# بل
## Arabic
### Etymology 1
#### Conjunction

بَلْ • (bal)
* (after a negative) but; rather
    لَا يَكْرَهُهَا، بَل يُحِبُّهَاlā yakrahuhā, bal yuḥibbuhāHe doesn’t hate her, but rather loves her.
* (after an affirmative) used to cancel what precedes it and confirm what follows it
    جَاءَتْ سُعَادُ، بَلْ سَلْمَىjāʔat suʕādu, bal salmāIt wasn't Su'ad that came, but rather Salma.

##### Synonyms

* (but, rather): لٰكِنْ (lākin)

##### Derived terms

* بَلْ وَ (bal wa)

##### Descendants

* → Classical Persian: بَلْکِه (balki)
** → Armenian: բալքի (balkʻi)
** → Old Anatolian Turkish: بلكه (bälki)
*** Azerbaijani: bəlkə (“maybe, perhaps”)
*** Khalaj: bəlki (“maybe, perhaps”)
*** Ottoman Turkish: بلكه (“certainly, beyond any doubt; even; perhaps”)
**** Turkish: belki (“maybe, perhaps”)
**** → Crimean Tatar: belki (“maybe, perhaps”)
**** → Hijazi Arabic: بلكن (balkin, “maybe, perhaps”), بلكي (balki) (archaic)
**** → South Levantine Arabic: بلكي (balki, “perhaps”), بلكن (balken), بركي (barki)
**** → Libyan Arabic: بلكي (balki, “perhaps”)
**** → Cypriot Arabic: perki (“maybe, perhaps”)
**** → Laz: ბექითა (bekita), ბეჩი (beçi) — Atina, ბექი (beki) — Arkabi, ბელქი (belki) — Batumi
**** → Macedonian: белки (belki, “perhaps, possibly”), белким (belkim, “perhaps, possibly”)
**** → Zazaki: belki (“maybe, perhaps”)
** → Hindustani:
    Hindi: बल्कि (balki)
    Urdu: بلکہ (balki, “but”)
*** → Phalura: bálki (“but”)
** → Chagatai:
*** Uyghur: بەلكى (belki, “maybe, perhaps”)
*** Uzbek: balki (“maybe, perhaps”)
** → Bashkir: бәлки (bəlki, “maybe, perhaps”)
** → Kazakh: бәлки (bälki), бәлкім (bälkım, “maybe, perhaps”)
** → Kyrgyz: балки (balki), балким (balkim, “maybe, perhaps”)

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

بَلَّ • (balla) I (non-past يَبُلُّ (yabullu), verbal noun بَلّ (ball) or بِلَّة (billa))
* to moisten, to wet, to sprinkle

##### References

* Lane, Edward William (1863) “بل”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎, London: Williams & Norgate
* Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “بل”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎, London: W.H. Allen

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

بَلّ • (ball) m
* verbal noun of بَلَّ (balla) (form I)

##### References

* Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “بل”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎, London: W.H. Allen

## Brahui
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Dravidian *wil. Cognate with Kannada ಬಿಲ್ಲು (billu), Tamil வில் (vil), Telugu విల్లు (villu) and Malayalam വില്ല് (villŭ).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bil/

### Noun

بِل (bil)
* bow

#### Derived terms

* بِلْسُم (bilsum, “bow and arrows; rainbow”), بِلَسُم (bilasum)
* بِلِیف (bilīf, “pregnant”)
* بِل جَابَہ (bil jāba, “bow and quiver”)
* بِلُم (bilum, “neck-rope, halter”)

### References

* Bray, Denys (1934) “bil”, in The Brahui Language‎, Calcutta, India: Superintendent Government Printing, Part II: The Brāhūī Problem; Part III: Etymological Vocabulary, page 73
* Burrow, T., Emeneau, M. B. (1984) “5422”, in A Dravidian etymological dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

## Bulgar
### Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bōl-.

### Verb

بَلْ (bal)
* (Volga Bulgar) to become
    وَفَاتِ بَلطُوي تَارِيحَ جيَاتِ جُور جيَارمِنشِ جَال مُحَرَم اَيخِ بَلنجِ كُوَان اَتِ ― Wafâti baltuwi târîxa çyêti çü:r çyêrmişi çâl Muharem ayxi belinçi küwên eti. ― The day he has died was in fifth day of Muharrem month of seven hundred twentieth year.
    تارِ[يج] جياتِ جور الُو وَجم جال شول [اَيخ] ون بيَالم كوان وفاتِ بلت ― Târi[yxa] çyeti çü:r el(l)üw weçim çâl Şawal [ayxi] wan byêlim küwên wafâti balti. ― He has died in the date of fifteenth day of the Şawal month of the seven hundred fifty thirth year.
    خير كون ارلا سعة وفات بالج ― Xayr küwen erle sa'at wafâti bâlçi. ― He has died at early time on the charity day.
    رحمه الله رحمه واسعه بلطر ― Rahmatullâhi rahmat wâsiatan baltur. ― God mercy on him. Amen.

