لكن

Uncertain. Bravmann proposes an origin in إِلَّا كَانَ (ʔillā kāna, “except that [it/he] were”), but does not provide a convincing explanation for the contraction of the ā or for the suspicious similarity to أَنْ (ʔan) and أَنَّ (ʔanna) in the alternation of the ending.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /laː.kin.na/

لٰكِنَّ • (lākinna)

1. but, however

• لٰكِنَّ (lākinna) functions like إِنَّ (ʔinna) and أَنَّ (ʔanna), shifting the subject of the subordinate clause to the accusative case. The subject of the subordinate clause must immediately follow لٰكِنَّ (lākinna); if it is a pronoun, it must be expressed. Contrast this syntactic function and the following examples with لٰكِنْ (lākin) below.

  لٰكِنَّ الرَّئِيسَ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس

  lākinna r-raʔīsa kāna ʔaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʕa n-nās

  but the president was smarter than people expected

  لٰكِنَّهُ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس

  lākinnahu kāna ʔaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʕa n-nās

  but he was smarter than people expected

• (ʔinna and her sisters) إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا (ʔinna wa-ʔaḵawātuhā); إِنَّ (ʔinna), أَنَّ (ʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), كَأَنَّ (kaʔanna), لِأَنَّ (liʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), لَعَلَّ (laʕalla), لَيْتَ (layta), ^{(Category: Sisters of ʾinna)}

• IPA^(key): /laː.kin/

لٰكِنْ • (lākin)

1. but, however
2. but, rather

   Synonym: بَلْ (bal)

   لَمْ يُسَافِرِ الطُّلَابُ لٰكِنْ وَكِيلُهُمْ

   lam yusāfiri ṭ-ṭulābu lākin wakīluhum

   The students didn’t travel but their principal did.

3. but not, after an affirmative.

• لٰكِنْ (lākin) acts as a simple conjunction, with the subject of the subordinate clause in the nominative; the subject may follow immediately or be delayed. If it is a pronoun, it may be omitted. Contrast this syntactic function and the following examples with لٰكِنَّ (lākinna) above.

  لٰكِنِ الرَّئِيسُ كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس

  lākini r-raʔīsu kāna ʔaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʕa n-nās

  but the president was smarter than people expected

  لٰكِنْ (هُوَ) كَانَ أَذْكَى مِمَّا تَوَقَّعَ النَّاس

  lākin (huwa) kāna ʔaḏkā mimmā tawaqqaʕa n-nās

  but he was smarter than people expected

• لٰكِنْ (lākin) is often preceded by وَـ (wa-, “and”). However, such precedence is forbidden if you just use it as a conjunction for a quick correction of an item (not a sentence) after negation or prohibition:
  مَا شَرِبْتُ قَحْوَةً لٰكِنْ شَايًا

  mā šaribtu qaḥwatan lākin šāyan

  I haven't drunk coffee but tea

• وَلٰكِن (wa-lākin)

لَكَن • (lakan) m (plural لُكُون (lukūn) or أَلْكَان (ʔalkān))

1. alternative form of لَقَن (laqan, “basin, bowl”)

Seemingly formed natively from لَـ (la-, jussive) +‎ كَان (kān), literally “then it would be; then it would have been”, analogously to لَقُم (laʔum, “maybe”) and South Levantine Arabic لَعَاد (laʕād, “then”). However, its apparent similarity to other Semitic terms like Hebrew לכן (lakhén, “therefore”) is difficult to account for.

Several variants exist. Assuming لَكَان (lakān) is original, لَكَن (lakan) results from stress shifting to the first syllable, as in *لَكَان (*lákān), and the now-unstressed ā contracting accordingly. This process occurred identically in لَقُم (laʔum, “maybe”) and خَلَص (ḵalaṣ, “enough”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.kan/

لَكَن • (lakan)

1. then (as in if... then)

Borrowed from Persian لگن (lagan).

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.kan/

لَكَن • (lakan) m (plural لْكُونِة (lkūne))

1. large copper bowl used for laundry or other household tasks; washbasin

   Alternative form: لَگَن (lagan)

   • 1967, “يلّا تنام (yalla tnām) [Go on, let her sleep]”, Rahbani brothers (lyrics), Rahbani brothers (music), performed by Fairuz:

     دِسْتِكْ لَكَنِكْ عَيّْرِينَا
     تَنغسِّل تياب ريما
     وننشرهن عالياسمينة

     distik lakanik ʕayyrīna
     tanḡassil tyāb rīma
     w ninširhun ʕa l-yāsmīne

     Lend us your cauldron and your washbasin
     So we can wash Rima's clothes
     And hang them on the jasmine bush to dry

Inherited from Arabic لٰكِن (lākin) and later largely displaced by بَسّ (bass).

• IPA^(key): /laːkin/, (regional, Lebanon) /leːkin/

لٰكِن • (lākin)

1. alternative spelling of لَاكِن (lākin, “but”)

Borrowed from Persian لگن (lagan, “washbasin”), ultimately from Ancient Greek λεκᾰ́νη (lekắnē, “pot, basin”).

لكن • (leğen) (definite accusative لكنی (leğeni), plural لكنلر (leğenler))

1. washbowl, washbasin, a bowl or basin used for washing the hands and face

• Gagauz: leen
• Turkish: leğen, leğın, lehen, len, lan
• → Albanian: legen
• → Armenian: լէհէն (lēhēn), լէյէն (lēyēn), լէկէն (lēkēn)
• → Aromanian: liyeni, liyene, lieni, liene, liyen, lãyin, lãyini, lãyine, lãghin, lãghini, lãghine, ileni, ilene
• → Bulgarian: леге́н (legén), лее́н (leén), лие́н (lién), леи́н (leín), лии́н (liín), лехи́н (lehín)
• → Macedonian: леѓен (leǵen)
• → Romanian: lighean
• → Serbo-Croatian: lèđen / лѐђен

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

لكن • (leken) (definite accusative لكنی (lekeni), plural لكنلر (lekenler))

1. snowshoe made of knitted fabric, worn to prevent the feet from sinking while walking in deep snow

• Turkish: leken

لكن • (lāken)

1. alternative spelling of لاكن (lāken, “but, however”)