la

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

Languages (88)

Translingual • English

---

Afrikaans • Alemannic German • Ama • Anguthimri • Aragonese • Aromanian • Asturian • Baltic Romani • Bambara • Catalan • Chichewa • Chickasaw • Chungli Ao • Corsican • Dalmatian • Dutch • Emilian • Esperanto • Finnish • Franco-Provençal • French • Friulian • Galician • Guinea-Bissau Creole • Haitian Creole • Hungarian • Ido • Interlingua • Isoko • Istriot • Italian • Japanese • Jingpho • Kabuverdianu • Kambera • Kapampangan • Kilivila • Ladin • Ladino • Leonese • Lower Tanana • Lutuv • Malay • Maltese • Mandarin • Matal • Mauritian Creole • Michif • Middle French • Mirandese • Mizo • Mwan • Neapolitan • Norman • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Occitan • Old English • Old French • Old Irish • Old Occitan • Polish • Portuguese • Romagnol • Romanian • Santa Catarina Albarradas Zapotec • Sassarese • Sicilian • Southern Ndebele • Spanish • Sumerian • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tetum • Tsafiki • Turkish • Vietnamese • Votic • Walloon • Wolof • Xhosa • Xokleng • Yatzachi Zapotec • Yoruba • Zulu

---

Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Latin or Latin Latīnum.

Symbol

la

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

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Latin terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

Etymology 1

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English la (“sixth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian la in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin labiī (“lip's”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

Alternative forms

• lah

Noun

la (plural las)

1. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     And now Mrs Waters (for we must confess she was in the same bed), being, I suppose, awakened from her sleep, and seeing two men fighting in her bedchamber, began to scream in the most violent manner, crying out murder! robbery! and more frequently rape! which last, some, perhaps, may wonder she should mention, who do not consider that these words of exclamation are used by ladies in a fright, as fa, la, la, ra, da, &c., are in music, only as the vehicles of sound, and without any fixed ideas.

   1. (shapenote) Sometimes syllable for both the third and the sixth.

Coordinate terms

• (music): do, re, mi, fa, sol, ti

Translations

sixth note of a major scale

• Arabic: لَا (ar) m (lā)
• Basque: la (eu)
• Catalan: la (ca) m
• Corsican: là
• Danish: la (da) c
• Dutch: la (nl)
• Finnish: la (fi)
• French: la (fr) m
• Greek: λα (el) n (la)
• Hungarian: lá (hu)
• Ido: la (io)
• Japanese: ラ (ja) (ra)
• Korean: 라 (ko) (ra)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: la (ku) f

• Macedonian: ла (la)
• Polish: la (pl) f
• Portuguese: lá (pt) m
• Russian: ля (ru) n (lja)
• Serbo-Croatian: la (sh)
• Vietnamese: la (vi)

Etymology 2

Sound used to form meaningless song refrains. Of imitative origin. Compare Old English lā (a common exclamation), Ancient Greek λαλαγε (lalage, “babble”), German lallen (“to babble”).

Interjection

la

1. Represents the sound of music or singing.

   "La la la la, I can't hear you!" Jimmy said, sticking his fingers in his ears.

   • 2019, Keira Brown, Between the Lines: Never in Plain Sight:

     The only part Lucy had to sing was the interlude, which was a bunch of la la la's, and the last verse of the song, which was only four lines, and the chorus, which was just as short.

Derived terms

• La-La Land

Etymology 3

From Middle English la, from Old English lā. More at lo.

Alternative forms

• law

Interjection

la

1. (obsolete) Used to introduce a statement with emphatic or intensive effect.
2. (archaic) Expressing surprise, anger. etc.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     La, ma'am, what doth your la'ship think? the girl that your la'ship saw at church on Sunday, whom you thought so handsome; though you would not have thought her so handsome neither, if you had seen her nearer, but to be sure she hath been carried before the justice for being big with child.

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 2, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     “Oh, la! here come the Richardsons. I had a vast deal more to say to you, but I must not stay away from them any longer.”

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     "La, William, don't be so highty-tighty with us. We're not men. We can't fight you," Miss Jane said.

Etymology 4

From French la, Italian la.

Adjective

la (not comparable)

1. (often ironic) Prefixed to the name of a woman, with ironic effect (as though an opera prima donna).
   • 2007 November 22, Kate Carter, “Graziawatch”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Following lukewarm on the heels of an article a few weeks ago, where (I paraphrase due to having filed the relevant copy in the recycling bin) Victoria Beckham made a "well-meaning" remark that the other Spice Girls might want to lose a few pounds, we now have a new incidence of La Beckham's scintillating and entirely well-meaning humour.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 232:

     By judicious leaking, he also managed to make la Kirkpatrick and her associates look rather unsavory.

   • 2025 June 21, Jo Ellison, “The Bezos merger we all want a piece of”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 22:

     (You have to wonder where la Wintour finds the time for all this styling: maybe it's a displacement activity to fill the void left by her failure to get the Democratic party into power?)

Etymology 5

Possibly a shortened form of lad.

Noun

la (plural las)

1. (Liverpool) lad, kid

Related terms

• lid (rhyming slang for kid)

Etymology 6

Abbreviation.

Noun

la (plural las)

1. Abbreviation of lane

   Alternative forms: la., La, La.

Etymology 7

From Cantonese 啦 (laa¹). Doublet of lah.

Pronunciation

• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /lɑː˥/

Particle

la (Hong Kong, colloquial)

1. Placed at the end of a sentence in imperatives making it sound more like a request than an order.

   Sleep la! ― [You should] go to bed.

   Eat shit la you! ― You're going to hell! (calque of 食屎啦你！)

2. Used to tone down comments.

   ok la ― not bad; good enough

See also

• lor, wor

Etymology 8

Particle

la

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Alternative form of lah.

Anagrams

• Al, & al., AL, al, al-, -al, Ål, a.l.

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lɑː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

la (plural [please provide])

1. (music) la (solfège)

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Alemannic German

Verb

la (past participle gla, auxiliary haa)

1. alternative form of lah

Ama

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɭa/

Noun

la

1. fish

Anguthimri

Noun

la

1. (Mpakwithi) black snake

References

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 186

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin illa (“that one”).

