# אלא



## Drink

When did אֶלָּא ("but", "except for", "only") enter the Hebrew language? As far as I can tell, it's not used in the Bible. Was it borrowed from Aramaic?


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## rushalaim

It's definitely Aramaic.


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## Drink

rushalaim said:


> It's definitely Aramaic.



Is that your opinion, or do you have sources to back that up?


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## rushalaim

Exodus 15:11 Targum says:
לית אלה *אלא* את אדיר בקדשא
And I read that word many times more in Targum Pentateuch but don't remember verses now. Rambam uses that word much. [...]
אלא is _Mishnaitic_ mix of _Aramaic_ אן לא ,or _Hebrew_ אם לא

[Moderator note: off-topic comments removed.]


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## origumi

rushalaim said:


> Exodus 15:11 Targum says:
> לית אלה *אלא* את אדיר בקדשא


The fact that a word appears in Aramaic doesn't necessarily mean it hadn't existed in Hebrew.

[Moderator note: reply to deleted comments removed.]

Back to the thread's topic: a reference I found online is safa-ivrit that lists אלא as a word borrowed from Aramaic, contraction of אם לא.


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## origumi

According to ספר התשבי the origin is Greek. It probably refers to Greek ἀλλά = English "but".
A later editor added that this may be a mistake as the word is attested in Aramaic and Arabic thus likely to be Semitic.


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## Drink

origumi said:


> According to ספר התשבי the origin is Greek. It probably refers to Greek ἀλλά = English "but".
> A later editor added that this may be a mistake as the word is attested in Aramaic and Arabic thus likely to be Semitic.



Yeah, the Greek original is seems a bit silly to me, given the straightforward origin of the word in Aramaic and Arabic. But I still don't have an answer to my first question. When did this word first appear in Hebrew?


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## origumi

Drink said:


> Yeah, the Greek original is seems a bit silly to me, given the straightforward origin of the word in Aramaic and Arabic. But I still don't have an answer to my first question. When did this word first appear in Hebrew?


There's an argument in favor of Greek - the Greek meaning is exactly as in Hebrew, while אם לא doesn't mean אלא. There could be a meaning shift of course.


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## Drink

origumi said:


> There's an argument in favor of Greek - the Greek meaning is exactly as in Hebrew, while אם לא doesn't mean אלא. There could be a meaning shift of course.



But the meaning is also exactly the same in Aramaic and Arabic. If you think about it, in many cases אלא can in fact be replaced by אם לא, for example כל העולם לא נברא *אלא* בשבילי means basically the same thing as כל העולם נברא *אם לא* בשבילי.


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## Drink

origumi said:


> the Greek meaning is exactly as in Hebrew



Seems that that's not true. The Greek Wiktionary entry for αλλά gives the two examples:
- είναι έξυπνος *αλλά* τεμπέλης = He is smart, *but* lazy.
- θα πάω διακοπές το καλοκαίρι, *αλλά* μετά με περιμένει πολλή δουλειά = I will go on vacation in the summer, *but* afterwards a lot of work will be waiting for me.

I'm a little uncertain about my translation of the second half of the second example, but the exact meaning is not relevant to this discussion. The point is that you can't use אלא this way in Hebrew. אלא can only be used in negative sentences, which is consistent with its origin being "if not". For reference, the original meaning of the Greek word is an adverbial usage of ἄλλος ("other").


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## origumi

Drink said:


> Seems that that's not true. The Greek Wiktionary entry for αλλά gives the two examples:


Mishnaic Hebrew did not borrow words from the Greek Wiktionary. Please take look at the Liddel & Scott link mentioned above, where the first meanings is demonstrated by οὐ κακός, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθός = לא רע אלא טוב.


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## rushalaim

You can see it in Matthew 6:13 _"And lead us not into temptation, *but* deliver us from evil"_.
καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν *ἀλλὰ* ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ
And Peshitta translates it _Syriac-Aramaic_ using the word *אלא *
ולא תעלן לנסיונא *אלא* פצן מן בישא מטל דדילך


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