li

See also: Appendix:Variations of "li"

Languages (63)

Translingual • English

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Albanian • Aragonese • Aromanian • Cacaopera • Catalan • Cornish • Corsican • Danish • Dutch • Esperanto • French • Galician • Guianese Creole • Guinea-Bissau Creole • Haitian Creole • Ido • Istriot • Italian • Japanese • Jarawa • Kabuverdianu • Khumi Chin • Livonian • Louisiana Creole • Lower Tanana • Maltese • Mandarin • Mauritian Creole • Michif • Miskito • Mokilese • Moore • Munsee • Neapolitan • Niuatoputapu • Norman • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Old Occitan • Old Polish • Polish • Portuguese • Romagnol • Romanian • Sassarese • Serbo-Croatian • Shark Bay • Sicilian • Sumerian • Swahili • Tedim Chin • Tooro • Tumbuka • Vietnamese • Volapük • Walloon • West Makian • Yoruba • Zou

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology 1

Initialism of English logarithmic integral.

Symbol

li

1. (mathematics) The symbol for the logarithmic integral function.

Etymology 2

Clipping of English Limburgish or Dutch and Limburgish Limburgs.

Symbol

li

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Limburgish.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Limburgish terms

Etymology 3

Symbol

li

1. Alternative letter-case form of LI

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/
• enPR: lē

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

An early romanization of Chinese Mandarin 里 (lǐ). As a Korean unit, via the Yale romanization of Korean 리 (ri), from the Chinese distance.

Alternative forms

• (Korea): ri

Noun

li (plural lis or li)

1. The Chinese mile, a traditional unit of distance equal to 1500 chis or 150 zhangs, now standardized as a half-kilometer (500 meters).

   Synonyms: Chinese mile, tricent

   • 1927, Chi Li, “Archaeological Survey of the Fêng River Valley, Southern Shansi, China”, in Explorations and Field-work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1926 (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections)‎^[2], volume 78, number 7, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, →OCLC, page 129:

     It was a whole day's journey from I-ch'eng to Chü-wo which, in turn, is about 60 li east of Chiang Chou — one of the most important cities in southern Shansi and a center for curio-dealers.

   • 1999 [1994], Zou Heng (邹衡), “The Early Jin State Capital Discovered: a Personal Account”, in Roderick Whitfield, Wang Tao, transl., Exploring China's Past: New Discoveries and Studies in Archaeology and Art‎^[3], Saffron Books, Eastern Art Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 106:

     In 1979, while we were conducting our archaeological work in Yucheng and Quwo, Shanxi province, I noticed another historical record in the Kuodizhi (a comprehensive account of geography written in 641), which stated that "the ancient city of Tang was 20 li west of Yuchengxian in Jiangzhou."

   • 2000, Chen Shui-Bian, “Learning and Transformation”, in David J. Toman, transl., The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His Dreams for Taiwan‎^[4], Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 40:

     The two gods who accompany Matsu, one with eyes that can see 1000 li⁶ and the other with ears that can hear far over the horizon, represent empathy, observation, and feeling. Government should be like Matsu, equipped with acute powers of observation; see clearly to the bottom of issues, and know how to respond.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:li.
2. The Korean mile, a traditional unit of distance equivalent to about 393 m.

   Synonym: Korean mile

   • 1980, Kim Il Sung, “Meeting with My Comrades-in-Arms in North Manchuria”, in Kim Il Sung Works‎^[5], volume 48, Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House, →OCLC, page 144:

     While scaling the Laoyeling Mountains, the Chinese Worker-Peasant Red Army, under the command of Mao Ze-dong and Zhu De, was successfully stepping up the historic 25 000-li Long March in China proper, breaking through the surrounding rings formed by Chiang Kai-shek’s army.

Translations

Chinese unit of distance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 里 (zh) (lǐ), 市里 (zh) (shìlǐ)

• Dutch: li (nl)
• French: li (fr) m
• Japanese: 里 (ja) (り, ri)
• Korean: 리(里) (ko) (ri)
• Russian: ли (ru) m (li)
• Swedish: li (sv) c
• Thai: ลี้ (th) (líi)
• Vietnamese: lí (vi)

Etymology 2

From Mandarin 市厘 (lí).

Noun

li (plural li)

1. A traditional Chinese unit of weight, equal to one-thousandth of a liang, or fifty milligrams.

Etymology 3

From Mandarin 禮 / 礼 (lǐ).

Noun

li (plural li)

1. (Chinese philosophy) A meaningful ceremony or ritual; etiquette, behaviour.

Etymology 4

From Mandarin 鬲 (lì).

Noun

li (plural li)

1. An ancient Chinese cauldron having three hollow legs.

Etymology 5

Altered from la, with the vowel changed to signify a raised note.

Noun

li (uncountable)

1. (music) In solfège, the raised sixth note of a major scale (the note A-sharp in the fixed-do system).

   Synonyms: A-sharp, B-flat, ta, te

Anagrams

• I'l, IL, il-

Albanian

Etymology 1

Orel suggests from South Slavic, compare Serbo-Croatian lȉh (“exclusive”), lȋh (“false, odd”), Slovene lȋh (“uneven, odd”). However, generally thought to be from Ancient Greek εὐλογία (eulogía) "blessing", with a euphemistic sense development. Compare e.g. the euphemistic synonym "e lume" (the happy/blessed one)

Alternative forms

• lijë

Noun

li f (definite lia)

1. (uncountable) pox
2. olive scab, peacock spot (Cycloconium oleaginum)

   Synonym: sypallua

Declension

Declension of li

	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	li	lia
accusative		linë
dative/ablative	lie	lisë

Hyponyms

• li e bardhë (“chicken pox”)
• li e dushkut (“chicken pox”)
• li e dhenve (“sheeppox”)
• li e madhe (“smallpox”)
• li e mirë (“chicken pox”)
• li e pyllit (“chicken pox”)
• li e ullirit (“olive scab, peacock spot”) (Cycloconium oleaginum)

Derived terms

• lijëvrarë
• lijim
• lijoj
• lijosje
• lijosh
• lijuar

Etymology 2

Borrowed through Vulgar Latin from Latin līnum.

