لغة

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ل غ و (l-ḡ-w). Related to Hebrew לוע / לֹעַ (lṓaʿ, “throat, pharynx, maw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.ɣa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

لُغَة • (luḡa) f (plural لُغَات (luḡāt))

1. language

   Synonym: لِسَان (lisān)

   هَلْ تَسْتَطِيعُ ٱلْحَدِيثَ بِغَيْرِ لُغَتِكَ ٱلْْأُمِّ ؟

   hal tastaṭīʕu l-ḥadīṯa biḡayri luḡatika l-ʔummi ?

   Can you speak another language besides your mother tongue?

2. dialect, vernacular

   Synonym: لَهْجَة (lahja)

3. jargon
4. (linguistics) a variant
   • 1290, Ibn Manẓūr, “وي”, in لسان العرب [The Tongue of the Arabs]‎, فصل الحاء المهملة [The section of the undotted letter ح (ḥāʔ)], page 211:

     حَيِيَ حَياةً وَحَيَّ يَحْيَا وَيَحَيُّ فَهُوَ حَيٌّ، وَلِلْجَمِيعِ حَيُّوا، بِٱلتَّشْدِيدِ، قَالَ: وَلُغَةٌ أُخْرَى حَيَّ يَحَيُّ وَلِلْجَمِيعِ حَيُوا، خَفِيفَة.

     ḥayiya ḥayātan wa-ḥayya yaḥyā wa-yaḥayyu fa-huwa ḥayyun, wa-li-l-jamīʕi ḥayyū, bi-t-tašdīdi, qāla: wa-luḡatun ʔuḵrā ḥayya yaḥayyu wa-li-l-jamīʕi ḥayū, ḵafīfa.

     He lived a life, and he lived, he lives and he lives so he is alive, and in the plural they lived, with gemination; [it was] said: another variant is he lived, he lives, and in the plural they lived, [without gemination].

   • (Can we date this quote?), الفَرَّاء، أَبُو زَكَرِيَّا يَحْيَا بِن زِيَاد [al-farrāʔ, ʔabū zakariyyā yaḥyā bin ziyād, Al-Farrāʾ], edited by جَابِر بِن عَبْدِ اللهِ السُّرَيِّع [jābir bin ʕabdi llāhi s-surayyiʕ], كِتَابٌ فِيهِ لُغَاتُ القُرْآن (kitābun fīhi luḡātu al-qurʔān) [A book containing variant readings of the Qur'an], published 2014:

     وَفِي (نَسْتَعِينُ) لُغَتَانِ: قُرَيْشٌ وَكِنَانَةُ يَنْصِبُونَ النُّونَ، وَعَامَّةُ العَرَبِ مِن بَنِي قَيْسِ وَرَبِيعَةَ يَقُولُونَ: نِسْتَعِينُ...

     wa-fī (nastaʕīnu) luḡatāni: qurayšun wa-kinānatu yanṣibūna n-nūna, wa-ʕāmmatu l-ʕarabi min banī qaysi wa-rabīʕata yaqūlūna: nistaʕīnu...

     And there are two variants of نَسْتَعِينُ (nastaʕīnu): Quraysh and Kinanah pronounce it with na-, [whereas] the general Arab public of the tribes Tamim, Qays, and Rabīʿa say: nistaʿīnu...

5. (with the definite article) Classical Arabic
6. lexicography, lexicographic literature, lexicographers
   • a. 1050, مروان بن جناح [Marwān ibn Janāḥ], edited by Gerrit Bos, Fabian Käs, كتاب التلخيص [kitāb at-talḵīṣ] [On the Nomenclature of Medicinal Drugs], Leiden: Brill, published 2020, →DOI, →ISBN, 825 (fol. 70r,14–v,1), page 963:

     القبج بالفارسية هو الحجل عنه ومن كتاب أهرن وفي اللغة: القبج ذكر الحجل، قال الصنوبري
     يٰأخِي قُمْ فَقَدْ شَجَجْنا لَكَ الرَّاحَ … فَخُذْها مَشْجُوجَةً أيّ شَجّ
     قَطَعَ المَاءُ جِسْمَها قِطَعًا لَمْ … تَغْذِ أَمْثالَها مَناقِيرُ قَبْج

     Al-qabj is Persian for partridge ibidem [in ar-Rāzī’s Ḥāwī]. From ʾAhrun’s book and the lexicographers: It is the male partridge. Aṣ-Ṣanawbarīy said:
     O brother, get up! We have mixed wine for you.
     Take it in a mixed state in whichever fashion!
     The water has stripped down its substance into bits,
     of size smaller than chukar beaks eat.