Pronoun

la

1. her (direct object)

Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin illac. Compare Romanian la.

Preposition

la

1. at
2. by

Asturian

Alternative forms

• lla (archaic)
• a (A Estierna)

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f sg (masculine el, neuter lo, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. (definite) the

Usage notes

• The article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha: l'asturiana (the Asturian), l'habitación (the habitation), because it ends with an A already

Pronoun

la

1. her (third-person singular feminine direct pronoun)

Baltic Romani

Pronoun

la

1. (Litovska) accusative/independent oblique of joj
   • 2005, Anton Tenser, Lithuanian Romani, Lincom Europa, →ISBN, →OCLC, 4.5.1 Complementizers, page 52:

     me podykhtjom so la nane khere

     I saw that she is not home

Declension

Litovska/Lithuanian Romani personal pronouns

		singular				plural			reflexive
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
				m	f
Nominative		mē	tu	jou	joj	amē	tumē	jonē	-
Accusative/ Independent Oblique		man	tut	lēs	la	amēn	tumēn	lēn	pes
Dative		mange	tuke	lēske	lake	amēnge	tumēnge	lēnge	pēske
Ablative1		mandyr	tutyr	lēstyr	latyr	amēndyr	tumēndyr	lēndyr	pēstyr
Genitive	m	miro	tyro	lēskiro	lakiro	amaro	tumaro	lēngiro	pēskiro
	f	miri	tyri	lēskiri	lakiri	amari	tumari	lēngiri	pēskiri
	pl	mirē	tyrē	lēskirē	lakirē	amarē	tumarē	lēngirē	pēskirē
Locative		mandē	tutē	lēstē	latē	amēndē	tumēndē	lēndē	pēstē
Instrumental		mansa	tusa	lēsa	lasa	amēnca	tumēnca	lēnsa	pēsa
Enclitic Reflexive		man	pe			amēn	pe		-

¹ The ablative is in decline in Lithuanian Romani.

Bambara

Alternative forms

• na

Postposition

la

1. postposition marking location

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan la, from Latin illa (demonstrative) via apheresis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /lə/, [ɫə]
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /la/

Article

la f (masculine el, masculine plural els, feminine plural les)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

Usage notes

• The article la is contracted to l' before a vowel or h, except before a following unstressed I or U sounds, as in la universitat, la idea, and la oliva. Note: Unstressed O sounds like a U.

Pronoun

la (enclitic and proclitic, contracted proclitic l')

1. her (direct object)

Usage notes

• -la is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs.

  Mira-la. ― Look at her.

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈla]

Noun

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of a diatonic scale)

Further reading

• “la”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “la”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “la” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “la”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chichewa

Etymology

From li- +‎ a or Proto-Bantu *dɪ́á- but used as a particle.

Particle

la

1. Class 5 of the particle -a

See also

Inflected forms of -a

singular			plural
class 1		wa	class 2		a
class 3		wa	class 4		ya
class 5		la	class 6		a
class 7		cha	class 8		za
class 9		ya	class 10		za
class 12		ka	class 13		ta
class 14		wa
class 15		kwa
locative classes
class 16		class 17	class 18
pa		kwa	mwa

Chickasaw

Pronoun

la

1. I (first-person singular pronoun)

Chungli Ao

Etymology 1

Probably identical to the feminine suffix -la, which is from Proto-Central Naga *la, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *la (“female”).

Pronoun

la

1. she, her

Etymology 2

Noun

la

1. bat (flying mammal)

Further reading

• Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1985), Ao-English-Hindi Dictionary, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, page 63
• Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1975), Ao Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, page 32
• Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, pages 10, 95

Corsican

Etymology

From Latin illa, feminine form of ille (“that”), from Old Latin olle. Cognates include Italian la and French la.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/
• Homophone: là

Article

la

1. archaic form of a

Pronoun

la

1. archaic form of a

References

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la

1. the; feminine singular definite article

Related terms

• el
• i
• le

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: la
• Rhymes: -aː

Etymology 1

From earlier lade through regular syncope of intervocalic -d- (compare weer, blij, broer), from Middle Dutch lāde, from Old Dutch *latha, from Proto-Germanic *hlaþō.

Noun

la f (plural laden or la's, diminutive laatje n)

1. drawer

Alternative forms

• lade

Derived terms

• bestekla
• bureaula
• schuifla

Descendants

• Afrikaans: laai
• → Caribbean Hindustani: láh
• → Caribbean Javanese: latye (from the diminutive form)
• → Papiamentu: lachi, laadsje (from lade)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

la f (plural la's, diminutive laatje n)

1. la (music)

Anagrams

• al

Emilian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Hyphenation: la

Article

la f sg (plural al or el or li)

1. the

Inflection

Mirandolese Emilian definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	al 'l	i gl'
feminine	la l'	li gl'

Pronoun

la (personal)

1. (nominative case) she
2. (accusative case) her

Alternative forms

• Becomes l’ before a vowel.
• Becomes -la when acting as an enclitic.

Related terms

Emilian personal pronouns (strong forms)

Number	Person		disjunctive (tonic)	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	reflexive	comitative (with)
singular	first		mè	a	me			mêg
	second		tè	et	te			têg
	third	m	ló	al		ge	se	sêg
		f	lê	la
plural	first	m	nuēter	a	se			nōsk
		f	nuētri
	second	m	vuēter	a	ve			vōsk
		f	vuētri
	third	m	lôr	i		ge	se	sêg
		f		el	li

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

Proto-Italic *olnos

Old Latin olle

Latin ille

Latin illa

Old French la

Middle French la

French labor.

▲

Latin ille

Latin illam

Italian labor.

Esperanto la

Borrowed from French la and Italian la. Compare Spanish la.

Article

la

1. the

   la libro — the book

   la libroj — the books

   la angla lingvo — the English language

   la angla — (the) English (language) (clipped form)

Alternative forms

• l' (poetic)

Etymology 2

Noun

la

1. (music) la (solfège, sixth note of a major scale)
2. (music) A (symbol for the tone three fifths above C, or the scale with such tone as its keynote)

   Synonym: A

Further reading

• “la”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “la”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Finnish

Noun

la

1. abbreviation of lauantai (“Saturday”)

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illam.