Noun

li m (definite liri)

1. flax

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

li

1. him (indirect object)

Synonyms

• le

Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin illis, dative common plural of ille. Compare Romanian le.

Pronoun

li f (short/unstressed accusative form of eali)

1. (direct object) them (all-female group)

Related terms

• lã (feminine/masculine plural dative- short/unstressed form)
• u (feminine singular accusative- short/unstressed form)
• (a) lor (feminine/masculine plural dative- long/stressed form)

Cacaopera

Noun

li

1. water

References

• Miguel Angel Amaya Amaya, Mario de Jesús Molina Ortez, Wilver Ernesto Recinos Argueta, Pistaka kirika guina: Cacaopera / hablemos de nuestro pueblo: Cacaopera (1994)
• ASJP citing Lehmann (1920)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin illī, dative common singular of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [li]
• Rhymes: -i

Pronoun

li (enclitic and proclitic)

1. him, her, it (indirect object, singular all genders)

   doneu-li una moneda ― give him/her a coin

Declension

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics

			strong/subject	weak (direct object)		weak (indirect object)		possessive
				proclitic	enclitic	proclitic	enclitic
singular	1st person	standard	jo, mi3	em, m’	-me, ’m	em, m’	-me, ’m	meu
		majestic1	nós	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	tu	et, t’	-te, ’t	et, t’	-te, ’t	teu
		formal1	vós	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		very formal2	vostè	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
	3rd person	m	ell	el, l’	-lo, ’l	li	-li	seu
		f	ella	la, l’4	-la	li	-li	seu
		n		ho	-ho	li	-li	seu
plural
	1st person		nosaltres	ens	-nos, ’ns	ens	-nos, ’ns	nostre
	2nd person	standard	vosaltres	us	-vos, -us	us	-vos, -us	vostre
		formal2	vostès	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
	3rd person	m	ells	els	-los, ’ls	els	-los, ’ls	seu
		f	elles	les	-les	els	-los, ’ls	seu
3rd person reflexive			si	es, s’	-se, ’s	es, s’	-se, ’s	seu
adverbial	ablative/genitive			en, n’	-ne, ’n
	locative			hi	-hi

¹ Behaves grammatically as plural.   ² Behaves grammatically as third person.
³ Only as object of a preposition.   ⁴ Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Cornish

Etymology 1

From Middle Cornish ly, from Proto-Brythonic *lüngiβ̃ (“breakfast”), from Proto-Celtic *long-ī-mā. Cognate with Breton lein (“breakfast”).

Noun

li f (plural livyow)

1. lunch

   Synonyms: kroust, liv

Derived terms

• hansli (“brunch”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Brythonic *lluɣ, from Proto-Celtic *lugyom, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ-. Cognate with Welsh llw. Doublet of ti.

Noun

li m (plural liow)

1. oath

   Synonym: ti

Derived terms

• lia (“take an oath”, verb)

Corsican

Etymology

From Latin illi, masculine plural of ille, from Old Latin olle. Cognates include Italian gli (“the, them”) and Romanian îi (“them”).

Pronoun

li

1. him, her (indirect object)
2. them (indirect object)
3. archaic form of i

See also

Corsican personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	1st person		eiu	mi		mè
	2nd person		tù	ti		tè
	3rd person	m	ellu	li	u, l'	ellu
		f	ella		a, l'	ella
plural	1st person		noi	ci		noi
	2nd person		voi	vi		voi
	3rd person	m	elli	li	i, l'	elli
		f	elle		e, l'	elle

Article

li

1. archaic form of i

References

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hlíð. Phonetically influenced by Norwegian. Related to the noun below. Cognates include German Leite, Latin clivus and Ancient Greek κλειτύς (kleitús).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈliˀ]

Noun

li c (singular definite lien, plural indefinite lier)

1. (poetic, rare) A sloping mountainside or hillside covered with grass or forest.

Declension

Declension of li

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	li	lien	lier	lierne
genitive	lis	liens	liers	liernes

Etymology 2

From Old Danish lith, from Old Norse hlið. Phonetically influenced by Norwegian, the native version would be lide. Merged with led (“way, direction”).

Noun

li c (singular definite lien, plural indefinite lier)

1. (obsolete) side, edge

Declension

Declension of li

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	li	lien	lier	lierne
genitive	lis	liens	liers	liernes

References

• “li” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “li” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

li m (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. li (Chinese unit of distance)

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Late Latin illui

Italian luider.

Late Latin illui

French luider.

Spanish leder.

Esperanto li

From Italian lui, French lui, or Spanish le, plus the i of personal pronouns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: li

Pronoun

li (accusative lin, possessive lia)

1. (personal pronoun) he

Usage notes

• Li is traditionally used as both a masculine and a gender-neutral pronoun, but since the 1970s generic usage has sometimes been criticized and is increasingly being avoided and replaced by "ĝi" and or "oni" and or "li aŭ ŝi". Some people (reformists) think this is an imperfect solution which is inappropriately long. In response to such criticisms, there have been various proposals for new pronouns, but the only proposal that has been gaining some adoption is ri.

Synonyms

• (person whose gender is unknown): ĝi, oni, ri, ŝli

Related terms

• ili (“they”) (plural)

See also

Esperanto personal pronouns

		singular				plural
		nominative	accusative	possessive		nominative	accusative	possessive
first person		mi	min	mia		ni	nin	nia
second person	formal	vi	vin	via		vi	vin	via
	familiar1	ci	cin	cia
third person	masculine	li	lin	lia		ili iŝi2	ilin iŝin2	ilia iŝia2
	feminine	ŝi	ŝin	ŝia
	neuter	ĝi	ĝin	ĝia
	gender-neutral2	ri ŝli	rin ŝlin	ria ŝlia
	reflexive	si	sin	sia		si	sin	sia
indefinite		oni	onin	onia		oni	onin	onia

¹ Rare.

² Not widely used.

Further reading

• “li”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “li”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

  • Audio (Nancy):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Homophones: lient, lies, lis, lit, lits, lys

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Mandarin 里 (lǐ).

Noun

li m (plural lis)

1. li (Chinese unit of distance)

Etymology 2

Probably from influence of Louisiana Creole li (“he, she, it”).

