لات

See also: لاپ

Arabic edit

Apparently borrowed from late Aramaic לית / 𐡋𐡀𐡉𐡕 (layt).^[1]

لَاتَ • (lāta)

(copulative, invariable, archaic) not to be
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 38:3:
  وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ
  walāta ḥīna manāṣin
  while there is no time for escape

This particle is scarcely used even in Classical Arabic, with only one Qur'anic example. Largely this limited use is due to its grammatical requirements; usage is restricted by three very specific rules:
- It must only be found in front of a noun, never a verb or particle.
- The noun being negated must be a noun of time; as an adverb it is placed in the accusative case in the same manner found with لَيْسَ (laysa).
- The subject of the sentence must be omitted.

^ Lipiński, Edward (2001) Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta; 80), 2nd edition, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN: “At least lāta, “not to be”, appears to be borrowed from Late Aramaic layt used as a negative copula [...]”