ليس

Arabic

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Traditionally taken to be a contracted pronunciation of either an earlier form لَيِسَ (layisa), whose ultimate origin is in turn unknown or unexplored, or of لَا (lā, “not”) + an existential أَيْس (ʔays) that has a proposed etymology in Proto-Semitic *ys < *yṯ. This existential would be a native cognate to Hebrew יֵשׁ (yēš) and Akkadian 𒌇 (/⁠išu⁠/, “to have or own; to be”, also used copulatively), although Al-Jallad (2018) expresses doubt that it is anything more than a back-formation from the negative, in other words implying that لَا (lā, “not”) + *أَيْس (*ʔays, existential) is just a folk etymology from which أَيْس (ʔays) was created artificially. Al-Jallad proceeds to attest a form of لَيْسَ (laysa) in a Safaitic inscription dated between the first century BC and the fourth century AD, whose form, he says, invalidates the possibility of an origin in a verb لَيِسَ (layisa); he thereby argues that لَيْسَ (laysa) may either be a loan from Neo-Assyrian 𒆷𒀸𒋗 (la-aš-šu /⁠laššu⁠/, “there is not”) or from Taymanitic 𐪁𐪚𐪏 (lys³ /⁠lāʾis, lāyis⁠/, “not existing or being”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laj.sa/

Verb

لَيْسَ • (laysa)

1. (copulative, defective) not to be
2. (invariably masculine singular) except

   Synonym: لَا يَكُونُ (lā yakūnu)

   جَاءَ النَّاسُ لَيْسَ زُهَيْرًا

   jāʔa n-nāsu laysa zuhayran

   People came, except for Zuhayr

3. not to exist; there is not
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 7:61:

     قَالَ يَٰقَوۡمِ لَيۡسَ بِي ضَلَٰلَةٞ وَلَٰكِنِّي رَسُولٞ مِّن رَّبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

     He said, “O my people, there is not error in me, but I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds.”

Usage notes

This is a defective verb. It has only perfect indicative forms with a present-tense meaning. If there is a subject complement, it comes up in the accusative or (with بِـ (bi-)) the genitive.

لَسْتُ عَالِمًا ― lastu ʕāliman ― I am not learned

لَسْتُ بِعَالِمٍ ― lastu bi-ʕālimin ― I am not learned

لَيْسَ الرَّجُلُ جَمِيلًا ― laysa r-rajulu jamīlan ― That man is not handsome.

Conjugation

• Before consonantal endings, the diphthong -ay- is reduced to a short -a-:

See also

• كَانَ (kāna)

Particle

لَيْسَ • (laysa)

1. Used to negate verbs
   • 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi :

     وَلَيْسَ يَصِحُّ فِي الْأَفْهَامِ شَيْءٌ / إِذَا ٱحْتَاجَ النَّهَارُ إِلَى دَلِيلِ

     walaysa yaṣiḥḥu fī l-ʔafhāmi šayʔun / ʔiḏā ḥtāja n-nahāru ʔilā dalīli

Conjunction

لَيْسَ • (laysa)

1. (rare, disputed) not (refers to a preceding context)
   • أَيْنَ الْمَفَرُّ وَالْإِلَهُ الطَّالِبُ
     وَالْأَشْرَمُ الْمَغْلُوبُ لَيْسَ الْغَالِبُ

     ʔayna l-mafarru wa-l-ʔilahu ṭ-ṭālibu
     wa-l-ʔašramu l-maḡlūbu laysa l-ḡālibu

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.ji.sa/

Verb

لَيِسَ • (layisa) I, non-past يَلْيَسُ‎ (yalyasu)

1. to be valiant, to be brave, to be courageous

Conjugation

Etymology 3

Noun

لَيَس • (layas) m

1. verbal noun of لَيِسَ (layisa) (form I)

Declension

Etymology 4

Adjective

لِيس • (līs) m pl

1. masculine plural of أَلْيَس (ʔalyas)

References