Pronoun

li (second person singular, objective case)

1. (Louisiana) him
2. (Louisiana) it

Further reading

• “li”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• il

Galician

Verb

li

1. (reintegrationist norm) first-person singular preterite indicative of ler

Guianese Creole

Etymology 1

From French lui (“he, him”).

Pronoun

li

1. him, her, it (third-person singular direct and indirect object pronoun)

Etymology 2

From French lire.

Verb

li

1. to read

References

• Barthelemi, Georges (1995), Dictionnaire Pratique Créole Guyanais - Français [Practical Guianese Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Cayenne: Ibis Rouge Éditions, →ISBN, pages 25, 130

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese ali. Cognate with Kabuverdianu li.

Adverb

li

1. here

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Etymology 1

From French lui.

Pronoun

li (contracted form l)

1. he
2. him
3. she
4. her
5. it

Etymology 2

From French lire.

Verb

li

1. to read

References

• Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael (1993), Haitian Creole-English Dictionary‎^[6], Dunwoody Press, →ISBN, page 116

Ido

Etymology

From lu (“he, him, she, her, it, that”) +‎ -i (“-s; plural”).

Pronoun

li pl

1. they, them

Related terms

• ili (“they, them”, masculine)
• eli (“they, them”, feminine)
• oli (“they, them”, neuter)

Istriot

Article

li

1. masculine plural definite article
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 40:

     Ti me pari oûna dea infra li dai,

     You seem to me a goddess among the gods

Italian

Etymology 1

From Latin illī, nominative masculine plural of ille.

Alternative forms

• -li (enclitic, as a pronoun)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^°/li/^°
• Homophone: lì
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: li
• As an unstressed clitic, it does not trigger syntactic gemination of the following consonant. It also actively blocks syntactic gemination of its initial consonant, such as after a word like però (“but”) that would normally trigger syntactic gemination. (This does not apply to the enclitic form -li, e.g. dalli a me (“give them to me”).)

Pronoun

li m pl

1. (accusative) them (masculine)

   Li ricordo. ― I remember them.

Usage notes

• Never elides.

See also

Italian personal pronouns

		singular						plural
		first	second	second formal / polite5	third			first	second	second formal / polite5	third
				m or f	m	f				m or f	m	f
nominative		io	tu	Lei, Ella8	lui, egli,8 ello,8 elli,3, 8 esso8	lei, ella,8 essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro
elli,3, 8 ellino,4, 8 eglino,4, 8 essi8	elle,3, 8 elleno,4, 8 esse8
atonic (clitic)11	accusative / dative-reflexive	mi, m', -mi, me9	ti, t', -ti, te9	―	si,6 s', -si, se,9 ci13			ci, c', -ci, ce,9 ne,4 n'4	vi, Vi,7 v', V',7 -vi, -Vi,7 ve9	―	si, s', -si, se9
	accusative			La, -La, L'	lo, l', -lo, il4	la, l', -la				Le, -Le	li, -li	le, -le
	dative			Le, -Le	glie9					Loro10	loro,10 gli,2 -gli,2 glie9
					gli, -gli, il4	le, -le, gli,2 -gli2
	locative	―			ci, c', vi,1 v'1			―			ci, c', vi,1 v'1
	partitive	ne, n'		ne, n'
tonic12	prepositional-reflexive	―			sé			―			sé
	oblique	me	te	Lei	lui, esso8	lei, essa8		noi	voi, Voi7	Loro	loro,
											essi8	elle,8 esse8

¹ Formal.
² Informal.
³ Archaic.
⁴ Obsolete or literary.
⁵ Grammatically third person forms used semantically in the second person as a formal or polite way of addressing someone (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
⁶ Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
⁷ Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).
⁸ Traditional grammars still indicate the forms egli (animate), ello / ella (animate), esso / essa and their plurals as the nominative forms of the third person pronouns; outside of very formal or archaizing contexts, all such forms have been replaced by the obliques lui, lei, loro.
⁹ Forms used when followed by a third-person direct object proclitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
¹⁰ Used after verbs.
¹¹ Unstressed forms, stand alone forms are found proclitically (except dative loro / Loro), others enclitically (-mi, -ti, etc.).
¹² Disjunctive, emphatic oblique forms used as direct objects placed after verbs (or before them, chiefly in literary Italian), in exclamations, along prepositions (prepositional) and some adverbs (come, quanto, etc.); also used with a to create alternative emphatic dative forms.
¹³ Only in "ci si", replaces indefinite si (“one”) before reflexive si (“oneself”).

Article

li m pl (singular lo)

1. (archaic or dialectal) the (masculine plural definite article), sometimes untranslated, depending on context
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 67–69; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Rispuosemi: "Non omo, omo già fui, / e li parenti miei furon lombardi, / mantoani per patrïa ambedui.

     He [Virgil] replied to me: "Not a man; I once was a man, and my parents were Lombard, both of them Mantuan by country.["]

     (literally, “He answered me: "Not a man, a man I already was, and the parents of mine were Lombard, Mantuan by country both.”)

   • 1350s, anonymous author, “De papa Benedetto e dello tetto de Santo Pietro de Roma lo quale fu renovato [About pope Benedict, and about the roof of Saint Peter in Rome, which was renovated]” (chapter 7), in Cronica [Chronicle]‎^[7] (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

     Allora mutao favella lo papa e disse: «E conveose allo abbate dello venerabile monistero de Santo Pavolo essere buffone? Va’ per li fatti tuoi!» (Rome)

     Then the pope changed his tone, and said: "And is it appropriate for the abbot of the venerable monastery of Saint Paul to be a buffoon? Get out of here!"

     (literally, “Then changed speech the pope and said: "And it is appropriate for the abbot of the venerable monastery of Saint Paul to be a buffoon? Go about the business of yours!"”)

