ال

• اَمْ (am) — dialectal

Uncertain; Rubin posits that this is a reduced form of the lost singular of Arabic أُولَى (ʔulā, “these”); compare rare Hebrew אֵל (el, “these”) and Akkadian 𒌌𒇻𒌑𒌝 (ullûm, “that”). In this hypothesis, original initial /u/ would be lost due to low stress; the initial /a/ found in phrase-initial position would thus be prothetic.[1]

• IPA^(key): /al-/, /-l-/

• Audio

  (file)

اَلْ • (al-)

1. the

• The /l/ of this prefix assimilates to and geminates the first letter of the base word when it begins with a traditionally-coronal consonant, natively called sun letters: ت (t), ث (ṯ), د (d), ذ (ḏ), ر (r), ز (z), س (s), ش (š), ص (ṣ), ض (ḍ), ط (ṭ), ظ (ẓ), ل (l), and ن (n). This does not traditionally include ج (j), as its original pronunciation was palatal rather than coronal, but in regions where it is pronounced /d͡ʒ ~ ʒ/ it can be found assimilating the definite article as well. The ل (l)’s assimilation is not observed by the article's spelling, which is invariably ال (al-); however, in fully vocalised texts, a shadda is written over the following sun letter to reflect gemination.
• The initial vowel a- is only pronounced when the article occurs either after a pause, at the beginning of an utterance, or after the preposition مِنْ (min). Otherwise, the article consists solely of the coronal consonant preceded by the final vowel of the previous word; if this previous word is consonant-final, then i is used as a linking vowel.

• Egyptian Arabic: ال (el)
• Gulf Arabic: ال (il)
• Maltese: il-
• Moroccan Arabic: ال (el)

• moon letter
• sun letter

• ہَل (hal)

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *eli. Cognate with Kannada ಇಲಿ (ili), Kodava ಎಲಿ (eli), Gondi యెల్లి (yelli), Tamil எலி (eli), Tulu ಎಲಿ (eli), Telugu ఎలుక (eluka) and Malayalam എലി (eli).

A mouse

• IPA^(key): /al/

اَل (al)

1. mouse

   Synonym: مُوش (mūś)

• الو (el^lüv) (without vowel points)
• الُو (el^lüv)

From Proto-Turkic *ellig.

الُّ (ellü)

1. fifty

• Chuvash: аллӑ (allă)

• Tekin, Talât (1988) Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası [Volga Bulgarian Ephitaphs and Volga Bulgarian Language]‎ (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, →ISBN, pages 90-91, 144-145, 198

الـ • (el-)

1. the

• IPA^(key): /(ʔ)ɪl/, [l], (before sun letters) /ɪ/

From Arabic اَلْ (al-).

اِلـ • (il-)

1. the definite article; the

Contraction of الي (illi, “the relative clause”), itself a contraction of Arabic اَلَّذِي m (allaḏī) and اَلَّتِي f (allatī)

اِلـ • (il-)

1. (colloquial) the relative clause; that, who, which, etc

   Synonym: الي (illi)

Could be directly from Arabic إِلَىٰ (ʔilā).

اِلـ • (il-)

1. (colloquial) to (destination)

   Synonyms: (colloquial) لي (lē), (colloquial) ل (li)

• لـ (l-)

From Arabic اَلْ (al-).

• IPA^(key): /al/, (before sun letters) /a/

الـ • (al-)

1. the definite article; the

ال (al) m

1. wet

From Proto-Turkic *o-l (“that”). Cognate with Turkish o (“he, she, it; that”) and Chinese 兀 (wù, “that”).

ال (ol)

1. (nominative case) he, she, it
2. (nominative case) that

ال (ol)

1. that

ال (ol)

1. Denotes "to be" for third person singular when at the end of an object; is.
2. Denotes third person singular after various tenses.

اَل (əl) (definite accusative اَلی, plural اَللَر)

1. Arabic spelling of əl (“hand”)

From Arabic ال (al-).

الـ • (l-)

1. the

• The article in fact consists solely of the consonant /l/, which is assimilated to the same onsets as in Standard Arabic (see above). Following the usage note there, some speakers extend this process of assimilation to the now-coronal ج (j /⁠ʒ⁠/).
• An epenthetic linking vowel is added as phonotactically necessary, be it before the article or after, in order to avoid a three-consonant cluster. Note that its notation with a schwa is not meant to represent IPA [ə], as its actual value varies between /i~e~o/ depending on context:

  النص المكتوب ― n-naṣṣ əl-maktūb ― the written text

  الكتاب المقدس ― lə-ktāb lə-mʾaddas ― the Holy Book, i.e. the Bible

• Assimilation is optionally ignored when the article precedes a consonant cluster where the initial consonant would normally trigger assimilation, as the epenthetic vowel separates them if it appears:

  الولاد الصغار ― lə-wlād lə-ṣḡār ― the small children

Reduction of the definite relative pronoun اللي (lli) or its alternative form لي (li).

ال • (l-)

1. contraction of اللي
   • 1961, Said Akl, Yara‎:

     يَارَا الجّدَايِلهَا شُقْر

     yāra j-jdāyilha šuʾr

     Yara, whose braids are gold

     (literally, “Yara who her braids are gold”)

• Although this contraction is superficially identical to the definite article, some speakers do not assimilate it to a following coronal, allowing the two to be told apart in this context. Other speakers do, such as Said Akl in the reading linked from the quote above.

From Proto-Turkic *el, *elig.

ال • (el)

1. hand

• ال دگرمنی (el değirmeni, “handmill”)
• ال عربه‌سی (el arabası, “handcart”)

• Turkish: el

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ال • (al)

1. (Dari) plough; the beam of a plough

• ال زدن (al zadan)

From Arabic ال (al-).

• IPA^(key): /l/, [l]

الـ • (l-)

1. the (definite article)

• Phonemically, the article consists solely of the consonant /l/, which is assimilated to the same onsets as in Standard Arabic (see above), with some speakers extending the assimilation to the now-coronal ج (j /⁠ʒ⁠/). While the epenthetic vowel [ɪ] may be added before or after in order to avoid problematic consonant clusters, different speakers may be more or less tolerant of these clusters; those who tolerate an initial two-consonant cluster may not insert the vowel before /l/, meaning the article may be virtually inaudible in cases that the /l/ is assimilated.

  الميّ الباردة ― (i)l-mayy (i)l-bārde ― the cold water

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  الشباب الشاطرين ― (i)š-šabāb (i)š-šāṭrīn ― the smart guys

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

  الكتاب الكبير ― li-ktāb li-kbīr ― the big book

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

• Assimilation is optionally ignored when the article precedes a consonant cluster where the initial consonant would normally trigger assimilation, as the epenthetic vowel separates them if it appears:

  الزلمة الزغير ― (i)z-zalame li-zḡīr ― the small man

  Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)