Declension

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَة luḡa	اللُّغَة al-luḡa	لُغَة luḡat
Nominative	لُغَةٌ luḡatun	اللُّغَةُ al-luḡatu	لُغَةُ luḡatu
Accusative	لُغَةً luḡatan	اللُّغَةَ al-luḡata	لُغَةَ luḡata
Genitive	لُغَةٍ luḡatin	اللُّغَةِ al-luḡati	لُغَةِ luḡati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَتَيْن luḡatayn	اللُّغَتَيْن al-luḡatayn	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Nominative	لُغَتَانِ luḡatāni	اللُّغَتَانِ al-luḡatāni	لُغَتَا luḡatā
Accusative	لُغَتَيْنِ luḡatayni	اللُّغَتَيْنِ al-luḡatayni	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Genitive	لُغَتَيْنِ luḡatayni	اللُّغَتَيْنِ al-luḡatayni	لُغَتَيْ luḡatay
Plural	sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لُغَات luḡāt	اللُّغَات al-luḡāt	لُغَات luḡāt
Nominative	لُغَاتٌ luḡātun	اللُّغَاتُ al-luḡātu	لُغَاتُ luḡātu
Accusative	لُغَاتٍ luḡātin	اللُّغَاتِ al-luḡāti	لُغَاتِ luḡāti
Genitive	لُغَاتٍ luḡātin	اللُّغَاتِ al-luḡāti	لُغَاتِ luḡāti

Declension of noun لُغَة (luḡa)

Derived terms

• لُغَة أَجْنَبِيَّة (luḡa ʔajnabiyya, “foreign language”)
• لُغَة عَامِّيَّة (luḡa ʕāmmiyya, “popular language”)
• لُغَة الْمُحَادَة (luḡat al-muḥāda, “colloquial language”)
• لُغَة الْمِحْنَة (luḡat al-miḥna, “professional jargon, slang”)
• لُغَة الْمَوْلِد (luḡat al-mawlid, “mother tongue”)
• أَهْل اللُّغَة (ʔahl al-luḡa, “philologists, lexicographers”)
• عِلْم اللُّغَة (ʕilm al-luḡa, “lexicography, philology, linguistics”)
• لُغَوِيّ (luḡawiyy, “linguistic, philological, lexicographical”)

Related terms

• لَغَا (laḡā)
• لَغِيَ (laḡiya)
• أَلْغَى (ʔalḡā)
• لَغْوَة (laḡwa, “dialect, idiom, vernacular”)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: لغة (luḡa)
• → Azerbaijani: lüğət
• → Classical Persian: لُغَت (luğat) (see there for further descendants)
• → Malay: loghat (“dialect”)
  • Indonesian: logat
• → Ottoman Turkish: لغت (lüğat)
  • Turkish: lügat
  • Crimean Tatar: luğat
• → Somali: luuqada
• → Swahili: lugha
• → Tajik: луғат (luġat)
• → Uyghur: لۇغەت (lughet)
• → Uzbek: lugʻat

(via plural form لُغَات (luḡāt)):

• → Classical Persian: لُغَات (luğāt)
  • → Hindustani: luġāt

    Hindi: लुग़ात

    Urdu: لُغات

  • → Punjabi: luġāt

    Gurmukhi script: ਲੁਗ਼ਾਤ

    Shahmukhi script: لُغات

  • → Sindhi: luġāta

    Arabic script: لُغات

    Devanagari script: लुग़ात

    Khudabadi script: 𑋚𑋣𑊼𑋩𑋠𑋍

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “لغو”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ل غ و
2 terms

Etymology

From Arabic لُغَة (luḡa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.ɣa/, [ˈlʊ.ɣa]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

لغة • (luḡa) f (plural لغات (luḡāt))

1. language

   لغة أجنبية ― luḡa ʔajnabiyye ― foreign language

   اللغة الأم ― il-luḡa il-ʔumm ― native language, mother tongue

   Audio (Ramallah):

   (file)

See also

• لهجة (lahje, “dialect”)