2. (archaic) alternative form of gli
3. the (used in dates in letters, although usually substituted by lì)

   Roma, li 15 settembre 2025 ― Rome, the 15th of September 2025

Pronoun

li m pl (singular lo)

1. (dative, archaic) alternative form of gli
   1. (to) him
      • 1350s, anonymous author, “De papa Benedetto e dello tetto de Santo Pietro de Roma lo quale fu renovato [About pope Benedict, and about the roof of Saint Peter in Rome, which was renovated]” (chapter 7), in Cronica [Chronicle]‎^[8] (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

        E·lla soa paura non potéo nasconnere, ca subitamente la mesa della varva li deventao canuta. (Rome)

        And he was unable to hide his fear, for half of his beard immediately turned white

        (literally, “And the fear of his he could not hide, because immediately the half of the beard to him became white.”)

      • mid 1560s [29–19 BCE], “Libro quarto”, in Annibale Caro, transl., Eneide, translation of Aeneis by Publius Vergilius Maro (in Classical Latin), lines 400–403; republished as L’Eneide di Virgilio‎^[9], Florence: G. Barbera, 1892:

        Nè ’l vide pria, che li fu sopra, e disse: / Tu te ne stai sì neghittosamente, / Enea […]

        And he did not see him before he was above him, and said: "You stand there so idly, Aeneas["]

        (literally, “Nor he saw him before, that to him he was above, and said: "You stand there so so idly, Aeneas["]”)

   2. (to) them
      • 1350s, anonymous author, “Como frate Venturino venne a Roma colle palommelle e dello campanile de Santo Pietro lo quale fu arzo. [About how fra Venturino came to Rome with doves, and about the bell tower of St. Peter that was burned down]” (chapter 6), in Cronica [Chronicle]‎^[10] (overall work in Old Italian); republished as Giuseppe Porta, editor, Anonimo romano - Cronica, Adelphi, 1979, →ISBN:

        L’abito, lo quale questo frate Venturino li avea dato, era che questi portavano una gonnella bianca, longa, passata mesa gamma. (Rome)

        The clothing this fra Venturino had given them was [such] that they wore a long white skirt, [going] beyond the middle of the leg.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adverb

li

1. misspelling of lì

Anagrams

• il, il-

Japanese

Romanization

li

1. Rōmaji transcription of り゚
2. Rōmaji transcription of リ゚

Jarawa

Etymology

Cognate to Önge li.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Determiner

li

1. this, these

   Synonym: lijə (“this here, this”)

   Coordinate term: luwə (“that”)

   li aːw ʈʰi talu.

   This bow is long.

Pronoun

li

1. this, these, this one, these ones

   Coordinate term: luwə (“that”)

   li topo t-ita-b.

   He ate the snake.

   li aːw.

   This is a bow.

References

• Kumar, Pramod (2012) Descriptive and Typological Study of Jarawa^[11] (PhD). Jawaharlal Nehru University. Page 85, 101—102.

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese ali.

Adverb

li

1. here

Khumi Chin

Li.

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lii, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tV-lij. Cognate to Burmese လေး (le:, “bow”) and S'gaw Karen ချံၣ် (khleè, “bow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li˥/

Noun

li

1. crossbow

References

• K. E. Herr (2011), The phonological interpretation of minor syllables, applied to Lemi Chin‎^[12], Payap University, page 45

Livonian

Verb

li

1. second-person singular imperative of lǟdõ

Louisiana Creole

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “May be unrelated to French "il" or "lui".”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/
• Rhymes: -i

Pronoun

li (third-person singular, plural yé, objective li, possessive sô, emphatic sokin, sochin)

1. he
2. him
3. she
4. her
5. it

Descendants

• → French: li

Lower Tanana

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *liˑ (“to sing”). Cognate with Ahtna lii.

Root

li

1. to sing, expect

Stem set

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Durative	li	li'	liɬ	li'
Neuter	li	li'	liɬ	li'
Repetitive	lik	lik	lik	lik
Momentaneous	liyh	lik	leɬ	liyh

Derived terms

• ch'edelik (“he/she is singing”)
• ch'elik (“song”, see there for further derivatives)
• delolila (“common redpoll”)
• xoghoyuli (“he/she is expecting him/her”)

References

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, pages 279-281

Maltese

Alternative forms

• illi (after a word-final consonant cluster)

Etymology

From Arabic اَلَّذِي (allaḏī, relative pronoun). Compare common dialectal Arabic اللي (illi, lli). The use as a conjunction is widely found in Maghrebi Arabic, so there is no reason to consider it a Romance influence (as might otherwise be thought; compare Italian che, which is both a relative pronoun and the conjunction “that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪ/
• Rhymes: -ɪ

Pronoun

li

1. (relative) who; which; that

   Dan huwa r-raġel li seraq il-karozza. ― That’s the man who stole the car.

   Din hija ħaġa li tħawwadni. ― This is something that confuses me.

   • 2018, Antoinette Borg, Amina, Merlin Publishers, →ISBN:

     Imnalla għajjatlu Fredu u kellu jwaqqaf l-eloġju ta’ nannuh, għax naħseb l-istorja li kien imiss kienet li għandu xi gżira privata.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Unlike standard Arabic, the relative pronoun is normally used also with indefinite referents (example sentence 2). However, it is optional in this case.

Conjunction

li

1. that

   Nixtieq ngħidilha li nħobbha. ― I want to tell her that I love her.

Derived terms

• billi
• filli
• ġieli
• għalli
• liema (probably)
• malli
• milli
• talli

Mandarin

Romanization

li (li⁵ / li⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄧ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 哩
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 裏 / 里
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 裡 / 里
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 里

li

1. nonstandard spelling of lī
2. nonstandard spelling of lí
3. nonstandard spelling of lǐ
4. nonstandard spelling of lì

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French le, lui.

Pronoun

li

1. he, she, it (third-person singular personal pronoun)

See also

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	mo mwa (objective)	nou
2nd person	to (informal), ou (formal) twa (objective)	zot
3rd person	li	zot, bann-la

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN, page 203
• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 635

Michif

Etymology

From French le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lɪ]

Article

li m (feminine la, masculine and feminine plural lii)

1. the

Miskito

Noun

li

1. water

References

• Eduard Conzemius, Ethnographical Survey of the Miskito and Sumu Indians (1932)

Mokilese

Noun

li

1. woman

Inflection

Forms of li

	singular	plural
demonstrative forms
1st person (near speaker)	lihe	lihkai
2nd person (near hearer)	lihn	lihken
3rd person (near neither speaker nor hearer)	liho	lihk
article forms
indefinite	lihmen	lihpwi
definite	liwa

References

• Harrison, Sheldon P.; Albert, Salich Y. (1977), Mokilese-English Dictionary‎^[13], Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 132

Moore

Etymology

from French lit (“bed”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lí/

Noun

li

1. bed

Munsee

Particle

lí

1. here, there, thus, so

Neapolitan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Pronoun

li

1. alternative form of 'i

Niuatoputapu

Article

li

1. the

Norman

Etymology

From Old French li, from Vulgar Latin *illui, a Vulgar Latin dative of Classical Latin ille.

