لا

ﻻ U+FEFB, ﻻ ARABIC LIGATURE LAM WITH ALEF ISOLATED FORM ← ﻺ [U+FEFA] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﻼ → [U+FEFC]

ﻼ U+FEFC, ﻼ ARABIC LIGATURE LAM WITH ALEF FINAL FORM [unassigned: U+FEFD–U+FEFE] ← ﻻ [U+FEFB] Arabic Presentation Forms-B → [U+FEFF]

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 ʾayyuhā llaḏīna ʾāmanū lā yasḵar qawmun min qawmin ʿasā ʾan yakūnū ḵayran minhum wa-lā nisāʾun min nisāʾin ʿasā ʾan yakunna ḵayran minhunna wa-lā talmizū ʾanfusakum wa-lā tanābazū bi-l-ʾalqābi

     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 ʾurmayan minkum bidāhiyatin / lam yalqahā sūqatun qablī walā maliku

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • Al-Farazdaq

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

     ʾiḏā mā ḵarajnā min dimašqa falā naʿud / lahā ʾabadan mā dāma fīhā l-jurāḍimu

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

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 lilʿilmi 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 ʿalayka, “no worries”, literally “there is not [anything] on you”) and similar collocations.

Isolated form	Final form
لا	ـلا

Antonyms

• (no): نَعَم‎ (naʿam)
• (expresses prohibition with a jussive verb): لِـ‎ (li-)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: لَأْ‎ (la’, “no”), لا‎ (la, “don't (used before imperatives)”)
• Maltese: la, le
• → Swahili: la

Conjunction

لَا • (lā)

1. not, and not

   ‏أَحْضِرْ وَثَائِقَكَ لَا كُتُبَكَ‎

   ʾaḥḍir waṯāʾiqaka lā kutubaka

   Bring your documents, not your books.

Antonyms

• بَلْ‎ (bal)

Derived terms

• مُكْرَهٌ أَخَاكَ لَا بَطَلٌ‎ (mukrahun ʾaḵāka 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 baʾsa)
• لَا بُدَّ‎ (lā budda)
• لَا مَحَالَةَ‎ (lā maḥālata)

See also

• إِلَّا‎ (ʾillā)
• بَلْ‎ (bal)
• غَيْر‎ (ḡayr)
• عَدَم‎ (ʿadam)
• 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 (lo)

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 (lo)

لا • (lâ)

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

---

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”)