Determiner

la f (prevocalic l')

1. feminine singular of lo (“the”)

Pronoun

la f (prevocalic l') (ORB, broad)

1. her (third-person singular feminine accusative)

See also

Franco-Provençal personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	tonic1	possessive2
singular	1st person		jo	mè			min
	2nd person		te	tè			tin
	3rd person	masculine	il	lo / le	lui		sin
		feminine	el	la	lyé
		neuter	o		y	—
		reflexive	—	sè
plural	1st person		nos				noutro
	2nd person		vos				voutro
	3rd person	masculine	ils	los / les	lor		lor
		feminine	els	les	lor / lyés
		reflexive	—	sè

¹ Disjunctive or object of a preposition.   ² Generally preceded by a definite article.

References

• la [2] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• la in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [lɑ], [lɔ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophones: là, las

Etymology 1

From Middle French la, from Old French la, from Latin illam, which is the accusative singular feminine of ille.

Article

la f sg

1. feminine of le: the

Usage notes

• la becomes l’ before a vowel or an unaspirated h.

  l’amitié ― the friendship

  l’île ― the island

  l’oasis ― the oasis

Derived terms

• à la

Descendants

• → Norwegian Bokmål: la

Pronoun

la f sg

1. her, it (direct object)

   Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas.

   Where is Judith? I don't see her.

   Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin.

   Take that box and put it in the corner.

Related terms

French personal pronouns

number	person	gender	nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)	dative (indirect complement)	locative (at)	genitive (of)	disjunctive (tonic)1	emphatic reflexive
singular	first	—	je, j’	me, m’		—	—	moi	moi-même
	second	—	tu	te, t’		—	—	toi	toi-même
	third	masculine	il2	le, l’	lui	y	en	lui	lui-même
		feminine	elle	la, l’				elle	elle-même
		indeterminate	on3, l’on (formal), ce4, c’, ça	—	—	—	—	—	—
		reflexive	—	se, s’5		—	—	soi	soi-même
plural	first	—	nous	nous		—	—	nous	nous-mêmes
	second6	—	vous	vous		—	—	vous	vous-mêmes, vous-même6
	third	masculine	ils7	les	leur	y	en	eux7	eux-mêmes7
		feminine	elles					elles	elles-mêmes

¹ The disjunctive (tonic) forms are also used after an explicit preposition (de/d’, à, pour, chez, dans, vers, sur, sous, ...), instead the accusative, dative, genitive, locative, or reflexive forms, where a preposition is implied.
² Il is also used as an impersonal nominative-only pronoun.
³ On can also function as a first person plural (although agreeing with third person singular verb forms).
⁴ The nominal indeterminate form ce (demonstrative) can also be used with the auxiliary verb être as a plural, instead of the proximal or distal gendered forms.
⁵ The reflexive third person singular forms (se or s’) for accusative or dative are also used as third person plural reflexive.
⁶ Vous is also used as the polite singular form, in which case the plural disjunctive tonic vous-mêmes becomes singular vous-même.
⁷ Ils, eux and eux-mêmes are also used when a group has a mixture of masculine and feminine members.

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (invariable)

1. (music) la, the note 'A'

Derived terms

• donner le la

Descendants

• → Persian: لا (lâ)

See also

• là

Further reading

• “la”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f sg (plural lis)

1. the

Inflection

Friulian definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	il l'	i
feminine	la l'	lis

See also

• lis, il

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [la]

Etymology 1

Pronoun

la f (accusative)

1. alternative form of a (“her”)

Usage notes

The l- forms of accusative third-person pronouns are used when the preceding word ends in -r or -s, and is suffixed to the preceding word

Related terms

• a
• lo
• na

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [la]

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
2. (music) A (the musical note or key)

See also

musical solfège notes: notas musicaisedit

• dó
• fa
• la
• mi
• re
• si
• sol

Etymology 3

From Old Galician-Portuguese lãa, from Latin lāna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [laː]

Alternative forms

• laa
• lla (“Galician-Asturian”)

Noun

la f (uncountable)

1. wool

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese lá. Cognate with Kabuverdianu la.

Adverb

la

1. there

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Etymology 1

From French l'art.

Noun

la

1. art

Etymology 2

Article

la

1. the (definite article)

Usage notes

This article is used only after a word that ends with an oral (non-nasal) vowel and an oral consonant, in that order, and when it modifies a singular noun.

See also

• a
• an
• lan
• nan
• yo
• yon

Etymology 3

From French là (“there”).

Adverb

la

1. there

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[3], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 108

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -lɒ

Interjection

la

1. (archaic) used in dialects at the end of an exclamatory sentence as an emphasis

   ott van la! ― there it is!

2. a syllable used when singing a tune without lyrics

Further reading

• (for emphasis): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (syllable used when singing): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (alternative form of lá, used in solfège): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (used in à la, cf. à): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Ido

Alternative forms

• (apocopic form) l'

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Esperanto la, from French la, Italian la, Spanish la.

Article

la (plural le)

1. the

Derived terms

Prep. + article	Combined form
ad + la	al
de + la	del
di + la	dil
da + la	dal

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English la, French la, Italian la, Spanish la, Portuguese lá, German A, Russian ля (lja).

Noun

la (plural le la or lai)

1. (music) la

Interlingua

Pronoun

la

1. (accusative) her
2. (dative) to her

Isoko

Verb

la

1. to jump

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), feminine of ille.

Article

la f sg (masculine el)

1. feminine singular definite article the
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 29:

     Ti son la manduleîna inzucherada.

     You are the sugared almond.

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^°/la/^°, /la/^°
  • Hyphenation: la
• IPA^(key): (many dialects) /a/^°

Article

la f sg (plural le)

1. the

Usage notes

• The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

Inflection

Italian definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	il lo (l')	i gli
feminine	la (l')	le

Pronoun

la f sg (plural le, masculine lo)

1. (accusative) her, it

   La vedo. ― I see her.

