Wiktionary

lu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lu"
Languages (37)
Translingual • English
Äiwoo • Asturian • Bakung • Basque • Betawi • Chinese • Cornish • Corsican • Danish • French • Friulian • Hausa • Iberian • Ido • Indonesian • Iranun • Japanese • Jingpho • Linngithigh • Lutuv • Malay • Mandarin • Muong • Neapolitan • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Sassarese • Sicilian • Sumerian • Tocharian A • Veps • Vietnamese • Welsh • Zazaki • Zou
Page categories

Translingual

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Symbol

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lu

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Luba-Katanga.

English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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lu (uncountable)

  1. Archaic form of loo (“card game”).

Verb

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lu (third-person singular simple present lus, present participle luing, simple past and past participle lued)

  1. Archaic form of loo (“beat at card game”).

Etymology 2

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A romanization of Chinese 路 (lù, “route”)

Noun

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lu (usually uncountable, plural lus)

  1. (historical) Synonym of route or circuit: an administrative division of imperial China.

References

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Anagrams

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Äiwoo

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Noun

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lu

  1. life

References

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Asturian

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Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, accusative of ille. Compare Spanish lo.

Pronoun

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lu, la f, lo n

  1. Third-person singular direct object; him, it

Bakung

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Etymology

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From Proto-Kenyah *lu, from Proto-North Sarawak, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qahəlu, from Proto-Austronesian *qaSəlu (“pestle”).

Noun

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lu

  1. pestle for pounding rice

References

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  • Smith, A. (2017) The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Basque

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Etymology

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Unknown. Potentially compare Iberian lu (“deep”)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lu inan

  1. pussy, vagina

Declension

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Declension of lu (inanimate, ending in vowel)
indefinite singular plural
absolutive lu lua luak
ergative luk luak luek
dative luri luari luei
genitive luren luaren luen
comitative lurekin luarekin luekin
causative lurengatik luarengatik luengatik
benefactive lurentzat luarentzat luentzat
instrumental luz luaz luez
inessive lutan luan luetan
locative lutako luko luetako
allative lutara lura luetara
terminative lutaraino luraino luetaraino
directive lutarantz lurantz luetarantz
destinative lutarako lurako luetarako
ablative lutatik lutik luetatik
partitive lurik — —
prolative lutzat — —

Betawi

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Hokkien 汝 (lú, “you”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /lu/
    • Audio:(file)
  • IPA(key): /luh/
  • IPA(key): /əˈlu/ (extended form)
  • IPA(key): /əˈluh/ (extended form)
  • Hyphenation: lu

Pronoun

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lu

  1. you (personal pronoun)
  2. you (direct object of a verb)
  3. you (object of a preposition)
  4. you (indirect object of a verb)
  5. your (belonging to me)

Usage notes

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Used mainly in a common situation, especially between friends or by someone older in terms of speaking to a younger person. As for the usage by a younger person speaking with an older person, there is no agreement whether it is appropriate to do so or not: some would regard it as inappropriate, some other would not. Grijns (1991) noted that some Batavians use this pronoun when speaking to God.

Synonyms

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References

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  • Grijns, C.D. (1991) Jakarta Malay, volume 2, Leiden: KITLV Press, page 122.

Chinese

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For pronunciation and definitions of lu – see 嚕 (“Cantonese particle”).
(This term is a variant form of 嚕).

Cornish

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Etymology

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From Old Cornish luu, from Proto-Brythonic *llʉɣ, from Proto-Celtic *slougos.

Noun

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lu m (plural luyow)

  1. army, troop, fleet

Corsican

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Etymology

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From Latin ille (“that”), from Old Latin olle (“that”). Cognates include Italian lo (“him”), il (“the”) and French le (“the, him”).

Article

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lu

  1. Archaic form of u.

Pronoun

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lu

  1. Archaic form of u.

References

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  • “lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa
  • “u, lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Danish

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Verb

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lu

  1. imperative of lue

French

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Pronunciation

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Participle

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lu (feminine lue, masculine plural lus, feminine plural lues)

  1. past participle of lire

Friulian

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Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum. Compare Italian lo.

Pronoun

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lu (third person masculine direct object)

  1. him
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Hausa

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Pronunciation

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Ideophone

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lû

  1. swinging motion

Iberian

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Etymology

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Unknown. Possibly compare Basque lu (“vagina”)

Adjective

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lu

  1. deep
    tekeŕ lu keś ir
    A deep votive action

References

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  • Villamor, Fernando (2020) A basic dictionary and grammar of the Iberian language

Ido

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Etymology

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Back-formation from ilu (“he, him”), elu (“she, her”) and olu (“it”).

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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lu (plural li)

  1. Third-person singular pronoun for referents of any gender; he/him, she/her, it or that
    Me ne savas ka lu es viro o muliero.
    I don't know if he/she is a man or a woman.