Pronoun

li

1. (Guernsey) him

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Cognate with Central Kurdish لە (le), from earlier *ne < *en. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *en.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪ

Preposition

Central Kurdish	لە (le)

li

1. on

   ew li hespekî siwar bû ― he/she mounted on a horse

2. at (time)

   li kêlîka dirust ― at the right moment

3. in (location, country, city)

   li Kurdistanê ― in Kurdistan

4. an element of several prepositions and circumpositions

Usage notes

• In most cases, "li" refers to on rather than in. The more south it goes the more the sense becomes much more extensive; in Central Kurdish encapsulating from, on, in, over, etc. as a whole. Around more Northern dialects, (li) ser ("on top") is used to mean on and in those regions "li" especially has the meaning of in, often times replacing di in "di ... de" ("in, inside"), compare li ... de.
• "li" can be added pretty much before any preposition except di, ji, bi; as in li ber, li pêş, li dijî, li hember, etc., all of which can be used without the li.

Related terms

• li ... de
• li ba
• li ber
• li cem
• li dijî
• li dora
• li gora
• li pey
• li pêş
• li rex
• li ser

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Inherited from Danish li (also lid), which partially continues Old Danish liidh, but was reinforced and phonetically influenced by dialectal Norwegian li. Both forms are from Old Norse hlíð, from Proto-Germanic *hlīdō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/

Noun

li f or m (definite singular lia or lien, indefinite plural lier, definite plural liene)

1. A sloping mountainside or hillside covered with grass or forest.

References

• “li” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• il

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hlíð, from Proto-Germanic *hlīdō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱleytéh₂ (“something leaned, inclined”).

Alternative forms

• Lid, lid (obsolete spellings)

Noun

li f (definite singular lia, indefinite plural lier, definite plural liene)

1. a sloping mountainside or hillside covered with grass or forest.

Inflection

Historical inflection of li

		singular		plural
		indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
Aasen1		Lid	Lidi	Lider	Liderna
1901				lider (lidir)	liderne (lidine)
1917		li	lia, lii	lier	liene
1938			lia [lii]
2012 (current)		li	lia	lier	liene

• Forms in italics are currently considered non-standard.
• Forms in [brackets] were official, but considered second-tier.
• Forms in (parentheses) were allowed under Midlandsnormalen.
• ¹Nouns were capitalised for most of the 19th century.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse líða, from Proto-Germanic *līþaną. The sense of suffering may be a loan from Middle Low German.

Alternative forms

• lida, lide (long forms)

Verb

li (present tense lir, past tense lei, supine lidd or lidt or liden, past participle lidd or liden, present participle lidande, imperative li)

1. (intransitive, of time) to pass, elapse
2. (intransitive) to suffer
   1. (intransitive) to endure
   2. (intransitive) to tolerate, like

Related terms

• lei
• leia, leie

Etymology 3

Ultimately from Romani la.

Pronoun

li

1. (Rodi) she

See also

• lo (“he”) (Rodi)

References

• “li” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• il

Old French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Etymology 1

From Latin illī (“those”). The use for the nominative singular is due to a Vulgar Latin alteration of ille under the influence of the pronoun quī (“who, which”). The same influence (through the dative cui) also explains the Vulgar Latin forms mentioned in etymology 2 below. Doublet of il (“he”).

Article

li

1. the (masculine nominative singular and plural definite article)
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Li rois respont: "N'est pas mançonge"

     The king replied "this is no lie"

Inflection

Old French definite articles

	Case	masculine	feminine
singular	subject	li	la, le 1
	oblique	le 1	la 1
plural	subject	li	les
	oblique	les	les

¹ These singular forms elide to l' before a vowel or non-aspirate h.

Etymology 2

Either directly from Latin illī, dative singular of ille (“that one”), or from reduction of Old French lui, lei, themselves from Vulgar Latin *illui, *illei. This depends on whether the innovative forms had replaced illī entirely in Gaul or whether they existed side by side with it. Compare Italian gli, Spanish le, Portuguese lhe.

Pronoun

li

1. third-person singular indirect object pronoun; to him, to her, to it, chiefly atonic form of lui and lei
   • c. 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:

     Si li ancomancent a dire

     He started to tell him

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that”).

Article

li

1. the (masculine nominative singular and plural definite article)

Old Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

Proto-Balto-Slavic *lei

Proto-Slavic *li

Old Polish li

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *li. First attested in 1395. Displaced by Polish czy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /lʲi/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /lʲi/

Particle

li

1. (attested in Lesser Poland, Greater Poland) interrogative particle: introduces a yes-no question
   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎^{scan transliteration, transcription}, numbers 72, 11, Krakow: Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament]:

     Kaco bog we y iestli wedzene (si est scientia) na wysocosci?

     [Kako Bog wie? I jestli wiedzenie (si est scientia) na wysokości?]

   • 1959 [1395], Henryk Kowalewicz, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz, editors, Wielkopolskie roty sądowe XIV-XV wieku, Roty poznańskie, volume I, number 187, Poznań:

     Kedi w wogewodi bili, tedi go szø pitali, moszeli goscza dafnoszcø sbicz

     [Kiedy u wojewody byli, tedy go się pytali, możeli gościa dawnością zbyć]

   1. (when reduplicated, attested in Pomerania, Greater Poland) whether … or
      • 1930 [c. 1455], “I Reg”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^{transliteration, transcription}, 14, 37:

        Mamly boiowacz s Fylystinmy a podaszly ge (num persequar Philisthiim, si trades eos) w røce israhelske?