   • a. 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini:

     […] una improvvisa timidezza però la immobilizza […]

     […] a sudden timidity immobilized her though […]

2. (accusative, formal) you (term of respect)

   La vedo. ― I see you.

   Scusi se la disturbo. ― Sorry to bother you.

Alternative forms

• -la (enclitic)

See also

Italian personal pronouns

		singular						plural
		first	second	second formal / polite5	third			first	second	second formal / polite5	third
				m or f	m	f				m or f	m	f
nominative		io	tu	Lei, Ella8	lui, egli8, ello8, elli3, 8, esso8	lei, ella8, essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro
elli3, 8, ellino4, 8, eglino4, 8, essi8	elle3, 8, elleno4, 8, esse8
atonic (clitic)11	accusative / dative-reflexive	mi, m', -mi, me9	ti, t', -ti, te9	―	si6, s', -si, se9, ci13			ci, c', -ci, ce9	vi, Vi7, v', V'7, -vi, -Vi7, ve9	―	si, s', -si, se9
	accusative			La, -La, L'	lo, l', -lo, il4	la, l', -la				Le, -Le	li, -li	le, -le
	dative			Le, -Le	glie9					Loro10	loro10, gli2, -gli2, glie9
					gli, -gli	le, -le, gli2, -gli2
	locative	―			ci, c', vi1, v'1			―			ci, c', vi1, v'1
	partitive	ne, n'		ne, n'
tonic12	prepositional-reflexive	―			sé			―			sé
	oblique	me	te	Lei	lui, esso8	lei, essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro,
											essi8	elle8, esse8
1	Formal.
2	Informal.
3	Archaic.
4	Obsolete.
5	Grammatically third person forms used semantically in the second person as a formal or polite way of addressing someone (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
6	Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
7	Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).
8	Traditional grammars still indicate the forms egli (animate), ello / ella (animate), esso / essa and their plurals as the nominative forms of the third person pronouns; outside of very formal or archaizing contexts, all such forms have been replaced by the obliques lui, lei, loro.
9	Forms used when followed by a third-person direct object proclitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
10	Used after verbs.
11	Unstressed forms, stand alone forms are found proclitically (except dative loro / Loro), others enclitically (-mi, -ti, etc.).
12	Disjunctive, emphatic oblique forms used as direct objects placed after verbs, in exclamations, along prepositions (prepositional) and some adverbs (come, quanto, etc.); also used with a to create alternative emphatic dative forms.
13	Only in "ci si", replaces indefinite si (“one”) before reflexive si (“oneself”).

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/^°, /ˈla/^*
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: là

Noun

la m (invariable)

2. (music) la (musical note)
3. (music) A (musical note and scale)

Derived terms

• la maggiore
• la minore

Further reading

• La (nota) on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• la in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

• al

Japanese

Romanization

la

1. Rōmaji transcription of ら゚
2. Rōmaji transcription of ラ゚

Jingpho

Etymology

Borrowed from Burmese လ (la.).

Noun

la

1. month

References

• Kurabe, Keita (31 December 2016), “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎^[4], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese lá.

Adverb

la

1. there

Kambera

Preposition

la

1. in

   Ni-nja la wawa-mu.

   They are below you.

   (literally, “They are in below you”)

References

• Marian Klamer (1998), A Grammar of Kambera, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 127

Kapampangan

Etymology

Clipping of ila.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/ [ˈla]
• Hyphenation: la

Pronoun

la

1. enclitic form of ila

Derived terms

• dala
• do
• ila-ila
• ila-ilamu
• ila-ilamungan
• ila-ilangan
• ilamu
• ilamungan
• ilangan
• karela
• nala
• no
• tala
• to

See also

Kapampangan personal pronouns

		absolute		ergative	oblique
		disjunctive	enclitic
first person	singular	aku/i aku/yaku	ku		kanaku
	plural inclusive	ikatamu	katamu/tamu	tamu/ta	kekatamu
	plural exclusive	ikami, ike	kami/ke	mi	kekami/keke
second person	singular	ika	ka	mu	keka
	plural	ikayu/iko	kayu/ko	yu	kekayu/keko
third person	singular	iya/ya	ya	na	keya/kaya
	plural	ila	la	da/ra	karela

• da
• de
• di
• do
• ilu
• lu
• to

Kilivila

Verb

-la-

1. to leave, to go

   kula - thou goest

   kulosi - ye go

   bala - I will go

See also

• -wa-

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f (singular)

1. the

Usage notes

• The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

See also

• l
• l'
• i
• les

Ladino

Article

la (Hebrew spelling לה, plural las, masculine el)

1. the (feminine singular)

Leonese

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), feminine singular of ille.

Article

la f sg (masculine el, neuter lu, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. the (definite article)

Usage notes

• The prepositions cun, en and pur contract with la, unless la is part of a proper noun.

  ‎cun + ‎la → ‎cula

  ‎en + ‎la → ‎na

  ‎pur + ‎la → ‎pula

• The article la becomes l' before a word beginning with a a or ha:

  l'aviespa ― the wasp

Lower Tanana

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *leˑ, *leˑ-nʸ and therefore cognate with Navajo -LĮ́Į́ʼ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læ/

Root

la

1. to be, exist

Stem set

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Neuter	lanh	la'	la'	la'
Neuter (Chena)	lą	la'	la'	la'
Transitional	lax	lat	lax	lax
Reversitative	lax	lanh	lax	lax
Customary	layh	layh	layh	layh

Derived terms

• -ch'exulanh drana (“birthday”)
• ch'wxk'a bexulanenh (“last-born child”)
• et'egheɬdi' bexulanenh (“newborn baby”)
• ghwlą́'/ghwlį́'/ghwla' (“maybe”)
• kwlą́ (“nothing”)
• nelanh (“he/she/it is, exists”)
• nelanenh (“step-relative”)
• nlani (“meat, flesh”)
• tthato xwlaya (“harlequin duck”)
• tthaxw bexulanenh (“firstborn child”)
• xulanh (“it exists (xu-gender)”)

References

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, pages 267-270

Lutuv

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa-I, from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ləʔ.