Usage notes

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Lu is widely used in Ido, and not exclusively when a gendered possessive determiner is inappropriate, but also in order to avoid repetition depending on the user's preferences.

Derived terms

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  • li (“they, them”)
  • lua
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  • ilu (“he, him”) (masculine)
  • elu (“she, her”) (feminine)
  • olu (“it”) (neuter)

See also

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Personal pronouns in Ido
  singular plural
nominative possessive nominative possessive
singular plural singular plural
first person  me  mea  mei  ni  nia  nii
second person formal  vu  vua  vui  vi  via  vii
familiar  tu  tua  tui
third person masculine  ilu, il  ilua  ilui  ili  ilia  ilii
feminine  elu, el  elua  elui  eli  elia  elii
neuter  olu, ol  olua  olui  oli  olia  olii
common  lu  lua  lui  li  lia  lii
reflexive  su  sua  sui  su  sua  sui
indefinite  onu, on  onua  onui  onu, on  onua  onui
  • The possessive plurals are seldom used.
  • The shortened forms are preferred.
  • The pangendered forms are preferred to the gendered or neuter forms in most scenarios.


Indonesian

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Etymology

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From Betawi Udik lo (“you”), from Hokkien 汝 (lú). Doublet of lo.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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lu

  1. (chiefly Jakarta, slang) Second-person singular pronoun: you, your, yours

Synonyms

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Indonesian informal second-person pronouns:

  • anta (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
  • antum (informal, mainly used by Muslim community)
  • coen (slang, East Java)
  • ente (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
  • kamu (intimate)
  • ko, kowe (informal, Java)
  • kon, koen (colloquial, East Java)
  • lu, lo, loe, elu (informal, mainly used by Betawi ethnic group)
  • mika, mike (informal, Eastern Sumatra)

Iranun

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *luheq.

Noun

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lu

  1. tear

Japanese

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Romanization

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lu

  1. Rōmaji transcription of る゚
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ル゚

Jingpho

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Burmese လှူ (hlu).

Verb

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lu

  1. to offer
  2. to donate

References

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  • Kurabe, Keita (2016 December 31) “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎[2], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Linngithigh

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Pronoun

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lu

  1. he/she/it (third-person singular nominative pronoun)

See also

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Linngithigh personal pronouns
Person Number (and clusivity) Nominative Accusative Genitive Dative
First Singular ayong ninh thom thon
Dual inclusive linggay linh linam lingg
Non-singular exclusive nan nanh nanam nangg
Plural inclusive puy punh punam pungg
Second Singular tru nanh kom kon
Dual poy ponh ponam pongg
Plural irae iraenh iraenam iraengg
Third Singular lu ngonh ngom ngon
Dual lawuy lawunh/lanh lawunam lawungg
Plural 'ar 'anh 'anam 'angg

Lutuv

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Etymology

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From Proto-Kuki-Chin *law, from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *low.[1]

Noun

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lu

  1. farm, field[2]
    Lu ca ina thlu pa.
    He tills the field for me.

References

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  1. ^ Kenneth VanBik (2009) Proto-Kuki-Chin: A Reconstructed Ancestor of the Kuki-Chin Languages (STEDT Monograph Series), volume 8, →ISBN
  2. ^ Amanda Bohnert (2025) “The Lutuv (Lautu) Verbal Agreement System”, in Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures‎[1], volume 4, number 1

Malay

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Hokkien 汝 (lú).

Pronoun

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lu (Jawi spelling لو)

  1. (Singapore, colloquial) you
    Synonyms: kamu, engkau, kau, awak, anda, hang
Derived terms
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See also
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Malay personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person standard saya / ساي
aku / اکو, ku- / كوـ (informal/towards God)
-ku / ـكو (informal possessive)
hamba / همبا (dated) 		kami / کامي (exclusive)
kita orang / كيت اورڠ (informal exclusive)
kita / کيت (inclusive)
royal beta / بيتا
2nd person standard
kamu / کامو
anda / اندا (formal)
engkau / اڠکاو, kau- / كاوـ (informal/towards God)
awak / اوق (friendly/older towards younger)
-mu / ـمو (possessive) 		awak semua / اوق سموا
kamu semua / كامو سموا
kalian / کالين (informal)
kau orang / كاو اورڠ (informal)
royal tuanku / توانكو
3rd person standard dia / دي
ia / اي
beliau / بلياو (honorific)
-nya / ـڽ (possessive) 		mereka / مريک
dia orang / دي اورڠ (informal)
royal baginda / بݢيندا

Etymology 2

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Clipping of dulu.

Adverb

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lu (Jawi spelling لو)

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of dulu.
    Aku gerak lu.
    I'm going first.

