kollu
Icelandic
Noun
kollu
- inflection of kolla:
- indefinite accusative singular
- indefinite dative singular
- indefinite genitive singular
Maltese
Etymology
From Arabic كُلُّهُ (kulluhu, “all of it”). By surface analysis, kull + -u. The reason for the vowel change is that Arabic short -u- was predominantly shifted to -o-, but remained in closed syllables before the tone.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɔl.lu/
Pronoun
kollu m (feminine kollha, plural kollha or (rare) kollhom)
- (with plural meaning) all; all of them
- in-nemel kollu ― all ants
- it-tfal kollha ― all children
- (with singular meaning) the whole; all the; all of it
- il-ħalib kollu ― all the milk
- id-dinja kollha ― the whole world
- Sabu l-ħalib u xorbuh kollu.
- They found the milk and drank all of it.
Usage notes
- Grammatically the word is a pronoun, though its semantic function is more often than not that of a determiner. It usually follows a definite noun or a personal suffix.
- Agreement can seem somewhat confusing with this word, but actually follows the general rules. The form kollu is used with masculine singulars (including collectives like nemel above), while the form kollha is used with feminine singulars and all actual plurals.