ʔil-)

• This suffix is attached to a verb expressing the indirect object.
• If the verb ends in a consonant cluster, the "-l-" is geminated and the stress shifts before an enclitic pronoun starting with a vowel.

Examples
		Vowel	One consonant	Two consonants
Example		حكى (ḥáka, “he talked”)	كتب (kátab, “he wrote”)	كتبت (katábt, “I/you wrote”)
1st	singular	حكالي (ḥakā-li)	كتبلي (katáb-li)	كتبتلي (katabt-ílli)
	plural	حكالنا (ḥakā-lna)	كتبلنا (katab-ílna)	كتبتلنا (katabt-ílna)
2nd	masculine	حكالك (ḥakā-lak)	كتبلك (katáb-lak)	كتبتلك (katabt-íllak)
	feminine	حكالك (ḥakā-lek)	كتبلك (katáb-lek)	كتبتلك (katabt-íllek)
	plural	حكالكم (ḥakā-lkom)	كتبلكم (katab-ílkom)	كتبتلكم (katabt-ílkom)
3rd	masculine	حكاله (ḥakā-lo)	كتبله (katáb-lo)	كتبتله (katabt-íllo)
	feminine	حكالها (ḥakā-lha)	كتبلها (katab-ílha)	كتبتلها (katabt-ílha)
	plural	حكالهم (ḥakā-lhom)	كتبلهم (katab-ílhom)	كتبتلهم (katabt-ílhom)

• (letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /lɑːm/
• (phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (lām) (no case)

1. The thirtieth letter of the Urdu alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by گ and followed by م.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /le/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل • (le) (no case)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Uyghur alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ڭ and followed by م.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /lí/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /l/

ل (transliteration needed) (no case, Latin equivalent L or l)

1. The thirteenth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, written in the Arabic script; preceded by ك and followed by م.