Further reading

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Mandarin

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Romanization

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lu (lu5 / lu0, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄨ)

  1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 氌 / 氇

lu

  1. Nonstandard spelling of lū.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of lú.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of lǔ.
  4. Nonstandard spelling of lù.
  5. Nonstandard spelling of lǖ.
  6. Nonstandard spelling of lǘ.
  7. Nonstandard spelling of lǚ.
  8. Nonstandard spelling of lǜ.

Usage notes

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  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Muong

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Etymology

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From Proto-Vietic *m-luː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *bluuʔ.

A great number of Muong lects, as well as Vietnamese, had replaced this native etymology with Sinitic 腿 (tuǐ).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lu

  1. (Mường Bi) thigh
    Synonym: tùi

Neapolitan

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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lu

  1. Alternative form of 'u

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Noun

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lu m

  1. (dialectal) alternative form of lur (“lur, trumpet”)

References

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  • Ivar Aasen (1850) “Lu”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog‎[3] (in Danish), Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Reduced form of Latin lupus.

Noun

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lu oblique singular, m (oblique plural lus, nominative singular lus, nominative plural lu)

  1. wolf

Sassarese

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Alternative forms

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  • l' (apocopic, before a vowel sound)
  • -llu (pronoun, enclitic)
  • -ru (pronoun, enclitic)

Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin *(il)lu, from Latin illum, accusative of ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /lu/, (after a vowel) /ru/

Article

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lu m sg (plural li, feminine la)

  1. the (masculine singular)

Usage notes

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  • Becomes l' before a vowel.

Inflection

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Sassarese definite articles
singular plural
masculine lu (l') li (l')
feminine la (l')

Pronoun

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lu m (plural li, feminine la)

  1. (followed by chi) that
    Di curori vi ni so umbè. Ca è lu chi tu priferi?
    There are lots of colors. Which one do you prefer?
    (literally, “Of colors there are a lot. Which one is that which you prefer?”)
  2. him (accusative)
    Lu cunnosci? ― Do you know him?
  3. it (accusative)
    Abà ti lu diggu ― Now I'll tell you (literally, “Now I tell it to you”)

References

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  • Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Sicilian

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Etymology 1

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From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Article

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lu m sg (f la, plural li)

  1. (masculine singular definite article) the
    Synonym: u
Usage notes
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  • This article is nowadays an obsolete variant, unlike its illiquid counterpart u. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
  • Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
  • Its use is however almost undisputed before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'. Otherwise, illiquid definite articles are phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancinu (liquid) and ârancinu (illiquid).
Inflection
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Sicilian articles
singular plural
masculine feminine
indefinite article nu, un, 'n na —
definite
article 		liquid lu la li
illiquid u, û a, â i, î

Etymology 2

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From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Alternative forms

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  • -lu (enclitic)
  • u (illiquid form)

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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lu m sg (plural li, female la)

  1. (accusative) him
    Synonym: u
    Lu canusci? ― Do you know him?
  2. (accusative) it, this or that thing
    Synonym: u
    Quannu ti lu desi. ― When I gave it to you.
Usage notes
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  • This pronoun is now an obsolete variant. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
  • Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
  • Its use is however almost undisputed before words that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'.

Sumerian

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Romanization

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lu

  1. Romanization of 𒇻 (lu)

Tocharian A

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Etymology

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From Proto-Tocharian *luwā-, from Proto-Indo-European *luh₂eh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“to seize, gain”). Compare Tocharian B luwo. Related to Old Church Slavonic ловъ (lovŭ, “hunt”), Serbo-Croatian lȏv (“chase; game animal”); compare also Ancient Greek λέων (léōn, “lion”).

Noun

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lu

  1. animal

Veps

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *luu, from Proto-Uralic *luwe.

Noun

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lu

  1. bone

Inflection

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Inflection of lu (inflection type 13/ma)
nominative sing. lu
genitive sing. lun
partitive sing. lud
partitive plur. luid
singular plural
nominative lu lud
accusative lun lud
genitive lun luiden
partitive lud luid
essive-instructive lun luin
translative luks luikš
inessive lus luiš
elative luspäi luišpäi
illative luhu luihe
adessive lul luil
ablative lulpäi luilpäi
allative lule luile
abessive luta luita
comitative lunke luidenke
prolative ludme luidme
approximative I lunno luidenno
approximative II lunnoks luidennoks
egressive lunnopäi luidennopäi
terminative I luhusai luihesai
terminative II lulesai luilesai
terminative III lussai —
additive I luhupäi luihepäi
additive II lulepäi luilepäi

Derived terms

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References

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  • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “кость”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[4], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

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Etymology

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Compare Khmer លូ (luu, “large jar”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(classifier cái) lu

  1. big vase used to contain water

Welsh

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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lu

  1. Soft mutation of llu.

Mutation

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Mutated forms of llu
radical soft nasal aspirate
llu lu unchanged unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Zazaki

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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lu

  1. fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Zou

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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lu

  1. head

References

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  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 42
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