Today’s post is about two very useful words, لكان and ولا.
Dialects
The general rule is that لكان is used in North Levantine, while ولا is used in South Levantine (note that ولا in the sense of ‘or’, which we talked about a bit in this post, is used everywhere and isn’t the subject of this post). لكان is also used in northern Palestine. Note that lakaan and willa do not entirely overlap – some of the uses of lakaan do not have willa equivalents.
Right, correct, exactly, that’s how it is
One of the most basic meanings of لكان or ولا is to agree with somebody:
اي لكان عمي مزبوط كلامك
2ee lakaan 3ammi maZbuuT kalaamak (NL)
اه ولا عمي مزبوط كلامك
2aa willa 3ammi maZbuuT kalaamak (SL)
That’s right, uncle, what you said is spot on
As with waLLa and certain other expressions, you can use it to agree with yourself – i.e. to emphasise what you’ve just said. The English use of ‘yes indeed’ in this sort of sentence sounds a bit silly to me, but the Arabic is more normal:
ولله صارت الاسعار نار اي لكان
waLLa Saaret @l2as3aar naar 2ee lakaan (NL)
ولله صارت الاسعار نار اه ولا
waLLa Saarat il2as3aar naar 2aa willa (SL)
The prices are really mad these days, yes indeed
So, in that case, then
We can relate the second usage to the first by adding a simple ‘if’ to the English translation: ‘(if) that’s how it is, then…’ In this sense lakaan is a synonym of other expressions like معناتا ma3naata, اذن izan, اذا هيك iza heek etc – and since willa doesn’t work here, Jerusalemite/Ammani requires one of these alternatives:
لكان بمرق لعندك ع الستة
lakaan bǝmro2 la3ǝndak 3assǝtte (NL)
اذن بمرق عندك ع الستة
2izan bamro2 3indak 3assitte (SL)
In that case I’ll drop by at six
A common expression you’re likely to hear in TV series or from irritated friends is:
هيك لكان
heek lakaan! (NL)
So that’s how it is!
So what did you mean then?
This is another related use. Imagine it’s your friend’s birthday and nobody’s turned up. You tell them not to worry, people will be here soon. They tell you that’s not what’s wrong. You respond:
لكان شو في؟
lakaan shuu fii? (NL)
ولا شو في؟
willa shuu fii? (SL)
So what is the matter?
In this case we can use ‘so’ in English. But lakaan can carry the same meaning standing alone. Let’s imagine you and your friend are having an argument. Your friend makes a point which you respond to, to which they say لا مو قصدي la2 muu 2aSdi ‘no, that’s not what I mean’. You can respond simply:
لكان؟
lakaan? (NL)
ولا؟
willa? (SL)
So what did you mean?
If not X, then what did I mean?
The usage given in the paragraph above can be expressed in English as ‘if not X, then what/how/why?’ etc. This can also be used rhetorically. Let’s say you’re surprising your friend with the news that his mum has recently remarried. He says: شو؟ إمي تجوزت؟ shuu? 2ǝmmi tjawwazet?! You respond:
لكان إمي؟
lakaan 2ǝmmi? (NL)
ولا امي؟
willa 2immi? (SL)
Who else – my mum, for example?
This is tricky to translate nicely with a question because (as well as being somewhat callous) we don’t use a question here. What we would probably say – not as a question but in tones of dripping sarcasm – is nooo, MY mum.