لو

Alviri-Vidari

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lev/

Noun

لو (transliteration needed)

1. lip

Arabic

Etymology

Compare Hebrew לוּ (lū).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /law/

Conjunction

لَوْ • (law)

1. if (contrary to fact)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 21:22:

     لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا ٱللّٰهُ لَفَسَدَتَا

     law kāna fīhimā ʔālihatun ʔillā llāhu la-fasadatā

     Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 7:100:

     أَوَلَمْ يَهْدِ لِلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِن بَعْدِ أَهْلِهَا أَن لَّوْ نَشَاءُ أَصَبْنَاهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَنَطْبَعُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ

     ʔawalam yahdi li-llaḏīna yariṯūna l-ʔarḍa min baʕdi ʔahlihā ʔan llaw našāʔu ʔaṣabnāhum bi-ḏunūbihim wa-naṭbaʕu ʕalā qulūbihim fahum lā yasmaʕūna

     Has it not become clear to those who inherited the earth after its [previous] people that if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins? But We seal over their hearts so they do not hear.

2. that (often used with the verb وَدَّ (wadda))
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 70:11:

     يَوَدُّ الْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِي مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍ بِبَنِيهِ

     yawaddu l-mujrimu law yaftadī min ʕaḏābi yawmiʔiḏin bi-banīhi

     The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 15:2:

     رُبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ كَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ

     rubamā yawaddu allaḏīna kafarū law kānū muslimīna

     Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims.

3. if only
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:167:

     وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّؤُوا مِنَّا

     wa-qāla llaḏīna ttabaʕū law ʔanna lanā karratan fa-natabarraʔa minhum kamā tabarraʔū minnā

     Those who followed will say, "If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us."

Usage notes

• Normally used for conditions that are contrary-to-fact (unlikely to be fulfilled or incapable of being fulfilled). For possible (not contrary-to-fact) conditions, use إِنْ (ʔin).
• Used with the past tense or the present tense, in both cases with a present-tense meaning (although normally translated in English with a past tense).

Antonyms

• لَوْلَا (lawlā)

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: لو (law)
• South Levantine Arabic: لو (law)

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لَوْ (law).

Conjunction

لو • (law)

1. if

   هو لو كان هنا كان قتلك

   huwwa law kān hina kān ʔatalak

   If he were here, he would've killed you.

Derived terms

• لولا (lawla)
• ولو (walaw)

See also

• إذا (ʔiza, “if”), إن (ʔin, “if”)

Khalaj

Noun

لُو (lov) (definite accusative لُووُ, plural لُولار)

1. Arabic spelling of lov (“lip”)

Declension

Declension of لو

	singular	plural
nominative	لو	لولار
genitive	لوؽݧ	لولارؽݧ
dative	لوقا	لولارقا
definite accusative	لوؽ	لولارؽ
locative	لوچا	لولارچا
ablative	لودا	لولاردا
instrumental	لولا	لولارلا
equative	لووارا	لولاروارا

Persian

Etymology

Northwestern Iranian variant of لب (lab, “lip”), see it.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [law]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [läw]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [läw]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [läw]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [läw]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [low], [luː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [läw]

Readings
Classical reading?	law
Dari reading?	law
Iranian reading?	low, lu
Tajik reading?	lav

Noun

لو • (low)

1. (dialectal, Dashtestan) lip

   Synonyms: لب (lab), لنج (lonj), لفچ (lafč), لفج (lafj)

2. hill
3. gall
4. a kind of sweet
5. grotto, hollowed-out retreat fit for cattle

References

• Monchi-Zadeh, Davoud (1990) Wörter aus Xurāsān und ihre Herkunft (Acta Iranica; 29)‎^[1] (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 119 Nr. 348
• Vullers, Johann August (1856–1864) “لو”, in Lexicon Persico-Latinum etymologicum cum linguis maxime cognatis Sanscrita et Zendica et Pehlevica comparatum, e lexicis persice scriptis Borhâni Qâtiu, Haft Qulzum et Bahâri agam et persico-turcico Farhangi-Shuûrî confectum, adhibitis etiam Castelli, Meninski, Richardson et aliorum operibus et auctoritate scriptorum Persicorum adauctum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume II, Gießen: J. Ricker, page 1101a
• Wolff, Fritz (1935) Glossar zu Firdosis Schahname‎^[3] (in German), Berlin: Reichsdruckerei, page 751a

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لَو (law).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /law/, [law]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Conjunction

لو • (law)

1. if (hypothetical condition)

   Synonym: لونّـ (lawenn-)

2. polite request (Could you ...?)

Derived terms

• لولا (lawla, lōla, “if not (hypothetical)”)

See also

• إذا (ʔiza, “if”), إن (ʔin, “if”), إنكنّـ (ʔin-kann-, “if”)
• ياريت (yārēt, “if only (wish, hope)”)

Southwestern Fars

Noun

لو (low)

1. (Masarm, Deh Sarv, Kuzarg) lip