Learn · cognates

You already know this.

Modern Hebrew speakers already know more Arabic than they think. Some of it's ancient — the body parts, the family, the ordinary verbs. Some of it's last Tuesday — yallah, sababa, basa. And some of it is where Saadia wrote a thousand years ago.

Israeli slang from Arabic

You use these every day. Each one is unmistakably Arabic — vocative particles, dual endings, classical roots. Israeli Hebrew is, in the end, a Mediterranean creole.

  1. #01
    You know
    יאללה
    yalla · let's go, c'mon
    It's Arabic
    يا الله
    yā Allāh
    Saadia writes it
    יא אללה

    Literally 'O God' in Arabic — pure direct address. In Hebrew slang it's a permission slip, a hurry-up, a let's-go. The same יא you say in 'yallah balagan' is the classical Arabic vocative particle.

  2. #02
    You know
    סבבה
    sababa · cool, fine, great
    It's Arabic
    صبابة
    ṣabāba

    From Arabic ṣabāba — a kind of yearning, lovesick fondness. The romance got sanded off; now it just means 'sweet.'

  3. #03
    You know
    אחלה
    achla · awesome, the best
    It's Arabic
    أحلى
    aḥlā

    'Sweeter, sweetest' — Arabic comparative of حلو 'sweet'. Israeli use is the same vibe: 'this is the sweetest.'

  4. #04
    You know
    בסה
    basa · drag, bummer
    It's Arabic
    بئسة
    biʾsa

    From Arabic biʾsa — 'wretched, miserable.' One of the few imported words for the specifically Israeli flavor of disappointment.

  5. #05
    You know
    כיף
    kef · fun, pleasure
    It's Arabic
    كيف
    kayf

    In classical Arabic kayf means 'how?' or, as a noun, a state of pleasant feeling. The pleasant-feeling sense came into Hebrew.

  6. #06
    You know
    סחתיין
    sahtein · good for you, well done
    It's Arabic
    صحتين
    ṣaḥtayn

    Literally 'two healths' — said after a meal, an achievement, a strong workout. The dual ending -ein is pure Arabic.

  7. #07
    You know
    מבסוט
    mabsut · happy, content
    It's Arabic
    مبسوط
    mabsūṭ

    Passive participle of basaṭa, 'to spread out, to make easy.' Mabsūṭ = the one whose mood has been spread out flat. A relaxed, satisfied state.

  8. #08
    You know
    דוגרי
    dugri · straight up, honestly
    It's Arabic
    دُغري
    dughrī

    Spoken Arabic for 'straight ahead, directly.' Imported into Hebrew with the directness intact.

Body parts

Most are one-to-one. Same three letters, same meaning, slightly different vowels. The mouth and the heart took divergent paths.

  1. #0934× · 31v
    You know
    ראש
    rosh · head
    It's Arabic
    رأس
    raʾs
    Saadia writes it
    ראס

    Same three letters: ר-א-ש in Hebrew, ر-أ-س in Arabic. Different vowels, identical meaning, identical position in your skull.

  2. #1046× · 41v
    You know
    יד
    yad · hand
    It's Arabic
    يد
    yad
    Saadia writes it
    יד

    Two letters, identical in both languages, identical sound.

  3. #1129× · 25v
    You know
    עין
    ʿayin · eye; spring
    It's Arabic
    عين
    ʿayn
    Saadia writes it
    עין

    Eye and spring of water — both languages keep both senses. The metaphor is universal: water rises out of the ground the way tears rise out of you.

  4. #127× · 7v
    You know
    אוזן
    ozen · ear
    It's Arabic
    أذن
    udhun
    Saadia writes it
    אד'ן

    Same root: א-ז-ן in Hebrew, أ-ذ-ن in Arabic. The Hebrew ז corresponds to the Arabic ذ (dh) — in JA, that ذ is written as ד'.

  5. #138× · 8v
    You know
    פה
    peh · mouth
    It's Arabic
    فم
    fam
    Saadia writes it
    פם

    Same root letters, with the Arabic preserving the final mem the Hebrew dropped. Biblical Hebrew sometimes shows 'פום' too.

  6. #1420× · 20v
    You know
    לב
    lev · heart
    It's Arabic
    قلب
    qalb
    Saadia writes it
    קלב

    Saadia uses قلب where the Hebrew has לב. Arabic kept the initial qaf the Hebrew dropped; the rest is the same skeleton.

