You hear the word "al" without context and don't know what to think. This word is very ambiguous, and each person has his own association with it. Let's try to figure out what "al" means in our language, as well as in others, and what deep meaning it has.
"Al" in Arabic
For most, the first thing that comes to mind is Arabic. Let's see what "al" means in Arabic? First of all, it is a definite article, and there are no indefinite articles in Arabic. It is always written together and depicted in the form of a vertical stick. But writing together does not mean that the word "al" becomes an integral part of this word.
Depending on which consonant the article is placed in front of, it must be read differently. If these are the so-called solar letters, and there are 14 of them in Arabic, then the article loses its ending -l and transforms into the first sound of the word after it. For example, shams is translated as the sun, if you need to say "this is the sun", then it is pronounced as "ash-shams". Let's list all the solar letters:
ta, sa, distance, hall, ra, zay,shin, shin, sad, dad, ta, za, lam, nun
So they are read in the Arabic alphabet. The remaining 14 letters in Arabic are called lunar, and al is not converted.
alif, ba, jim, ha, ha, ʻayn, gayn, fa, kaf, kaf, mime, ha, vav, ya
For example, "al-qamar" (translated as "this is the moon") clearly demonstrates that there is no transformation.
Very many words borrowed from Arabic can be seen with this article. For example, the word admiral came to us from Dutch, but has Arabic roots. "Amir-al" - the lord of something, originally sounded like "amir-al-bahr", that is, the lord of the sea.
In Russian
But there is this word in Russian too. Only it is a union. Let's figure out what "al" means. In modern language, it has been replaced by the word “or”, but sometimes you can still hear from older people: “Where are you going? Are you blind?”
You can also find sentences with this union in books. “Is it too tight for you to pass in an open field?” - the appeal of a soldier to the bullet. From this sentence you can see what "al" means the word "is", which is easy to substitute.
And what else?
Few people know what else "al" means in our language. Consider other meanings of this word, which are much less common.
Al is one of the many tributaries of the Kuban River, which originates in the territory of Chuvashia. A small, only 30 km long, river proudly carries its waters from the village of Berezovka, Kanashsky district, to later become part of the wide and full-flowing Kuban and flow into the Sea of Azov.
What else does the word "al" mean? This isthe name of the lake in Chuvashia is of karst origin. Another of its names, longer - Elkul. Today it is recognized as one of the regional natural monuments.
Everyone knows the name of the gangster Al Capone. He was the first to introduce such a concept as "racket". Gambling, smuggling and prostitution were in his interests, although a completely peaceful profession was listed on his business card - a furniture salesman. But he sat down for a banal tax evasion.
What does al dente mean? This term is used in cooking and translated from Italian means "by the tooth". A certain degree of readiness of spaghetti, when they have not yet had time to boil soft and remain firm inside. Pasta for this dish is taken only from durum wheat. Another dish that is prepared “by the tooth” is rice for risotto.
