ལ

ལ

1. Tibetan letter la

Perhaps from Sino-Tibetan *la (“area far from settlements; wilderness”); compare Chinese 野 (OC *laːʔ, *ɦljaʔ, “countryside; field”).

ལ • (la)

1. hillside, mountain pass

• ལ་དུག (la dug, “altitude sickness”)

ལ • (la)

1. Marks oblique locatives.
2. Marks the dative (a recipient in a trivalent construction).
   1. Marks the possessor in have-constructions which use a copular verb.
3. Marks the subject of verbs such as "like" and "need".
4. Marks the direct object of verbs which involve contact but no change of state.

When the preceding syllable ends in a vowel, la becomes r and goes in the coda of the preceding syllable. For example, "in Lhasa" is ལྷ་སར (lha sar).