        [Mamli bojować z Filistynmi a podaszli je (num persequar Philisthiim, si trades eos) w ręce israhelskie?]

      • 1930 [c. 1455], “Ex”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^{transliteration, transcription}, 17, 7:

        Gestly pan w nas czyly nyczs (estne..., an non)?

        [Jestli Pan w nas, czyli nics (estne..., an non)?]

      • 1930 [c. 1455-1460], Ortyle magdeburskie Vrtel 116-120, page 118:

        Pytalysczye nasz...: Gyestly k themv mvrowanemv domv nyewyasthą blyszką, czyly thy tho dzyeczy, czyly prawo

        [Pytaliście nas...: Jestli k temu murowanemu domu niewiasta bliska, czyli ty to dzieci, czyli [co jest] prawo]

      • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[14], page 694:

        Nye vymy, gdzye y nam vyedzyono any vymy, yesczely zyw, albo yvzly vbyly

        [Nie wimy, gdzie ji nam wiedziono ani wimy, jeszczeli żyw, albo jużli ji ubili]

      • 1874-1891 [15th century], Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności‎^{[15], [16], [17]}, volume XXIV, Grochów, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Kcynia, page 68:

        Primo an liceat, moszeli, volnoli yest, secundo an deceat, podobnoli, tertio an expediat, pot[r]zebnoli

        [Primo an liceat, możeli, wolnoli jest, secundo an deceat, podobnoli, tertio an expediat, pot[r]zebnoli]

      • 1930 [c. 1455], “Num”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^{transliteration, transcription}, 13, 19:

        Opatrzicze... lvd, genze bydli w nyey, gestli silni, czili mdli, iestli mali, czili wyeliki (considerate... et populum, qui habitator est eius, utrum fortis sit, an infirmus, si pauci numero, an plures)

        [Opatrzycie... lud, jenże bydli w niej, jestli silny czyli mdły, jestli mały czyli wieliki (considerate... et populum, qui habitator est eius, utrum fortis sit, an infirmus, si pauci numero, an plures)]

      • 1861 [1427], Pismo poświęcone naukom, sztukom i przemysłowi‎^[18], volume III, Biblioteka Warszawska, page 40:

        Szescz czlowyekow ranyono, o pyancz gich mowyą tim rasem, szostego *wygmugyo, czso leszy we szmyertnich ranach, bo nye wem, bądzeli szyw, abo umrze

        [Sześć człowiekow raniono, a pięć jich mowią tym razem, szostego wyjmują, cso leży we śmiertnych ranach, bo nie wiem, będzieli żyw, abo umrze]

2. and; and also
   • Middle of the 15th century, Rozmyślanie o żywocie Pana Jezusa‎^[19], page 48:

     Czczyenye o tem, gdzye Marya vtenczasz byla, kyedy anyol k nyey przyschedl, czoly czynyla albo myslyla

     [Czcienie o tem, gdzie Maryja wtenczas była, kiedy anjoł k niej przyszedl, coli czyniła albo myśliła]

Conjunction

li

1. (attested in Lesser Poland) Introduces a conditional; if
   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎^{scan transliteration, transcription}, numbers 129, 3, Krakow: Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament]:

     Bødzeszly lychoty chowacz (si iniquitates observaveris), pane, pane, kto sczyrzpy?

     [Będzieszli lichoty chować (si iniquitates observaveris), Panie, Panie, kto ścirzpi?]

   • 1895 [Fifteenth century], Franciszek Piekosiński, editor, Tłumaczenia polskie statutów ziemskich. Kodeks Działyńskich I‎^[20], Lesser Poland, page 9:

     Ktoricole... zaklad weszmye..., tho gest konye abo gynsze bydlo..., nye mayą... dzelicz myedzy sobą, ale gestly zymye (si autem hiemali), tedy za tydzen, a gestly lecze (si fuerit in aestivo tempore), tedy za dwie nyedzeli mayą bycz chowany

     [Ktorykole... zakład weźmie..., to jest konie abo jinsze bydło..., nie mają... dzielić miedzy sobą, ale jestli zimie (si autem hiemali, Sul 22: paknięli zimie), tedy za tydzień, a jestli lecie (si fuerit in aestivo tempore), tedy za dwie niedzieli mają być chowany]

Derived terms

conjunctions

• atoli
• azali
• czyli
• jeśli

Related terms

conjunction

• albo
• ale
• le

Descendants

• Polish: li

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “li”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000), “li”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “li”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈli/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: li

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.

Proto-Balto-Slavic *lei

Proto-Slavic *li

Old Polish li

Polish li

Inherited from Old Polish li.

Particle

li

1. (archaic, literary) interrogative particle: introduces a yes-no question

   Synonym: czy

2. (archaic, literary) only

   Synonyms: jedynie, tylko

3. (Middle Polish) emphasis particle

Conjunction

li

1. (obsolete) if

   Synonym: jeśli

2. (Middle Polish) since, because

   Synonym: skoro

3. (Middle Polish) though

   Synonyms: acz, aczkolwiek, chociaż, mimo że

4. (Middle Polish) when

   Synonym: kiedy

5. (Middle Polish) or

   Synonyms: albo, bądź, czy, lub

Derived terms

conjunctions

• ali
• aniżeli
• aniżeliby

Related terms

conjunctions

• albo
• ale
• ali
• atoli
• czyli
• jeśli
• le

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Mandarin 里 (lǐ).

Noun

li n (indeclinable)

1. li (Chinese unit of distance)
2. li (Chinese unit of weight)

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Mandarin 禮 / 礼 (lǐ).

