la

Forms

lā interjection^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown: Köbler leaves the etymology open, and Wiktionary thinks it probably imitative, an exclamation comparable to Polish ła.^[2][1] Holthausen compares an Old High German interjection, citing Walde and Pokorny.^[3] It is the first part of the stronger ēalā (“alas, oh”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in King Alfred's Pastoral Care, in the Hatton manuscript of 890×897, where Abner warns Asahel: Gecier la, & gesuic, ne folga me “Turn back now, and stop; do not follow me”.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

As an interjection it means “lo! oh! ah!” and often stands before a vocative, as in Lā freond “Friend!” for Latin “amice”, or in laments such as wā lā “alas”; Ælfric's Grammar names it among the English interjections.^[7] As an enclitic particle it gives weight to a question or exclamation, an entreaty or command, an assertion or a denial: Hwæt dō ic lā? “What am I to do?”.^[6] Klaeber renders the two instances in Beowulf as “indeed”, and Liebermann glosses its use in the laws as “indeed, surely, now”.^[8][9] It is common in prose and in the glosses, where it renders Latin “o”, and occurs in eleven poems.^[5][2]

Etymonline traces the English word lo to it, probably merged in Middle English with another lo that may be a shortened imperative of loken “to look”.^[10]

Timeline

• 890×897 – Gecier la “turn back now” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[4][5]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – feor þæt la sy “far be it” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[11][5]
• s. x² (c. 970) – in the Old English gloss of the Durham Ritual.^[12][5]
• s. x/xi – þæt lā mæġ secgan “that, indeed, may be said” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[13][8]

Meanings

Interjection

1. lo!, oh!, ah!, often with a vocative.^[7][14]
2. (particle) indeed, surely; giving emphasis to a question, exclamation, entreaty, assertion or denial.^[6][8]

Word family

• ēalā

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lā
3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 190
4. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
5. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
6. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 598
7. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 603
8. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. lā
9. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 128
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
12. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 204
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
14. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 124