Verb

la

1. to take, grab

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Rhymes: -a

Etymology 1

pronunciation spelling of lah

Particle

la

1. (nonstandard) alternative form of lah

Etymology 2

Clipping of la ni, itself a clipping of kala ini, making la a clipping of kala.

Adverb

la (Jawi spelling لا)

1. (dialectal, Kedah, Kelantan-Pattani, Terengganu) At the present time or moment; now.

   Synonyms: sekarang, la ni, ini

Further reading

• "la" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laː/
• Rhymes: -aː
• Usually unstressed and then automatically shortened to /la/.

Etymology 1

From Arabic لَا (lā). Doublet of le (“no”).

Adverb

la

1. Used—optionally—with a negated second-person imperfect verb to express the negated imperative.

   La tisraqx!

   Don't steal!.

2. Used to express negative intention.

Conjunction

la

1. neither, nor

   La jiekol u la jixrob. ― He doesn't eat nor drink.

2. (obsolete) except

   Synonym: ħlief

Derived terms

• bla
• inkella
• lanqas

Etymology 2

Probably from Arabic لَمَّا (lammā).

Conjunction

la

1. when

   Synonym: meta

2. since

   Synonym: peress li

Derived terms

• ġaladarba
• ladarba
• lakemm

Mandarin

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Romanization

la (la⁵ / la⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄚ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 啦
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嚹
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鞡
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 𤷟
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 𩋷

la

1. nonstandard spelling of lā
2. nonstandard spelling of lá
3. nonstandard spelling of lǎ
4. nonstandard spelling of là

Usage notes

• 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.

Matal

Preposition

la

1. in

   Kak la marabay, Səmon kona aŋa Yuhana, kà uwana dza asik à uwana apə̀hakala dziriga uwaga aw, ama Baba gulo uwana la zagəla la afik la uwana apə̀hakala uwaga.(Mata 16:17)

   Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.(Matthew 16:17)

2. from

   Ama ləv aŋatà kà kərkər la gi (Mata 15:8)

   But their heart is far away from me. (Matthew 15:8)

Mauritian Creole

Etymology 1

From French là (“there”).

Adverb

la

1. there
2. In an unspecified amount of time.
3. now; right now; just now

Related terms

• laba

Etymology 2

From French la (article).

Article

la

1. the (definite article)

   garson-la ― the boy

   sa bann garson-la ― the boys

Usage notes

• la always follows the referent. It is attached to the noun with a hyphen unless other modifiers come between them. E.g. sa garson malin la.

References

• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 560

Michif

Etymology

From French la.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [la]

Article

la f (masculine li, masculine and feminine plural lii)

1. the

Middle French

Etymology 1

From Old French la, from Latin illam.

Article

la f (masculine le, masculine and feminine plural les)

1. the

Descendants

• French: la
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: la

Etymology 2

From Old French la.

Alternative forms

• là (circa 1550)

Adverb

la

1. there

Descendants

• French: là

Mirandese

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f (plural las, masculine l, masculine plural ls)

1. the

   la lhéngua mirandesa

   the Mirandese language

Mizo

Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“to take”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ləʔ.

Verb

la (stem II lâk)

1. to take
2. to get

Derived terms

• la bir

Etymology 2

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“cotton”).

Noun

la

1. cotton

Etymology 3

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“adolescent female”).

Adjective

la

1. (of female animals) newly mature

Derived terms

• bâwng la
• nula

Etymology 4

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“spleen”).

Noun

la

1. spleen

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “la”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Mwan

Noun

la

1. rain

Neapolitan

Pronoun

la

1. alternative form of 'a

Norman

Etymology

From Old French la, from Latin illa(m).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

Article

la f (plural les)

1. (Jersey) the (feminine singular definite article)

   la beque ― the spade

   la crôte ― the crust

   la léçon ― the lesson

   la tâsse ― the cup

Inflection

Norman definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	le / l'	les
feminine	la / l'	les

Coordinate terms

• (gender) lé

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From the verb late.

Verb

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past lot, past participle latt)

1. to let

   La sovende hunder ligge. ― Let sleeping dogs lie.

2. to leave (in a given state)

   la dem (være) i fred ― leave them alone

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlaða.

Verb

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past ladde, past participle ladd)

1. alternative form of lade

Etymology 3

Verb

la

1. simple past of legge

Etymology 4

From French la (“the”), from Middle French la (“the”), from Old French la (“the”), from Latin illam (“that, those”), which is the accusative singular feminine of ille (“that, those”), from Old Latin olle (“he, that”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ol-no- or *h₂l̥-no-, from *h₂el- (“beyond, other”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: la

Article

la

1. (Used in certain expressions of French origin) the

   à la, à la carte, à la grecque, à la mode, à la maison, à la suite

References

• “la” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse láta, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną. Akin to English let.

Alternative forms

• lata, late (long forms)

Verb

la (present tense lar or lèt, past tense lét, supine latt or late, past participle latt or laten, present participle latande, imperative la)

1. let, allow

   La meg få gjera det.

   Let me do it.

Derived terms

• la vera
• la bli
• la seg gjera

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlaða, a strong verb from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną.

Alternative forms

• lada, lade (long forms)

Verb

la (present tense lar, past tense ladde, supine ladd or ladt, past participle ladd, present participle ladande, imperative la)

1. (ambitransitive) to load, charge

   Synonym: laste

Derived terms

• lading f
• ladekabel m

Related terms

• løe f
• lass n
• lade m

Etymology 3

From Latin labii, from the first word of the sixth line of Ut queant laxis, the medieval hymn on which solfège was based because its lines started on each note of the scale successively. Through Italian.

Noun

la m (definite singular la-en, indefinite plural la-ar, definite plural la-ane)

2. (music) la, a syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.

Coordinate terms

• (scale of solfège): do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

la

1. past of leggja and legga

References

• “la” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• al

Occitan

Alternative forms

• era (Gascon)
• a, řa (País mentonasc)

Etymology

From Old Occitan la, from Latin illa(m).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Article

la (masculine lo, feminine plural las, masculine plural los)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

Old English

Etymology

Unknown. Probably onomatopoeic. Compare Polish ła. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Interjection

lā

1. lo!, oh!, ah!

