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English
Noun
wala
Alternative spelling of wallah
Bikol Central
Pronunciation
Hyphenation: wa‧la
IPA (key ) : /waˈla/
Adverb
walá
left ( direction, side )
Antonym: tuo
Derived terms
Cebuano
Etymology 1
From Proto-Bisayan *wadaq , from Proto-Central Philippine *wadaq , from Proto-Philippine *wada ( “ to be, exist ” ) , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada .
Pronunciation
Adjective
walâ (Badlit spelling ᜏᜎ )
indicates the nonexistence or absence of something ; there is none , no one , nothing
Antonyms: ( most common ) anaa , aduna , ania , adia , atua , may
to have no possession of; to not have something
Antonyms: anaa , aduna , may
( with verb in the inchoative ) did not ; without doing
Coordinate terms: dili , ayaw
( by extension, of a relationship ) broken up
( euphemistic ) dead
Usage notes
If the subject is indefinite, the indefinite marker -y is suffixed; otherwise, the bare form is used.
walay niadto ― no one came ( indefinite subject )
wala (siya) niadto ― (he) did not come ( definite subject )
In the sense "without doing," the form walay can be used if the verb is not marked for aspect; although this formation may behave more like an adjective.
wala na nudlay ― did not comb
walay panudlay ― did not comb, uncombed
Derived terms
Verb
walà (Badlit spelling ᜏᜎ )
to disappear or be gone and nonexistent
mawala unta ang kalisdanan sa kinabuhi I wish all the hardships of life would disappear
to lose something; to misplace
nawala iyang pitaka ― he lost his wallet
Derived terms
Numeral
walâ
( uncommon, only in certain contexts ) zero , null
Synonym: sero
Etymology 2
Compare Tagalog kaliwa .
Pronunciation
Adjective
walá (Badlit spelling ᜏᜎ )
left ( direction )
Coordinate term: tuo
Chamicuro
Etymology
From Spanish bala .
Noun
wala
bullet
Coatepec Nahuatl
Verb
wala
To come .
Hausa
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Noun
wālā f (possessed form wālar̃ )
turtledove
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Verb
wālā̀ (grade 1 )
to relax
Hawaiian
Pronunciation
Verb
wala
to tilt backwards
Hiligaynon
Etymology 1
From Proto-Bisayan *wadaq , from Proto-Central Philippine *wadaq , from Proto-Philippine *wada ( “ to be, exist ” ) , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada .
Noun
walâ
no one , nothing
Verb
walâ
to lack
to disappear or be gone and nonexistent
Verb
walà
deny
gainsay
forgive , forget the wrongdoings of another
Etymology 2
Adjective
walá
left ( the west side of the body when one is facing north )
Antonym: tuo
Javanese
Romanization
wala
Romanization of ꦮꦭ
Mbati
Noun
wala
crab
References
LePage, Sarah Gloria (2020 ) "The phonology of Mbati" , University of North Dakota
Middle English
Noun
wala
Alternative form of wale ( “ planking, welt ” )
Old Dutch
Adverb
wala
well
References
Dr. Tack P, Proeve van Oudnederfrankische Grammatica, 77.
Old English
Noun
wala m
Alternative form of wela
nominative / accusative plural of walu
Old High German
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *walu .
Noun
wala f
choice
Descendants
Pangasinan
Etymology
From Proto-Northern Luzon *wadaʔ , from Proto-Philippine *wada ( “ to be, exist ” ) , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada .
Pronunciation
Hyphenation: wa‧la
IPA (key ) : /waˈla/ ,
Particle
wala
existential quantifier : there is ; to have ; is in
Walay baik. I have a grandmother (literally, “There exists my grandmother ”)
Wala ak ed Pangasinan. I'm in Pangasinan.
Walay sira dia. There's fish here.
Usage notes
The entity existing is a word marked nominative with a marker -y or so . It can be a lone nominative pronoun (e.g. saya ) which already is nominative.
The entity possessing is a word marked genitive with na or a genitive pronoun. This results in something like walay Y na X “X has Y”, or literally, “There's Y of X”.
