{"id":33270,"date":"2014-06-05T00:10:28","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T07:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=33270"},"modified":"2014-06-05T02:23:43","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T09:23:43","slug":"arabic-prefix-al-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/arabic-prefix-al-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does the Arabic Prefix “al-” Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gina asks: What does “al” mean in Arabic?<\/div>\n

\"arabic-stone\"<\/a>Roughly translated to “the,” the Arabic word “al-<\/em>” is prefixed to nouns to make them definite. For example<\/a>: “kitab ‘book’ can be made definite by prefixing it with al-, resulting in al-kitab ‘the book’.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Comprised of two letters, \u0101lif (\u0101) and L\u0101m (l)<\/a><\/em>, frequently, al-<\/em> is placed in front of proper nouns, and in particular, the names of locations, such as al-Anb\u0101r<\/em>; note that even when used with a proper noun, al-<\/em> is left lower case.<\/p>\n

The “l” in al- <\/em>is sometimes silent, but only when al-<\/em> is followed by one of the sun letters<\/a>, which are (as transliterated): t, th<\/span>, d, z<\/span>, r, z, s, sh<\/span>, s<\/span>, d<\/span>, t<\/span>, \u1e93, l and n. This is why Damascus, in colloquial Arabic, is pronounced Ash-Sh\u0101m<\/em><\/a>, not Al-Sh\u0101m<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When al-<\/em> precedes one of the moon letters<\/a>: \u0101, b, j, h<\/span>, kh<\/span>, \u0639\u031b, <\/em>gh<\/span>, f, q, k, m, h, W (aw, au, u) and Y (ay, ai, \u012b), then the “l” is clearly pronounced.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the prefix al- <\/em>should not be confused wit<\/a>h “the form \u0100l, a different Arabic construction that is used to designate a family or tribal name.” With the latter, the pronunciation does not change regardless of the letter that follows \u0100l<\/em>. In addition, as a part of a proper name, \u0100l<\/em> is always written with a capital “A.”<\/p>\n

There are several competing theories on the etymology of al-. <\/em>Some claim<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Al- comes directly from the Arabic negating particle , l\u0101 . . . [where] the l\u0101m [l] and \u0101lif [\u0101] swapped positions. It is noteworthy that the negation denoted by l\u0101 and the definiteness denoted by al- are in stark contrast to each other . . . . A[nother] popular theory is that al- comes from the same proto-Semitic source as the Hebrew definite article ha- . . . . According to [an expert], many . . . Semitic languages have particles that bear similarities to al-.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notably, the prefix el- <\/em>is simply “a different way of writing the same word<\/a>.” It is said that el-<\/em> more closely resembles the word’s proper pronunciation, but al- <\/em>is the more accepted version, at least in America.<\/p>\n

The most common uses of the prefix occur when the listener is already aware of the definite noun being referenced, when referring to a “class noun” (i.e., “the Mercedes is an excellent car”) as well as, of course, at the beginning of some names.<\/p>\n

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