Noun

li n (indeclinable)

1. li (meaningful ceremony or ritual)

References

• Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “li”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]

Further reading

• “li”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[21] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “li”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[22] (in Polish)
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “li”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “li”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “li”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 2730
• Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “li”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈli/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈli/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: li
• Rhymes: -i

Verb

li

1. first-person singular preterite indicative of ler

Romagnol

Pronoun

li (plural le)

1. she

References

Ercolani, Libero (1971), Vocabolario Romagnolo-Italiano, Monte di Ravenna, page 232

Romanian

Pronoun

li (dative form of ele, form of le)

1. to them

Usage notes

This word is used when le (which is dative) is combined with the following accusatives:

• îl (the accusative of el, contracted as li-l)
• îi (the accusative of ei, contracted as li-i)
• le (the accusative of ele)
• se (the reflexive accusative of all third-person pronouns)

See also

• vi
• ni

Sassarese

Alternative forms

• -lli (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is stressed)
• -ri (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is unstressed)

Etymology

From Latin illī, illae, masculine and feminine plural forms of ille (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/, (after a word ending in a vowel) /ri/

Article

li m pl or f pl

1. the (masculine and feminine plural)

Usage notes

• Becomes l' before a vowel.

Inflection

Sassarese definite articles

	singular	plural
masculine	lu (l')	li (l')
feminine	la (l')

Pronoun

li m pl or f pl

1. (followed by chi) those

   Di curori vi ni so umbè. Ca so li chi tu priferi?

   There are lots of colors. Which ones do you prefer?

   (literally, “Of colors there are a lot. Which ones are those which you prefer?”)

2. them (accusative)

   Abà li zerchu ― I'll look for them (literally, “Now I look for them”)

3. dative of eddu

   Li cuzinu la trìglia ― I'll prepare him mullet (literally, “I cook to him the mullet”)

4. dative of edda

   Li fozzu li frisgiori ― I'll prepare her some flapjacks (literally, “I make to her the flapjacks”)

5. dative of eddi

References

• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006), Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *li.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Particle

li (Cyrillic spelling ли)

1. question-forming interrogative particle (postpositive, unlike other particles, never first word in a sentence)

   poznaješ li me ― do you know me?

   jesi li stigao na odredište? ― did you reach the destination?

   jeste li ga vid(j)eli ― have you seen him?

   gd(j)e li se samo nalazimo? ― where could we be?

   kad li će doći? ― when will he/they come?

   je li? ― Is it? (Is that so? Isn't that so?)

2. used as conjunction with je (Croatia) or da (Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro)

   je/da li ― whether

   nemam pojma je/da li je došao ― I have no idea whether he came

3. (as a conjunction) if

   pokušaš li me napasti, ja ću ti uzvratiti ― should you try to attack me, I'll strike you back (when "li" is used in this sense, it is usually translated as a subjunctive form "should", and when "ako" is used, it is usually translated as "if" - ako me pokušaš napasti = if you try to attack me)

4. used as an emphatic intensifier

   a sn(ij)eg pada li pada ― the snow just keeps falling and falling...

   d(ij)ete plače li plače ― the child just keeps crying and crying...

See also

• zar (interrogative particle)

Shark Bay

Noun

li

1. fly (insect)

References

• Darrell T. Tryon, New Hebrides languages: an internal classification (1976)

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• i

Etymology 1

From the conflation of the apheresis of Latin illī and illae, both nominative plurals of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/ (stressed)
• IPA^(key): /li/ (unstressed)

Article

li m pl or f pl

1. (masculine and feminine plural definite article) the

   Synonym: i

Usage notes

• This article is nowadays an obsolete variant, unlike its illiquid counterpart i. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
• Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
• Its use is however almost undisputed before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'. Otherwise, illiquid definite articles are phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancini (liquid) and ârancini (illiquid).

Inflection

Sicilian articles

		singular		plural
		masculine	feminine
indefinite article		nu, un, 'n	na	—
definite article	liquid	lu	la	li
	illiquid	u, û	a, â	i, î

Etymology 2

From the conflation of the apheresis of Latin illī and illae, both nominative plurals of ille.

Alternative forms

• -li (enclitic)
• i (illiquid form)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/ (stressed)
• IPA^(key): /li/ (unstressed)

Pronoun

li m pl or f pl

1. (accusative) them

   Synonym: i

   Li canusci? ― Do you know them?

2. (accusative) them, these or those thing

   Synonym: i

   Quannu ti li desi. ― When I gave them to you.

Usage notes

• This pronoun is now an obsolete variant. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
• Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
• Its use is however almost undisputed before words that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'.

Sumerian

Romanization

li

1. romanization of 𒇷 (li)

Swahili

Other scripts
Ajami	ـلِ

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Sabaki *-li, from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ (“to be”).

Pronunciation

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /li/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Verb

-li

1. (archaic) to be
   • 1728, Bwana Mwengo wa Athman, Utenzi wa Hirqal [Epic of Heraclius]‎^[23], transliteration and translation from Knappert (1967):

     كَمُيُبِنِ^[sic] نِلِ يُمَ اَوْ تِنِ كُطِلِيَا

     Hamuoni nili nyuma / au ṯini kutwelea.

     Do you not see that I am the last prophet / to descend on earth?

2. general relative positive degree stem of -wa, -wapo, -wako, or -wamo

   mambo yaliomo ― the things which are inside

Usage notes

In the present tense, -li was only used with locatives. In other cases, no copula was used. (The focus particle ni could appear, and later turned into a copula due to such use.) In other tenses, -li was used both with locatives and with other complements.

Tedim Chin

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pV-lij.

Numeral

li

1. four

References

• Zomi Ordbog based on the work of D.L. Haokip

Tooro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ (“to be”, irregular verb). Cognate with Kikuyu -rĩ.

Verb

-li (defective)

1. to be, to exist

   Synonyms: -ba, ni

   Tuli Batooro. ― We are Tooro people.

   • 2008, Ekitabu Ekirukwera N'Ebitabu Ebyeetwa Deturokanoniko/Apokurifa [Bible in Runyoro/Rutooro Interconfessional Translation], Bible Society of Uganda, Okubanza 4:9:

     Aho MUKAMA yakaguza Kaini ati: “Abberi owanyoko ali nkaha?” Kaini yagarukamu ati: “Tindukumanya; ninyowe mulinzi w'Owanyina nyowe?”

     Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

2. to become

   Synonym: -ba

Usage notes

• Since this is a defective verb, it does not have many conjugations, and the remaining conjugations needed are constructed using -ba as an auxiliary verb. For example, the 1st person singular negative remote past of -li is nkaba ntali (literally, “I was not being”).
• This verb removes the augment of the noun after it (e.g. ndi manzi, not *ndi emanzi "I am a courageous person").
• The 3rd person singular present and 3rd person plural present forms are usually only used after a locative class or a place name. In other cases, the noun is almost always left augmentless (e.g. muntu "he/she is a person").

