על

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Aramaic

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕalay-.

Pronunciation

Preposition

על • (transliteration needed)

  1. on, upon
  2. over
  3. about, concerning

Hebrew

Root
ע־ל־ה (ʿ-l-h)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʕalay-. Cognate to Arabic عَلَى (ʕalā), Ge'ez ላዕለ (laʿlä), Maltese għal.

Pronunciation

Preposition

עַל • (al)

  1. (literally) On, on top of.
  2. (figuratively) On.
  3. (with enclitic pronoun and followed by ל־) Must.
    • c. 3rd century, "Alenu leshabeach":
      עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל
      alénu l'shabéach la'adón hakól
      We must praise the master of all
      (literally, “It is upon us to praise the master of all”)

Usage notes

  • Various verbs are construed with the preposition על; for example, ויתר על (vitér al) means “to give up on”.

Inflection

Inflection table
Non-personal-pronoun-including form עַל (al)
Personal-pronoun-
including forms		 Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
First person עליי / עָלַי (alái) עָלֵינוּ (alénu)
Second person עָלֶיךָ (alékha) עלייך / עָלַיִךְ (aláyikh) עֲלֵיכֶם (alekhém) עֲלֵיכֶן (alekhén)
Third person עָלָיו (aláv) עָלֶיהָ (aléha) עֲלֵיהֶם (alehém) עֲלֵיהֶן (alehén)

Derived terms

References

Prefix

עַל • (ál)

  1. Super-: above; more than; larger than.
    מִשְׁפָּחָה (mishpakhá, “family”) → עַל־מִשְׁפָּחָה (ál-mishpakhá, “superfamily”)
    יַבֶּשֶׁת (yabéshet, “continent”) → יַבֶּשֶׁת־עַל (yabéshet-ál, “supercontinent”)
    טִבְעִי (tiv'í, “natural”) → עַל־טִבְעִי (ál-tiv'í, “supernatural”)

Usage notes

  • Typically used to form calques from English and other languages.
  • Sometimes attached to the following word via a hyphen; otherwise, separated by a space.
  • In some compounds, follows the base word as a suffix rather than preceding it as a prefix.

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “super-”): תת־ (tát-, “sub-”)

Derived terms

Hebrew terms prefixed with על־

Suffix

עַל • (ál)

  1. Alternative form of the prefix; see above.
    גִּבּוֹר (gibór, “hero”) → גִּבּוֹר־עָל (gibór-ál, “superhero”)
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