لسان

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ل س ن (l-s-n). From Proto-Semitic *lišān-.

Cognate with Hebrew לשון (lashón).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.saːn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

لِسَان • (lisān) m or f (plural أَلْسِنَة (ʔalsina) or أَلْسُن (ʔalsun))

1. (anatomy) tongue
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 90:8-10:

     أَلَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُ عَيْنَيْنِ / وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ / وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ

     ʔalam najʕal lahū ʕaynayni / walisānan wašafatayni / wahadaynāhu n-najdayni

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (metonymically) language

   Synonym: لُغَة (luḡa)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 30:22:

     وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ

     wamin ʔāyātihī ḵalqu s-samāwāti wal-ʔarḍi waḵtilāfu ʔalsinatikum waʔalwānikum

     And one of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colours.

3. (metonymically) speech
4. letter, missive
5. tongue of a balance

Declension

Declension of noun لِسَان (lisān)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لِسَان lisān	اللِّسَان al-lisān	لِسَان lisān
Nominative	لِسَانٌ lisānun	اللِّسَانُ al-lisānu	لِسَانُ lisānu
Accusative	لِسَانًا lisānan	اللِّسَانَ al-lisāna	لِسَانَ lisāna
Genitive	لِسَانٍ lisānin	اللِّسَانِ al-lisāni	لِسَانِ lisāni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	لِسَانَيْن lisānayn	اللِّسَانَيْن al-lisānayn	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Nominative	لِسَانَانِ lisānāni	اللِّسَانَانِ al-lisānāni	لِسَانَا lisānā
Accusative	لِسَانَيْنِ lisānayni	اللِّسَانَيْنِ al-lisānayni	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Genitive	لِسَانَيْنِ lisānayni	اللِّسَانَيْنِ al-lisānayni	لِسَانَيْ lisānay
Plural	broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)‎; basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَلْسِنَة‎; أَلْسُن ʔalsina‎; ʔalsun	الْأَلْسِنَة‎; الْأَلْسُن al-ʔalsina‎; al-ʔalsun	أَلْسِنَة‎; أَلْسُن ʔalsinat‎; ʔalsun
Nominative	أَلْسِنَةٌ‎; أَلْسُنٌ ʔalsinatun‎; ʔalsunun	الْأَلْسِنَةُ‎; الْأَلْسُنُ al-ʔalsinatu‎; al-ʔalsunu	أَلْسِنَةُ‎; أَلْسُنُ ʔalsinatu‎; ʔalsunu
Accusative	أَلْسِنَةً‎; أَلْسُنًا ʔalsinatan‎; ʔalsunan	الْأَلْسِنَةَ‎; الْأَلْسُنَ al-ʔalsinata‎; al-ʔalsuna	أَلْسِنَةَ‎; أَلْسُنَ ʔalsinata‎; ʔalsuna
Genitive	أَلْسِنَةٍ‎; أَلْسُنٍ ʔalsinatin‎; ʔalsunin	الْأَلْسِنَةِ‎; الْأَلْسُنِ al-ʔalsinati‎; al-ʔalsuni	أَلْسِنَةِ‎; أَلْسُنِ ʔalsinati‎; ʔalsuni

Derived terms

• لِسَانًا (lisānan, “orally, verbally”)
• لِسَانِيّ (lisāniyy, “oral, verbal”)
  • لِسَانِيَّات (lisāniyyāt, “linguistics”)

Related terms

• لَسِنَ (lasina)
• لَسَّنَ (lassana)

Descendants

• Iraqi Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• Gulf Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• Maltese: lsien
• Moroccan Arabic: لسان (lsān)
• → Azerbaijani: lisan
• → Malay: lisan
  • Indonesian: lisan
• → Ottoman Turkish: لسان (lisân)
  • Turkish: lisan
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: लिसान (lisān)

  Urdu: لسان (lisân)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “لسن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “لسان”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[1] (in French), Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie

Gujarati

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lisān) f (Standard Gujarati લિસાન) (Lisan ud-Dawat)

1. tongue
2. language

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lsān) f (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Hijazi Arabic

Root
ل س ن
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li.ˈsaːn/, [lɪ.ˈsaːn]

Noun

لسان • (lisān) m (plural لسن (lusun) or ألسنة (ʔalsina))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Iraqi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان (lsān) f (plural لسانات (lsānāt) or ألسنة (alsina))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lsaːn/

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. (anatomy) tongue

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Noun

لسان • (lisan) (definite accusative لسانی (lisanı), plural السنه (elsine) or لسانلر (lisanlar))

1. language
2. tongue

Derived terms

• لسانجه (lisanca)

Descendants

• Turkish: lisan

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [li.ˈsɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [lɪ.sɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [li.sɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [le.sɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [li.sɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	lisān
Dari reading?	lisān
Iranian reading?	lesân
Tajik reading?	lison

Noun

Dari	لسان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	лисон

لسان • (lesân) (plural السنه (alsene) or لسان‌ها (lesân-hâ))

1. language

   Synonym: زبان (zabân)

2. (anatomy) tongue

   Synonym: زبان (zabân)

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ل س ن
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lsaːn/, [(ɪ)lˈsæːn]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

لسان • (lsān) m (plural لسانات (lsānāt))

1. tongue

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian لِسَان (lisān), from Arabic لِسَان (lisān).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /lɪ.sɑːn/

Noun

لِسان • (lisān) f (Hindi spelling लिसान)

1. (anatomy) tongue

   Synonyms: جِیبھ (jībh), زُبان (zubān)

2. language

   Synonyms: زُبان (zubān), بولِی (bolī), بھاکھا (bhākhā), بھاشا (bhāśā)

Declension

Declension of لسان
	singular	plural
direct	لسان (lisān)	لسانیں (lisānẽ)
oblique	لسان (lisān)	لسانوں (lisānõ)
vocative	لسان (lisān)	لسانو (lisāno)