לא

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

Aramaic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *lā.

Adverb

לָא • (lā)

1. no, not

Antonyms

• אין ('en, “yes”)

Hebrew

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *lā. Cognate with Arabic لا.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /lo/
• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /loː/
• Homophone: לו
• Rhymes: -o

Adverb

לֹא • (lo)

1. Not; used in negating verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Usage notes

• לא is not used to negate verbs in the imperative; rather, in ancient texts negative imperatives consist of לא and a verb in the second-person jussive, and in modern use they consist of אל (al) and a verb in the second-person future. However, even in modern use, לא may be used together with a to-infinitive to create what might be called a "general negative imperative", where no specific person is being addressed. (The general negative imperative might be better viewed as a kind of declarative, however, as it can be used in a subordinate clause.)
• Hebrew does not require a "dummy auxiliary verb" to negate a verb; for example, English "I didn't go" corresponds to Hebrew לא הלכתי (lo halákhti, “not went-1ST-PERSON-SINGULAR”).
• לא cannot be used to negate יש (yesh, “there is, there are”); rather, its negative counterpart אין (ein, “there isn't, there aren't”) must be used.
• In formal Hebrew, clauses of the form <subject> לא <verb in present-tense, adjective or noun phrase> (meaning <subject> don't/doesn't <verb> or <subject> isn't/aren't/am not <adjective or noun phrase>) are typically recast using אין (ein) in its inflections.
• לא can stand in for an entire negative clause, rather like English not or an English auxiliary verb plus not, but a bit more flexibly.

Interjection

לֹא • (lo)

1. No; used in responding to questions.

See also

• אֵין (en, ein)
• אַיִן (ayin)

Anagrams

• אל

Yiddish

Etymology

From Hebrew לא.

Adverb

לא • (loy)

1. no, not so

   Synonym: ניין (neyn)

   • 1998, Steven A. Jacobson, quotee, A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, Fairbanks, AK, page 91:

     “לא מיט אַן אַלף“

     "loy mit an alef"

     "No with an א; absolutely not"

   • 1998, Steven A. Jacobson, quotee, A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, Fairbanks, AK, page 91:

     “לא דובים ולא יער“

     "loy dubim veloy iar"

     "Neither bears nor woods; entirely untrue"

   • 1998, Steven A. Jacobson, quotee, A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, Fairbanks, AK, page 91:

     “לא היה ולא נבֿרא“

     "loy hoyo veloy nivro"

     "There is no such thing."

Usage notes

More commonly used in idiomatic phrases; for the standard "no" equivalent, see the Germanic נײן.

Derived terms

• לא-די (loy-day, “Not enough (that)”)
• לא-יחרץ (loy-yekhrets, “Hush money; usually with -געלט”)
• לא-ױצח (loy-yutslekh, “Good-for-nothing; ne'er-do-well”)

References

• Steven A. Jacobson (1998) A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, 5th edition, Fairbanks, AK: National Yiddish Book Center, →ISBN, page 91