   Lā! næddrena cyn.

   Oh! generation of vipers.

2. Enclitic particle used to emphasise interrogation, exclamation, entreaty, affirmation, negation

   Ðā cwæþ ic hwæt is ðæt lā?

   Then said I, “what is that then?”

Derived terms

• ēalā

Descendants

• English: lo

Old French

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la

1. the (feminine singular oblique definite article)
2. the (feminine singular nominative definite article)
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Trop avons fet grant reposee,
     Recomançomes la meslee!

     We have rested too much
     Let's restart the battle! (literally, “the mix”)

Inflection

Old French definite articles

	Case	masculine	feminine
singular	subject	li	la, le 1
	oblique	le 1	la 1
plural	subject	li	les
	oblique	les	les

¹ These singular forms elide to l' before a vowel or non-aspirate h.

Pronoun

la

1. it (feminine singular object pronoun)

Descendants

• Middle French: la
  • French: la
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: la

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• le

Etymology

From a form of Proto-Celtic *letos (“side”), from which leth, which could be related to *ɸletos (“side”). However, compare Latin latus. The sense “in the language of” is a semantic loan from Latin apud and is perhaps encountered only in glosses of the Latin construction.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l̪a/

Preposition

la [with accusative]

1. with
2. belonging to
3. among
4. in the language of
5. in the opinion of
6. by (indicating the agent of a passive verb)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:la.

Inflection

Inflection of la

	Person:		normal	emphatic
singular	first		lem(m), lim(m), leim, lium(m)	lemsa, li(u)msa
	second		lat(t)	latso, latsu
	third m or n	dative
		accusative	leiss, les(s), lais(s), letha	le(i)som, lessom, le(i)ssem, laisem
	third f	dative
		accusative	l(a)ee, lǽ	lési
plural	first		li(u)nn, le(i)nn	linn(a)i
	second		lib	libsi
	third	dative
		accusative	leu, léu, leo, lethu	leusom, leosom

Derived terms

Combinations with a definite article:

• lassin (masculine and feminine singular)
• lassa (neuter singular)
• lasna (plural)

Combinations with a possessive determiner:

• lam (“with my”)
• lat (“with your sg”)
• lïa (“with his/her/its/their”)
• lïar (“with our”)

Combinations with a relative pronoun:

• lassa (“with which”)

Descendants

• Irish: le
• Manx: lesh
• Scottish Gaelic: le

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “la”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, pages 272–73, 523; reprinted 2017

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la (masculine lo)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

Descendants

• Occitan: la

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Western Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈla]
  • (Central Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈla]

Preposition

la

1. (Central Greater Poland, Western Greater Poland) alternative form of dla

Further reading

• Jan Karłowicz (1900), “dla”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: A do E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 324

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /la/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐ/

Pronoun

la

2. alternative form of a (third-person feminine singular objective pronoun) used as an enclitic and mesoclitic following a verb form ending in a consonant (-z, -r and -s, but not -m); the consonant is elided and the preceding vowel takes an accent if necessary

Romagnol

Article

la

1. feminine of e’ (“the”)

Romanian

Alternative forms

• ла (la) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Rhymes: -a

Etymology 1

From Latin illac.

Preposition

la (+accusative)

1. at, in

   Suntem la Paris.

   We're in Paris.

2. to, towards

Descendants

• Romanian Pidgin Arabic: la

Etymology 2

From Latin lavāre, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). The form la developed from an older lăa, which itself is from an older lăua. The Transylvanian variant lăia is derived from one.

Alternative forms

• lăia — Transylvania

Verb

a la (third-person singular present lă, past participle lăut, third-person subjunctive laie) 1st conjugation

1. (uncommon) to wash (especially the head)

   Synonyms: se spăla, scălda, îmbăia

Conjugation

    conjugation of la (first conjugation, no infix)

infinitive			a la
gerund			lând
past participle			lăut
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	lau	lai	lă	lăm	lați	lau
	imperfect	lam	lai	la	lam	lați	lau
	simple perfect	lăui	lăuși	lău	lăurăm	lăurăți	lăură
	pluperfect	lăusem	lăuseși	lăuse	lăuserăm	lăuserăți	lăuseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să lau	să lai	să lea să laie să leie	să lăm	să lați	să lea să laie să leie
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		lă			lați
	negative		nu la			nu lați

Derived terms

• lăutoare, lăutură

Related terms

• lături
• lăun
• spăla

Further reading

• Ana-Maria Iorga Mihail (June 2013), “Relevanța tipologică a trăsăturii [±animat] în realizarea prepozițională a dativului din construcția ditranzitivă [The typological relevance of the trait [±animate] in the prepositional realisation of the dative in the ditransitive construction]”, in Limba română‎^[5] (in Romanian), volume 62, number 2, Bucharest: Romanian Academy, page 174
• “la”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Santa Catarina Albarradas Zapotec

Noun

la

1. name

References

• Basic Vocabulary, page 63

Sassarese

Alternative forms

• -lla (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is stressed)
• -ra (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is unstressed)

Etymology

From Latin illa, feminine of ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/, (after a word ending in a vowel) /ra/

Article

la f sg (plural li, masculine lu)

1. the (feminine singular)

Usage notes

• Becomes l' before a vowel.

Inflection

Sassarese definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	lu (l')	li (l')
feminine	la (l')

Pronoun

la f (plural li, masculine lu)

1. (followed by chi) that
2. her (accusative)
3. it (accusative)

References

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

Sicilian

Etymology 1

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illa, from Latin illam, from illa.

Alternative forms

• a

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Article

la f sg (m lu, plural li)

1. (feminine singular definite article) the

   Synonym: a

Usage notes

• This article is nowadays an obsolete variant, unlike its illiquid counterpart a. 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'arancina (liquid) and ârancina (illiquid).

Inflection

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

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illa, from Latin illam, from illa.

Alternative forms

• -la (enclitic)
• a (illiquid form)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Pronoun

la f sg (plural li, masculine lu)

1. (accusative) her

   Synonym: a

   La canusci? ― Do you know her?

