IPA ( key): /aɫ.ɫaːh/ ( phonemic, in isolation or before a pausa ).Both proposed roots were current in pre-Islamic usage, particularly الإلٰه (al-ilāh) in Nabataean macaronic Arabic-Aramaic usage from which the singular use has presumably spread. Others suggest it is a variant spelling of the more ancient ألّٰه ( allāh ), the extra ل (l) serving as an emphatic marker to emphasize distinction, first attested in the Mecca and Taif region, and later in the Quran. Widely theorized to be a contraction of الٱِلٰه ( al-ilāh, “ God ” ), from الإلٰه ( al-ʔilāh, “ the deity ” ) with loss of initial hamza after the definite article ال ( al- ).