Conjugation

Conjugation of -li (defective verb¹)

Tensed forms

positive present (subject concord + -li) person noun class singular plural first person ndi tuli second person oli muli third person 1/2 ali bali 3/4 guli eri 5/6 liri gali 7/8 kiri biri 9/10 eri ziri 11/10 ruli 12/14 kali buli 13 — tuli 14/6 buli gali 15/6 kuli 16 hali — negative present (ti- + subject concord + -li) person noun class singular plural first person tindi tituli second person toli timuli third person 1/2 tali tibali 3/4 tiguli teri 5/6 tiriri tigali 7/8 tikiri tibiri 9/10 teri tiziri 11/10 tiruli 12/14 tikali tibuli 13 — tituli 14/6 tibuli tigali 15/6 tikuli 16 tihali — positive present continuative (subject concord + -kyali) person noun class singular plural first person nkyali tukyali second person okyali mukyali third person 1/2 akyali bakyali 3/4 gukyali ekyali 5/6 likyali gakyali 7/8 kikyali bikyali 9/10 ekyali zikyali 11/10 rukyali 12/14 kakyali bukyali 13 — tukyali 14/6 bukyali gakyali 15/6 kukyali 16 hakyali — negative present continuative (ti- + subject concord + -kyali) person noun class singular plural first person tinkyali titukyali second person tokyali timukyali third person 1/2 takyali tibakyali 3/4 tigukyali tekyali 5/6 tirikyali tigakyali 7/8 tikikyali tibikyali 9/10 tekyali tizikyali 11/10 tirukyali 12/14 tikakyali tibukyali 13 — titukyali 14/6 tibukyali tigakyali 15/6 tikukyali 16 tihakyali — positive past2 (subject concord + -ali) person noun class singular plural first person nali twali second person wali mwali third person 1/2 yali baali 3/4 gwali yali 5/6 lyali gaali 7/8 kyali byali 9/10 yali zaali 11/10 rwali 12/14 kaali bwali 13 — twali 14/6 bwali gaali 15/6 kwali 16 haali —

¹ The undefective equivalent is -ba. See there for more conjugations.
² There is no associated negative past form.

Derived terms

• -roho (“to be at/on something, to be present”)
• -rumu (“to be in something”)
• -liyo (“to be there”)
• -raha (“where is it?, where are they?”)
• -ruku-, -liku-

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *dɪ́á (“that, those”). Cognate with Swahili -le.

Determiner

-li

1. that, those (distal demonstrative determiner)

Declension

Inflected forms of -li

Noun class	non-copulative		copulative
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1/2	oli	bali	nguli	mbali
3/4	guli	eri	nguli	ngiri
5/6	liri	gali	ndiri	ngali
7/8	kiri	biri	nkiri	mbiri
9/10	eri	ziri	ngiri	nziri
11/10	ruli		nduli
12/14	kali	buli	nkali	mbuli
13	—	tuli	—	ntuli
14/6	buli	gali	mbuli	ngali
15/6	kuli		nkuli
16	hali	—	mpali	—
17	kuli
18	muli

See also

• -nu (“this (proximal demonstrative determiner)”)

References

• Kaji, Shigeki (2007), A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[24], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, pages 313-315, 409
• Entry 940 at Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3
• Entry 945 at Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3

Tumbuka

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ (“to be - irregular verb”).

Verb

-li (infinitive kuli)

1. to be

Derived terms

• -liri (“applicative form”)

References

• William Y. Turner (1996), Tumbuka/Tonga-English and English - Tumbuka/Tonga Dictionary‎^[25], Central Africana Limited, page 64

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• ly

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [li˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [lɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [lɪj˧˧]

Etymology 1

Sino-Vietnamese word from 璃 (“glass”).

Noun

li (classifier cái)

1. cup; glass

Derived terms

• cụng li
• giọt nước tràn li
• li cối
• mì li

See also

• chén; cốc; tách

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

li

1. a crease (a line or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance)

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

li

1. qilin

   Synonyms: kì lân, lân

Etymology 4

Romanization

li

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 離

Derived terms

• biệt li
• cách li
• chi li
• chia li
• cự li
• điện li
• điệu hổ li sơn
• li biệt
• li dị
• li gián
• li hôn
• li khai
• li kì
• li loạn
• li thân
• loạn li
• lực li tâm

Etymology 5

Romanization

li

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 漓

Derived terms

• lâm li

Etymology 6

Romanization

li

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 狸

Derived terms

• hồ li
• hồ li tinh

Volapük

Particle

li

1. appended with a hyphen to a verb, it turns the entire clause it is in into a question.

Walloon

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

Article

li (after an open syllable and/or before a vowel: l', plural: les, plural after an open syllable and before a vowel: ls)

1. the

   Li mwaisse ― The master

   Li maistrece ― The mistress

   L' ome ― The man

   C' est li l' mwaisse ― He is the master

   Les måjhons ― The houses

   Les omes ― The men

   Çou sont ls åtes tchesteas ― These are the other castles

Pronoun

li

1. him, her, it (direct object, before verb)

   C' est li l' mwaisse ― It's him who's the master

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l̪i/

Adverb

li

1. also

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[26], Pacific linguistics

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lí/

Noun

lí

1. The name of the Latin script letter L/l.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) lẹ́tà; á, bí, dí, é, ẹ́, fí, gí, gbì, hí, í, jí, kí, lí, mí, ní, ó, ọ́, pí, rí, sí, ṣí, tí, ú, wí, yí

Zou

Zou cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : li     Ordinal : lìna

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *lii, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pV-lij.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lī]
• Hyphenation: li

Numeral

li

1. four

References

• Philip Thangliènmâng (2010), Minimal dictionary and Self-tutor Functional Grammar in Zo-English-Hindi, New Delhi: Zoculsin, →ISBN, page 10
• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou (PhD thesis), Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40
• Philip Thanglienmang (2014), “Zou Tonology”, in Indian Linguistics, volume 75, numbers 1-2, →ISSN