ولا

Morphologically وَ‎ (wa, “and”) +‎ لَا‎ (lā, “not”).

وَلَا • (wa-lā)

1. For non-idiomatic uses, see وَ‎ (wa) and لَا‎ (lā).

   ‏أَقْرَأُ ٱلْكِتَابَ وَلَا أَفْهَمُ شَيْئًا مِنْهُ‎

   ʾAqraʾu l-kitāba wa-lā ʾafhamu šayʾan minhu.

   I’m reading the book, and I do not understand anything in it.

2. (idiomatic) nor; (with a preceding negative) or

   ‏لَمْ أَشْعُرْ بِٱلْحُزْنِ وَلَا بِٱلْفَرَحِ‎

   Lam ʾašʿur bi-l-ḥuzni wa-lā bi-l-faraḥi.

   I did not feel sadness nor joy.

   (literally, “I did not feel sadness, and neither joy.”)

3. (idiomatic, used to emphasize a negative) (not) even; (not) at all

   ‏لَنْ تَجِدَ خَيْرًا مِن هٰذَا وَلَا فِي أَمْرِيكَا‎

   Lan tajida ḵayran min hāḏā wa-lā fī ʾAmrīkā.

   You won’t even find anything better than this in America.

   (literally, “You won’t find anything better than this, and not in America.”)

   ‏لَا تَفْهَمُ وَلَا شَيْئًا‎

   Lā tafhamu wa-lā šayʾan.

   You don’t understand anything at all.

   (literally, “You don’t understand, and not a thing.”)

From Arabic وَ‎ (wa, “and”) +‎ أَلَّا‎ (ʾallā, “except”).

• IPA^(key): /walːa/

وَلَّا • (walla)

1. or

   ‏تبغى هذا؟ وَلَّا هذا؟‎‎

   tibḡa hāda? walla hāda?

   do you want this? or that?

• أو‎ (ʼaw)

From Arabic وَ‎ (wa, “and”) +‎ لَا‎ (lā, “not”).

• IPA^(key): /wala/

وَلَا • (wala)

1. nor, neither

   ‏لا هذا ,وَلَا هذاك‎

   lā hāda, wala hadāk

   not this, nor that