لسان

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ل س ن (l-s-n). From Proto-Semitic *lišān-.

Cognate with Hebrew לשון (lashón).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.saːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

لِسَان • (lisān) m or f (plural أَلْسِنَة (ʔalsina) or أَلْسُن (ʔalsun))

1. (anatomy) tongue
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 90:8-10:

     أَلَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ عَيْنَيْنِ / وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ / وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ

     ʔalam najʕal lahū ʕaynayni / walisānan wašafatayni / wahadaynāhu n-najdayni

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (metonymically) language

   Synonym: لُغَة (luḡa)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 30:22:

     وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ

     wamin ʔāyātihī ḵalqu s-samāwāti wal-ʔarḍi waḵtilāfu ʔalsinatikum waʔalwānikum

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (metonymically) speech
4. letter, missive
5. tongue of a balance

Declension

Declension of noun لِسَان (lisān)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لِسَان lisān	اللِّسَان al-lisān	لِسَان lisān
Nominative	لِسَانٌ lisānun	اللِّسَانُ al-lisānu	لِسَانُ lisānu
Accusative	لِسَانًا lisānan	اللِّسَانَ al-lisāna	لِسَانَ lisāna
Genitive	لِسَانٍ lisānin	اللِّسَانِ al-lisāni	لِسَانِ lisāni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لِسَانَيْن lisānayn	اللِّسَانَيْن al-lisānayn	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Nominative	لِسَانَانِ lisānāni	اللِّسَانَانِ al-lisānāni	لِسَانَا lisānā
Accusative	لِسَانَيْنِ lisānayni	اللِّسَانَيْنِ al-lisānayni	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Genitive	لِسَانَيْنِ lisānayni	اللِّسَانَيْنِ al-lisānayni	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Plural	broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)‎; basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَلْسِنَة‎; أَلْسُن ʔalsina‎; ʔalsun	الْأَلْسِنَة‎; الْأَلْسُن al-ʔalsina‎; al-ʔalsun	أَلْسِنَة‎; أَلْسُن ʔalsinat‎; ʔalsun
Nominative	أَلْسِنَةٌ‎; أَلْسُنٌ ʔalsinatun‎; ʔalsunun	الْأَلْسِنَةُ‎; الْأَلْسُنُ al-ʔalsinatu‎; al-ʔalsunu	أَلْسِنَةُ‎; أَلْسُنُ ʔalsinatu‎; ʔalsunu
Accusative	أَلْسِنَةً‎; أَلْسُنًا ʔalsinatan‎; ʔalsunan	الْأَلْسِنَةَ‎; الْأَلْسُنَ al-ʔalsinata‎; al-ʔalsuna	أَلْسِنَةَ‎; أَلْسُنَ ʔalsinata‎; ʔalsuna
Genitive	أَلْسِنَةٍ‎; أَلْسُنٍ ʔalsinatin‎; ʔalsunin	الْأَلْسِنَةِ‎; الْأَلْسُنِ al-ʔalsinati‎; al-ʔalsuni	أَلْسِنَةِ‎; أَلْسُنِ ʔalsinati‎; ʔalsuni

Derived terms

• لِسَانًا (lisānan, “orally, verbally”)
• لِسَانِيّ (lisāniyy, “oral, verbal”)
  • لِسَانِيَّات (lisāniyyāt, “linguistics”)

Related terms

• لَسِنَ (lasina)
• لَسَّنَ (lassana)

Descendants

• Iraqi Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• Gulf Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• Maltese: lsien
• Moroccan Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• → Azerbaijani: lisan
• → Malay: lisan
  • Indonesian: lisan
• → Ottoman Turkish: لسان (lisân)
  • Turkish: lisan
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: लिसान (lisān)

  Urdu: لسان (lisân)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “لسن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “لسان”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[1] (in French), Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie

Gujarati

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lisān) f (Standard Gujarati લિસાન) (Lisan ud-Dawat)

1. tongue
2. language

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lsān) f (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Hijazi Arabic

Root
ل س ن
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.ˈsaːn/, [lɪ.ˈsaːn]

Noun

لسان • (lisān) m (plural لسن (lusun) or ألسنة (ʔalsina))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Iraqi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان (lsān) f (plural لسانات (lsānāt) or ألسنة (alsina))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lsaːn/

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lisan) (definite accusative لسانی (lisanı), plural السنه (elsine) or لسانلر (lisanlar))

1. language
2. tongue

Derived terms

• لسانجه (lisanca)

Descendants

• Turkish: lisan

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [li.ˈsɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [li.sɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [le.sɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [li.sɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	lisān
Dari reading?	lisān
Iranian reading?	lesân
Tajik reading?	lison

Noun

Dari	لسان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	лисон

لسان • (lesân) (plural السنه (alsene) or لسان‌ها (lesân-hâ))

1. language

   Synonym: زبان (zabân)

2. (anatomy) tongue

   Synonym: زبان (zabân)

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ل س ن
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lsaːn/, [(ɪ)lˈsæːn]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. tongue

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian لِسَان (lisān), from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /lɪ.sɑːn/

Noun

لِسان • (lisān) f (Hindi spelling लिसान)

1. (anatomy) tongue

   Synonyms: جِیبھ (jībh), زُبان (zubān)

2. language

   Synonyms: زُبان (zubān), بولِی (bolī), بھاکھا (bhākhā), بھاشا (bhāśā)

Declension

Declension of لسان
	singular	plural
direct	لسان (lisān)	لسانیں (lisānẽ)
oblique	لسان (lisān)	لسانوں (lisānõ)
vocative	لسان (lisān)	لسانو (lisāno)