#### Derived terms

* بلطر (balt'ur, “amen”)

#### Descendants

* Chuvash: пул (pul)

### References

* İbrahim ARIKAN, İdil Bulgar Kitâbelerinde Geçen “BALTUR” Sözcüğü Üzerine, Ankara Üniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Türkoloji Dergisi 21, 1 (2014) 15-24
* Tekin, Talât (1988) Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası [Volga Bulgarian Ephitaphs and Volga Bulgarian Language]‎ (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, →ISBN, pages 74-75, 92-93, 104
* Erdal, Marcel (1993) Die Sprache der wolgabolgarischen Inschriften (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, pages 36, 42, 163
* İbragimova, G. (2021) татарская эпиграфическая традиция [Tatar Epigraphic Tradition] (in Russian), Kazan: Академия Наук Республики Татарстан Институт Языка, Литературы и Искусства, →ISBN, pages 46-47

## Ottoman Turkish
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄l(k) (“waist”); cognate with Old Turkic 𐰋𐰃𐰠 (b²il² /⁠bél⁠/), Azerbaijani bel, Bashkir бил (bil), Kazakh бел (bel), Kyrgyz бел (bel), Turkmen bil, Uyghur بەل (bel), Uzbek bel and Yakut биил (biil).

#### Noun

بل • (bel) (definite accusative بلی (beli), plural بللر (beller))
* waist, the part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach
    Synonyms: خصر (hasr), میان (meyan)
* loin, lumbus, the part of the body at each side of the backbone
    Synonym: میان (meyan)
* small of the back, the relatively narrow, lumbar region of the back

##### Derived terms

* بل آغریسی (bel ağrısı, “pain in the back”)
* بل باغلامق (bel bağlamak, “to prepare for an undertaking”)
* بل بوكلمك (bel bükilmek, “to be conquered in a contest”)
* بل صوغوقلغی (bel soğukluğu, “gonorrohea”)
* بل كمیكی (bel kemiği, “backbone, spine”)
* بل ویرمك (bel virmek, “to sag, to bulge”)
* بللو (belli, “possessed of a waist”)

##### Descendants

* Turkish: bel

#### Further reading

* Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “bel3”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 532
* Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “بل”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎, Vienna: F. Beck, page 123b
* Kélékian, Diran (1911) “بل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 274
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Lumbus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎, Vienna, column 980
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “بل”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 867
* Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “bel”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
* Redhouse, James W. (1890) “بل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 378

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

بل • (bel)
* Alternative spelling of بیل (bil, “spade”)

#### Further reading

* Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “bel7”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 534
* Kélékian, Diran (1911) “بل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 274
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “بل”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 867
* Redhouse, James W. (1890) “بل”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 378

## Pashto
### Etymology

From Proto-Pathan *bəδ, *bəδá, from an ancestral Middle Iranian form *bidá, from Proto-Iranian *dwitáh.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bəl/
* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

بل • (bəl)
* other
* next

#### Declension
### References

* ↑ Julian Kreidl (2021) “Lambdacism and the development of Old Iranian *t in Pashto”, in Iran and the Caucasus

## Persian
### Noun

بل • (bol)
* (Sistani) bubble

## South Levantine Arabic
### Etymology

From Arabic بَلَّ (balla).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bal/, [bal]
* Audio (al-Lidd):(file)

### Verb

بلّ • (ball) I (present ببلّ (bibill))
* to make wet, to moisten
    Antonyms: نشّف (naššaf), جفّف (jaffaf)

#### Conjugation
## Southwestern Fars
### Noun

بل (bāl, ba:l)
* (Kuzarg) snow

## Urdu
### Etymology

From Sanskrit बल (bala), from Proto-Indo-European *bel- (“power, strength”).

### Noun

بل • (bal) m (Hindi spelling बल)
* power
* strength
* might
* vigor
* effort
* force
* violence