2. (accusative) it, this or that thing

   Synonym: a

   Quannu ti la desi. ― When I gave it to you.

Usage notes

• 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'.

Southern Ndebele

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronoun

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/ [la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish ela, from Latin illa(m), feminine singular of ille.

Article

la f sg (plural las, masculine el, masculine plural los)

1. feminine singular definite article; the
   • 2025 June 20, Randi Kaye and David von Blohn, “El ICE renueva acuerdo con el centro de detención que, según la agencia, no cumplía las normas”, in CNN en Español‎^[6]:

     En un correo electrónico, el ICE dijo a CNN que había determinado que Glades puede ayudar a “despejar la acumulación” de inmigrantes indocumentados en el país.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Pronoun

la

1. accusative of ella, ello (when the antecedent's implied gender is feminine), and usted (when referring to a woman); her, it, you (formal)
2. impersonal neuter pronoun (accusative) in certain colloquial phrases: it, this

   La sabe toda.

   He/she knows everything (it all)

   ¿¡Dónde la viste!?

   Where did you see that!?

   No te la creo.

   I don't believe you. (from, "I don't believe you [when it comes to] this.")

Usage notes

• Sometimes used where English would prefer a possessive: tengo algo en la bolsa (literally “I have something in the bag”) as opposed to tengo algo en mi bolsa (“I have something in my bag”). This is especially true with body parts and with articles of clothing or similar accessories.
• Where a feminine noun begins with stressed IPA^(key): /a/, el is used instead: el alma, el águila, el hacha. The article remains la where an adjective intervenes between the article and the noun: la majestuosa águila. The plural remains las.

Derived terms

• a la
• a la de
• buscársela
• jugársela
• pasarla
• saberla
• verla

Related terms

• laísmo

Spanish personal pronouns

				Nominative	Disjunctive	Dative	Accusative	Comitative
First-person	Singular			yo	mí	me		conmigo
	Plural	Masculine1		nosotros		nos		—
		Feminine		nosotras
Second-person	Singular	Tuteo		tú	ti	te		contigo
		Voseo		vos	—
		Formal2	Masculine1	usted		le, se3	lo
			Feminine				la
	Plural	Familiar4	Masculine1	vosotros		os
			Feminine	vosotras
		Formal/general2	Masculine1	ustedes		les, se3	los
			Feminine				las
Third-person	Singular	Masculine1		él		le, se3	lo
		Feminine		ella			la
		Neuter		ello5			lo
	Plural	Masculine1		ellos		les, se3	los
		Feminine		ellas			las
	Reflexive			—	sí	se		consigo

1. Like other masculine words, masculine pronouns can be used when the gender of the subject is unknown or when the subject is plural and of mixed gender.
2. Treated as if it were third person for purposes of conjugation and reflexivity.
3. If le or les precedes lo, la, los, or las in a clause, it is replaced with se (e.g. se lo dije instead of *le lo dije).
4. Used primarily in Spain.
5. Only used in certain circumstances and rarely as a subject pronoun.

Descendants

• → Translingual: La

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
2. (music) A (the musical note or key)

See also

musical solfège notes: notas musicalesedit

• do
• fa
• la
• mi
• re
• si
• sol

Further reading

• “la”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Anagrams

• al

Sumerian

Romanization

la

1. romanization of 𒆷 (la)

Swahili

Etymology 1

Other scripts
Ajami	ـلَ

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ́a.

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /lɑ/ (with stress on preceding syllable)

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Verb

-la (infinitive kula)

1. to eat
2. (by extension) to consume, to eradicate

Conjugation

Conjugation of -la
Positive present -nakula Subjunctive -le Negative -li Imperative singular kula
Infinitives
Positive kula Negative kutokula
Imperatives
Singular kula Plural kuleni
Tensed forms
Habitual hula Positive past positive subject concord + -likula Negative past negative subject concord + -kula
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nakula) Singular Plural 1st person ninakula/nakula tunakula 2nd person unakula mnakula 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anakula wanakula other classes positive subject concord + -nakula
Negative present (negative subject concord + -li) Singular Plural 1st person sili hatuli 2nd person huli hamli 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hali hawali other classes negative subject concord + -li
Positive future positive subject concord + -takula Negative future negative subject concord + -takula
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -le) Singular Plural 1st person nile tule 2nd person ule mle 3rd person m-wa(I/II) ale wale other classes positive subject concord + -le
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sile Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngekula Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singekula Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalikula Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalikula
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -ala) Singular Plural 1st person nala twala 2nd person wala mwala 3rd person m-wa(I/II) ala wala m-mi(III/IV) wala yala ji-ma(V/VI) lala yala ki-vi(VII/VIII) chala vyala n(IX/X) yala zala u(XI) wala see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwala pa(XVI) pala mu(XVIII) mwala
Perfect positive subject concord + -mekula "Already" positive subject concord + -meshakula "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jala "If/When" positive subject concord + -kila "If not" positive subject concord + -sipokula Consecutive kala / positive subject concord + -kala Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kale
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nila -tula 2nd person -kula -wala/-kuleni/-waleni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mla -wala m-mi(III/IV) -ula -ila ji-ma(V/VI) -lila -yala ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kila -vila n(IX/X) -ila -zila u(XI) -ula see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kula pa(XVI) -pala mu(XVIII) -mula Reflexive -jila
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -la- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -laye -lao m-mi(III/IV) -lao -layo ji-ma(V/VI) -lalo -layo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -lacho -lavyo n(IX/X) -layo -lazo u(XI) -lao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -lako pa(XVI) -lapo mu(XVIII) -lamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -kula) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yekula -okula m-mi(III/IV) -okula -yokula ji-ma(V/VI) -lokula -yokula ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chokula -vyokula n(IX/X) -yokula -zokula u(XI) -okula see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kokula pa(XVI) -pokula mu(XVIII) -mokula
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

Derived terms

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -lia
  • Causative: -lisha (“to feed”)
  • Passive: -liwa
  • Stative: -lika (“be edible”)
  • Other formations: -la chumvi nyingi (“to live a long life (idiomatic)”), -la fedha, -la hasara, -la njama, -la rushwa, -la yamini

• Nominal derivations:
  • chakula (“food”)
  • mla (“eater”)
  • mlo (“meal”)
  • ulaji (“eating”)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *lā

Arabic لَا (lā)bor.

