ولا
Arabic edit
Etymology edit
Morphologically وَ (wa, “and”) + لَا (lā, “not”).
Conjunction edit
وَلَا • (wa-lā)
- For non-idiomatic uses, see وَ (wa) and لَا (lā).
- أَقْرَأُ ٱلْكِتَابَ وَلَا أَفْهَمُ شَيْئًا مِنْهُ
- ʔaqraʔu l-kitāba wa-lā ʔafhamu šayʔan minhu
- I’m reading the book, and I do not understand anything in it.
- nor; (with a preceding negative) or
- لَمْ أَشْعُرْ بِٱلْحُزْنِ وَلَا بِٱلْفَرَحِ
- lam ʔašʕur bi-l-ḥuzni wa-lā bi-l-faraḥi
- I did not feel sadness nor joy.
- (idiomatic, used to emphasize a negative) (not) even; (not) at all
- لَنْ تَجِدَ خَيْرًا مِن هٰذَا وَلَا فِي أَمْرِيكَا
- lan tajida ḵayran min hāḏā wa-lā fī ʔamrīkā
- You won’t even find anything better than this in America.
- (literally, “You won’t find anything better than this, and not in America.”)
Chadian Arabic edit
Particle edit
ولا (walla)
- introduces a yes-no question
- هو كبير ولا؟
- hu kabīr walla?
- is he great?
References edit
Alan S. Kaye (1976) Chadian and Sudanese Arabic in the light of comparative Arabic dialectology, Mouton, →ISBN
Hijazi Arabic edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) + أَلَّا (ʔallā, “except”).
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولا • (walla)
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولا • (wala)
Moroccan Arabic edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) + أَلَّا (ʔallā, “except”).
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولا • (walla)
- or
- Synonyms: أو (ʔaw), أولا (ʔawla)
- شنو باغي تشري فالقمايص للعرس؟ هدا اللي مخطط بالاصفر ولا هداك اللي بلون موحد ومطرز بالصقلي زرق؟
- šnu bāḡi tašri f-le-qmāyiṣ l-el-ʕurs? hāda lli mḵaṭṭaṭ b-l-aṣfar walla hadāk elli b-lūn mwaḥḥad u mṭarraz b-eṣ-ṣqalli zraq?
- What do you want to buy for a wedding qmīṣ (Moroccan male dress) for the wedding? This yellow-stripped one or that one with one colour and embroidered with blue ṣqalli (Moroccan golden motif)?
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولا • (wala)
South Levantine Arabic edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) + لَا (lā, “not”).
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولا • (wala)
- nor
- ما بدي هادا ولا هادا. ― mā biddi hāda wala hāda. ― I neither want this nor that.
Adverb edit
ولا • (wala)
Derived terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
From Arabic وَ (wa, “and”) + إِلَّا (ʔillā, “except”).
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ولّا • (willa)