ʾ l h
34 lemmas · 11 languages
hamzatedContains ʾ (glottal stop) in position 1 or 3. Glottal stops assimilate or elide in many inflections, producing irregular surface forms.📜 Gen.1.9
Themes:god· إِلَه · אֱלֹהִים·14deity· إِلَه · אֱלוֹהַּ·5phrase·2after·2reference·2
POS shape:noun·15name·6phrase·4intj·2verb·2symbol·1prep·1adv·1det·1adj·1
This root is attested across 11 Semitic languages in our index. Each section below shows representative lemmas; attested means a Wiktionary editor explicitly tagged the root, inferredmeans we derived it mechanically from the word's consonantal skeleton.
Etymology treehow this root diverged from Proto-Semitic through the family
*ʾ-l-hProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewאֵלֶיהָא ל ה— Form of אֶל (él) including third-person feminine singular personal pronoun as object.
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicאֱלָהּא ל ה— indefinite of אֱלָהָא
Syriacܞʔ l h— God.
Assyrian NAܐܲܠܵܗܵܐܐ ܠ ܗ— god, deity
Turoyoܐܠܗܐ ܠ ܗ— god
Western NAܐܠܗܐܐ ܠ ܗ— god
Arabic
Arabicأَلَّهَء ل ه— to deify
South Semitic
Old South Arabian
Sabaean𐩱𐩡𐩠𐩱 𐩡 𐩠— a deity
OSA𐩱𐩡𐩠𐩩𐩱 𐩡 𐩠— goddess
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicአላህአ ለ ሀ— Allah
Tigrinyaአላህአ ለ ሀ— Allah
Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.
Sabaean
irregular reflexsab · 1 lemma- a deity
Old South Arabian
irregular reflexosa · 1 lemma- goddess
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 2 lemmas- indefinite of אֱלָהָא
- god, deityUltimately from Proto-Semitic *ʾil-. Cognate with the Arabic إله, Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl), אֱלוֹהַּ / אֱלֹהַּ (ʾĕlṓah), אֱלוֹהִים / אֱלֹהִים (ʾĕlōhīm).
Classical Syriac
syc · 3 lemmas- God.Ligature of ܝ (yodh) and ܗ (heh), the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHVH), with three points above signifying the three persons of the Trinity, and one point below signifying God's single substance (ousia).
- god, deityFrom Proto-Semitic *ʔil-. The doublet ܐܺܝܠ (ʾīyl) was borrowed from Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl).
- GodFrom Proto-Semitic *ʔil-. The doublet ܐܺܝܠ (ʾīyl) was borrowed from Hebrew אֵל (ʾēl).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 8 lemmas- god, deityFrom Aramaic אֱלָהָא (ʾĕlāhā), from Proto-Semitic *ʔil-; compare Arabic إِلٰه (ʔilāh), اللّٰه (allāh), Hebrew אֵל (el), אֱלוֹהַּ (elóah), אֱלוֹהִים (elohím) and Akkadian 𒀭 (ilum). Doublet of ܐܹܝܠ (ēl).
- GodFrom Aramaic אֱלָהָא (ʾĕlāhā), from Proto-Semitic *ʔil-; compare Arabic إِلٰه (ʔilāh), اللّٰه (allāh), Hebrew אֵל (el), אֱלוֹהַּ (elóah), אֱלוֹהִים (elohím) and Akkadian 𒀭 (ilum). Doublet of ܐܹܝܠ (ēl).
- Literally, “May God be with you”; God be with you, goodbye, farewell
- expression of disapproval of a possible future occurrence of an eventFrom ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ (allāhā, “God”) + ܠܵܐ (lā, “not”) + ܥܵܒ݂ܹܕ݂ (ˁāḇēḏ, “do”), literally “May God not do (it)!”.
- phrase used after a reference to a deceased manLiterally, “May God absolve him.” Also found in Turoyo ܐܰܠܳܗܐ ܡܚܰܣܶܐ ܠܶܗ (aloho mḥase leh).
- a phrase used after a reference to a deceased man or boyClipping of ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ ܡܲܢܝܸܚ ܠܹܗ ܓܲܘ ܢܘܼܗܪܵܐ ܘܦܲܪܕܲܝܣܵܐ ܥܲܡ ܟܹܐ̈ܢܹܐ ܘܙܲܕܝܼ̈ܩܹܐ (allāhā manyiḥ lēh gaw nuhrā w-pardaysā ˁam kēnē w-zadīqē, literally “May God give him rest in light and paradise with the fair and the righteous”).
- short prayer often used to wish protection and/or give thanksLiterally, “May God protect you.”
- short prayer used to wish goodness and/or give thanks; thank youLiterally, “May God give (to) you.”
Hebrew
he · 8 lemmas- Form of אֶל (él) including third-person feminine singular personal pronoun as object.
- a male given name, equivalent to English ElijahShortened from of אֵלִיָּהוּ ('Eliyáhu, “Elijah”).
- tail of a fat-tailed sheep (a type of domestic sheep)From Proto-West Semitic *ʔalyat-. By surface analysis derived from the root אָלָה ('alá, “to be round, i.e. to be thick, fat”), and hence they are named after their composition and appearance.
- not, do notCognate with Phoenician 𐤀𐤋 (ʾl), Ugaritic 𐎀𐎍 (ảl), Akkadian 𒌑𒌌 (ul).
- masculine/feminine plural of זה (ze)Compare Arabic أُولَاءِ (ʔulāʔi).
- defective spelling of אלוה
- defective spelling of אלוהי
- plural construct state form of אֱלֹהִים (elohím)
Arabic
ar · 6 lemmas- to deifyFrom the root ء ل ه (ʔ l h). Denominal verb from إِلٰه (ʔilāh, “god”), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *ʾil-.
- a god, a deity, a divinityFrom Proto-Semitic *ʾil- with a vocative suffix ـَاه (-āh) which is else only sporadically attested in Arabic but has left its trace in the -ā vocatives of أَب (ʔab, “father”), أَخ (ʔaḵ, “brother”), حَم (ḥam, “father-in-law”). Forms a root ء ل ه (ʔ l h).
- GodFrom the root ء ل ه (ʔ l h). Widely theorized to be a contraction of الٱِلٰه (al-ilāh, “God”), from الإلٰه (al-ʔilāh, “the deity”) with loss of initial hamza after the definite article ال (al-). Others suggest it is a variant spelling of the more ancient ألّٰه (allāh), the extra ل (l) serving as an emphatic marker to…
- divinity, godhood; divine powerMorphologically from the root ء ل ه (ʔ l h).
- plural of إِلَاهَة (ʔilāha)
Amharic
am · 1 lemma- AllahFrom Arabic اللّٰه (allāh).
Tigrinya
ti · 1 lemma- AllahFrom Arabic اللّٰه (allāh).
Turoyo
tru · 2 lemmas- god
- god, God
Western Neo-Aramaic
amw · 1 lemma- god