lah لاه
Moroccan Darija · noun
“lah” (لاه) is a noun in Moroccan Darija meaning God (short form of Allah).
Meanings
- God (short form of Allah)
- in "lah ykhlik": please
Usage
Lah is the shortened form of Allah heard in rapid speech. It is found mostly at the start of wishes or blessings followed by an imperfect verb: lah ysahhel 3lik (may God make things easy for you), lah ykhlik (please, literally "may God keep you"), lah y3awnek (may God help you). These formulas are very frequent and are used without any marked religious connotation, as simple politeness. Outside these expressions, the full form llah or allah is more usual. Do not confuse with the negation la.
Example
سيري آختي لاه إسهل عليك
siri akheti lah ishel 3lik
“Go, my sister, may God make it easy for you.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “lah” but also “llah”, “la”, “lla8” and “allah”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “lah” on the Arabic keyboard
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “God (in blessings)”; “why (short for 3lah)”: lah in Algerian.