Swahili la

Borrowed from Arabic لَا (lā).

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Interjection

la

1. no

See also

• siyo
• hapana

Etymology 3

Other scripts
Ajami	لَـ

See -a.

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /lɑ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Particle

la

1. ji class_(V) inflected form of -a

Swedish

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• lade

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Verb

la

1. past indicative of lägga

Etymology 2

Clipping of earlier fälle and fuller. Listed in a dictionary from the 1800s, and believed to have existed for longer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Adverb

la (not comparable)

1. (dialectal, Gothenburg, Västergötland) synonym of väl

Anagrams

• -al, al

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /la/ [lɐ]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

Etymology 1

Interjection

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. used in directing an animal to stop, especially carabaos and cattle

See also

• ho
• han

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish la, from Latin labii.

Noun

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. la (the note 'A')

Etymology 3

Influenced by Baybayin character ᜎ (la).

Noun

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. the name of the Latin script letter L/l, in the Abakada alphabet

   Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) el, (in the Abecedario) ele

See also

• lala

Etymology 4

Clipping of hala.

Interjection

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ) (slang)

1. alternative form of hala

Further reading

• “la”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Tetum

Adverb

la

1. not

Tsafiki

Pronoun

la

1. I; the first-person singular masculine pronoun; the first-person singular pronoun used by adult men

Coordinate terms

• čiʰké (first-person singular feminine pronoun, first-person singular pronoun used by adult women)
• če (first-person singular pronoun used by children)
• čiʰke-lá (first-person plural pronoun)

References

• The Languages of the Andes (2004, Willem F. H. Adelaar, Pieter C. Muysken)

Turkish

Alternative forms

• lan

Interjection

la

1. (dialectal) ulan

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Verb

la • (羅, 囉)

1. to cry, to shout
2. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) to reprimand, to scold

   Synonyms: mắng, quát

   bị vợ la ― to be scolded by wife

Derived terms

• kêu la
• la hét
• la làng
• la lối
• la mắng
• la ó
• la rầy

Etymology 2

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 騾 (“mule”, SV: loa).

Noun

(classifier con) la • (騾)

1. horse–donkey hybrid; mule or hinny

See also

• lừa

Etymology 5

Borrowed from French la.

Noun

(classifier nốt) la

1. (music) la; A

Votic

Alternative forms

• laa

Etymology

From laskõa. Compare Estonian las.

Pronunciation

• (Luutsa, Liivčülä) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/, [ˈɫɑ]
• (Jõgõperä) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/, [ˈɫɑ]
• (Central Votic) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/, [ˈɫɑ]
• (Eastern Votic) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/, [ˈɫɑ]
• Rhymes: -ɑ
• Hyphenation: la

Particle

la

1. let (with a verb); forms a first-person or third-person imperative.

Usage notes

• Usually used with the indicative present personal forms of verbs. The verb may also be inflected in the negative to create a negative imperative.
• The person who is allowed to do something may be placed between la and the verb in the nominative.
• The third-person imperatives using la (e.g. la teeb) are more common than the forms using -ko(d) (tehko).
• Forming second-person imperatives with la is theoretically possible, but practically never done; the inflected imperative forms are used instead.

References

• Hallap, V.; Adler, E.; Grünberg, S.; Leppik, M. (2012), “la”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language]‎^[7], 2nd edition, Tallinn

Walloon

Etymology

From Latin illac.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la/

Adverb

la

1. there

Synonyms

• låvå

Antonyms

• chal, droci

Wolof

Pronoun

la

1. you (second-person singular object pronoun)

See also

Wolof personal pronouns

	singular		plural
	subject	object	subject	object
1st person	man	ma	nun	nu
2nd person	yow	la	yeen	leen
3rd person	moom	ko	ñoom	leen

Xhosa

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronoun

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

Xokleng

Etymology

From Proto-Southern Jê *ra (“sun”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈla]

Noun

la

1. sun

Yatzachi Zapotec

Noun

la

1. name

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *lá. Possibly cognate with Proto-Bantu *-dáada

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lá/

Verb

lá

1. to dream

Derived terms

• lá àlá (“to dream a dream”)
• àlá (“dream”)

Etymology 2

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *lá

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lá/

Verb

lá

1. to lick, including with one's finger

   Synonym: pọ́n lá

2. to become worn out

Derived terms

• ilá (“okra”)
• ìka ìlábẹ̀ (“index finger”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /là/

Verb

là

1. to be wealthy; to become wealthy, to become rich

Derived terms

• kò-là-kò-ṣagbe (“middle class”)
• ọlọ́là (“rich person”)
• ọlà (“wealth, riches”)

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /là/

Verb

là

1. to dilute a liquid

   Synonym: fi omi lú

Derived terms

• ìlà (“dilution”)

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /là/

Verb

là

1. to shine like the moon/sun/light, to glow, to radiate

   òòrùn-ún là ― The sun shone

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /là/

Verb

là

1. to survive

Derived terms

• gbà là (“to save”)
• ìgbàlà (“salvation”)

Etymology 7

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /là/

Verb

là

1. to cut, to divide, to separate, to slice

Derived terms

• Ẹ̀là (“A spirit and energy force in the Yoruba religion and divination”)
• làwàà (“to open suddenly”)
• ìlà (“line, partition, mark”)

Zulu

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlá/

Pronoun

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

Inflection

Stem -lá (locative kula)

full form	lá
locative	kula
copulative	yila
Possessive forms
	modifier	substantive
class 1	wala	owala
class 2	bala	abala
class 3	wala	owala
class 4	yala	eyala
class 5	lala	elala
class 6	ala	awala
class 7	sala	esala
class 8	zala	ezala
class 9	yala	eyala
class 10	zala	ezala
class 11	lwala	olwala
class 14	bala	obala
class 15	kwala	okwala
class 17	kwala	okwala

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “la”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “la (2)”