Derived terms
Polish
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈva.la/
Rhymes: -ala
Syllabification: wa‧la
Noun
wala m animal
genitive / accusative singular of wal
Verb
wala
third-person singular present of walać
Pukapukan
Etymology
From Proto-Polynesian *fara , from Proto-Oceanic *padran , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *paŋdan , from Proto-Austronesian *paŋudaN .
Noun
wala
screwpine , pandanus tree (Pandanus tectorius )
Te wala e lākau loa makeke i te māni wale. The pandanus is a tree with hard wood for building houses.
pandanus key, single section of fruit.
Aumai ake e wala māku. Please bring me a piece of pandanus fruit .
Derived terms
Further reading
Sahu
Etymology
Compare Ternate fala , Tidore fola , Tabaru woa .
Pronunciation
Noun
wala
house
References
Leontine Visser, Clemens Voorhoeve (1987 ) Sahu-Indonesian-English Dictionary , Brill
Southern Catanduanes Bicolano
Etymology 1
From Proto-Central Philippine *wadaq , from Proto-Philippine *wada ( “ to be, exist ” ) , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada .
Adjective
waḽâ
lost ; disappeared
Nawaḽa sana siya.S/he's just disappeared .
absent
Antonym: yaon
Waḽa naman siya sa klase.S/he's absent again in class.
Pronoun
waḽâ
( indefinite ) nothing ; none ; no one ; nobody
Synonym: dai
Antonyms: igwa , may
Waḽa nin tawo sa haḽong.There's no one in the house.
Etymology 2
Adjective
walá
left ( direction )
Antonym: tuo
Swahili
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Arabic وَ لَا ( walā , “ and not ” ) .[ 1]
Conjunction
wala
( in a negative sentence ) and
( in a negative sentence ) or
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun
wala
plural of mla
Verb
wala
inflection of -la :
second-person singular gnomic
third-person plural (wa class(II) ) gnomic
m class(III) and u class(XI) gnomic
References
^ Baldi, Sergio (2020 November 30) Dictionary of Arabic Loanwords in the Languages of Central and East Africa (Handbuch der Orientalistik; Erste Abteilung: Der Nahe und der Mittlere Osten; 145 ), Leiden • Boston: Brill, →ISBN , page 300 Nr. 2872
Tagalog
Etymology 1
From Proto-Central Philippine *wadaq , from Proto-Philippine *wada ( “ to be, exist ” ) , from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada .
Pronunciation
Adjective
walâ (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜎ )
nothing ; to not exist ; there is no
Walang tao diyan.There's no people there.
Synonyms: ( slang, gay slang ) waley , ( gay slang ) was , ( back slang ) alaws
Antonyms: may , mayroon
not in ; missing
Wala pa sila dito...They aren't here yet...
Wala 'yung kaibigan mo ah.Your friend isn't with you, hm.
not having ; no
Wala sa akin ang ballpen mo, wala akong kailangang ibalik sa iyo!I don't have your pen, I don't have to return anything to you!
Wala akong pagkain, sa iba ka na lang.I don't have food here, go to another person.
no ; I/you/they don't have any; there isn't any
Ay, wala , hindi ako nakakuha. Oh, I don't have any , I didn't get to grab any.
nothing ; no-one
Wala 'yun sa akin.She's nothing to me.
Ay, wala 'yun, 'wag mo na lang pansinin. Oh, they're no-one , don't mind them.
Wala ... hindi 'yan gagana.That's nothing ... that won't work.
free ( from ) ; lacking ; without
Synonym: ligtas
( by extension ) broken up ( in a relationship )
Wala na sila.They aren't together anymore.
( euphemistic ) dead
Synonym: patay
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Compare Kapampangan uala ( “ voyage to the sea or deep bay ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
walà (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜎ ) ( obsolete )
gulf ; high seas
Synonym: laot
sailing into a gulf or high seas
coast
( figurative ) condition of being away and apart from others
Derived terms
See also
Further reading
“wala ”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino , Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino , 2024
“wala ”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph , Manila, 2018
Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860 ) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier
Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*wada ”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI
Anagrams
Waray-Waray
Adjective
walá
left
Antonym: tuo