la

English has two words spelled la: an old interjection, a variant of lo, and the musical note.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lɑː/^[3]

la¹ interjection

Etymology

The interjection is inherited from Middle English la, northern Middle English,^[1][4] inherited from Old English lā,^[1][2] a variant of lo.^[2] The SOED treats it as a natural exclamation.^[5] Klein calls it imitative and compares the interjection law.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English, as an interjection of mild wonder, surprise or grief, “oh, ah, indeed”.^[2][1] The OED's first quotation for its later use is from 1598.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the late 16th century la introduced or accompanied a conventional phrase or called attention to an emphatic statement,^[5][7] and it was also used in derision from 1578, hence la-la, “so-so”.^[7]

Timeline

• Old English – an interjection of wonder or grief.^[2]
• 1578 – in derision.^[7]
• 1598 – introducing a phrase.^[7]

Modern meaning

Interjection

1. (archaic) Used to express surprise or emphasis.

la² musical note

Etymology

The note is inherited from Middle English la, borrowed from Medieval Latin la,^[8][1] probably through Italian,^[8] from the first syllable of Latin labiī (“of the lip”), the word sung to this note in the hymn for the feast of St John the Baptist from which the note names were taken.^[8][2][1] See gamut.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The sixth note of Guido d'Arezzo's hexachords: about 1325,^[7] before 1300 in Barnhart,^[8] or the early 14th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In French and Italian la became the name of the note A, the sixth of the natural scale of C major.^[2] In tonic sol-fa the note is also spelled lah.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – the sixth note of the hexachord.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (music) The sixth note of a major scale in solmization.

Word family

• lah

Related words

• lo
• do
• re
• mi
• fa
• sol
• ti

Usage notes

La, the feminine French or Italian definite article, is sometimes put before a woman's name, ironically, as if she were a prima donna, from 1869.^[7][2][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press