lám

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lam"

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of lám – see 攬 (“to grasp, to take hold of; to monopolize; to control; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 攬).

Hungarian

Etymology

Syncopic form of látom (“I see”), lát (“to see”) +‎ -om (personal suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlaːm]
• Rhymes: -aːm

Interjection

lám

1. you see! well! lo! there!

   Lám, lám, végre találkoztunk! ― Well, well, we've finally met!

2. (dialectal) Used in the expression hadd lám (“let me see”). Here lám is the contraction of lássam.

Further reading

• lám in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -auːm

Noun

lám

1. indefinite dative plural of lá

Klallam

Noun

lám

1. beer

Macanese

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Cantonese 欖／榄 (laam²).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lam/

Noun

lám

1. Chinese olive (Canarium album)
2. European olive (Olea europaea)

Usage notes

• The Macanese term generally refers to the Chinese fruit which is similar to a European olive, and eaten either sweet or savoury.

Etymology 2

From Portuguese lã, possibly further influenced by Cantonese 冷 (laang¹, “wool yarn”). Ultimately from Old Galician-Portuguese lãa (“wool”), from Latin lāna (“wool”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɐŋ/, /laŋ/

Noun

lám

1. wool

   tecê lám ― to weave wool

   bola di lám ― ball of wool

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm#l

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ɸlāmā (compare Welsh llaw), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂meh₂ (“palm, hand”) (compare Latin palma, Greek παλάμη (palámē)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [l͈aːβ̃]

Noun

lám f (genitive láme or láime or lámae, nominative plural láma)

1. hand
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 9^a5

     precept dosom fri dei et saithar ho lámaib in nocte

     to him [there is] teaching by day and labor with hands by night

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 36^b1

     ind lám glosses manu

2. arm
   • c. 845, St Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 68^a1

     doe láme glosses lacertus

3. hand (as a unit of length)
4. (abstract, figurative) prowess, accomplishment, power

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	lámL	láimL	lámaH
Vocative	lámL	láimL	lámaH
Accusative	láimN	láimL	lámaH
Genitive	láimeH, láme, lámae	lámL	lámN
Dative	láimL	lámaib	lámaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• lámann (“glove”)

Descendants

• Irish: lámh
• Manx: laue
• Scottish Gaelic: làmh
• → Old Norse: lámr
  • Faroese: lámur
  • Icelandic: lámur

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
lám also llám after a proclitic ending in a vowel	lám pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “lám”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language