  7. #1615× · 15v
    You know
    שיער
    seʿar · hair
    It's Arabic
    شَعر
    shaʿr
    Saadia writes it
    שער

    ש and ش are the same letter in JA orthography. Same word, same root ש-ע-ר / ش-ع-ر.

Family

The smallest, oldest words. Two letters apiece — and identical in both languages.

  1. #174× · 4v
    You know
    אב
    av · father
    It's Arabic
    أب
    ab
    Saadia writes it
    אב

    Two letters. Same word.

  2. #1823× · 20v
    You know
    אם
    em · mother
    It's Arabic
    أم
    umm
    Saadia writes it
    אם

    Two letters. Same word. (The Arabic vowels you to umm, the Hebrew vowels you to em.)

  3. #1938× · 37v
    You know
    אח
    aḥ · brother
    It's Arabic
    أخ
    akh
    Saadia writes it
    אכ'

    Hebrew ח corresponds to Arabic خ here — in JA, that خ is written as כ' (kaf with apostrophe). Saadia never uses the bare word — always 'his brother' (אכ'יה), 'your brother' (אכ'יך), etc.

  4. #20309× · 271v
    You know
    בן
    ben · son
    It's Arabic
    ابن
    ibn
    Saadia writes it
    אבן

    Hebrew lost the initial alef; Arabic kept it. The biblical Hebrew 'בן' and the Arabic 'ابن' are the same morpheme.

  5. #21623× · 519v
    You know
    בני
    bnei · sons of
    It's Arabic
    بَني
    banī
    Saadia writes it
    בני

    Plural construct, 'sons of' — same in both languages, used constantly in the Tafsir ('Bnei Israel').

Sky, sea, sun

Sun, sea, sky, water, stars: same words in both languages. Fire and moon picked different roots — but the Hebrew word for 'lamp' (ner) and the Arabic word for fire (nar) tell on each other.

  1. #2224× · 24v
    You know
    שמש
    shemesh · sun
    It's Arabic
    شمس
    shams
    Saadia writes it
    שמס

    Sun in both languages, sister-shaped: shemesh / shams. Hebrew double-shin, Arabic shin + sin.

  2. #232× · 2v
    You know
    ירח
    yare'aḥ · moon
    It's Arabic
    قمر
    qamar
    Saadia writes it
    קמר

    Different roots — Hebrew chose ירח (related to 'wandering'), Arabic chose قمر. Saadia translates the Hebrew ירח with قمر, the standard Arabic word.

  3. #241× · 1v
    You know
    כוכב
    kokhav · star
    It's Arabic
    كوكب
    kawkab
    Saadia writes it
    כוכב

    Same word — Hebrew and Arabic both go back to kawkab, with the same letters in the same order.

  4. #25
    You know
    ים
    yam · sea
    It's Arabic
    يَمّ
    yamm
    Saadia writes it
    ים

    Pure cognate, both languages. (Modern Arabic prefers بحر — but yamm is the classical word, especially in poetry.)

  5. #2683× · 74v
    You know
    שמיים
    shamayim · sky, heavens
    It's Arabic
    سماء
    samāʾ
    Saadia writes it
    סמא

    Hebrew dual ('two heavens'), Arabic singular — but it's the same root ש-מ-י / س-م-و. Both end in a long ā.

  6. #27744× · 554v
    You know
    מים
    mayim · water
    It's Arabic
    ماء
    māʾ
    Saadia writes it
    מא

    Hebrew has the dual ending; Arabic dropped it to māʾ. The skeleton is the same.

  7. #2846× · 45v
    You know
    אש
    esh · fire
    It's Arabic
    نار
    nār
    Saadia writes it
    נאר

    Different roots — but Hebrew also has the verb 'nahar' for 'shine,' and the related noun ner ('lamp') reflects the same n-r root Arabic uses for fire.

Animals

Domestic animals were named once and the names stuck. Kelev / kalb is exactly the same word.

  1. #2913× · 13v
    You know
    כלב
    kelev · dog
    It's Arabic
    كلب
    kalb
    Saadia writes it
    כלב

    Identical letters. Identical meaning.

  2. #304× · 4v
    You know
    גמל
    gamal · camel
    It's Arabic
    جمل
    jamal
    Saadia writes it
    גמל

    Same root, same animal. The English word 'camel' also comes from this Semitic root — picked up through Greek.

  3. #318× · 8v
    You know
    חמור
    ḥamor · donkey
    It's Arabic
    حمار
    ḥimār
    Saadia writes it
    חמאר

    Hebrew ḥamor / Arabic ḥimār. Same animal, identical letters, slightly different vowel pattern.

Common verbs

Hearing, writing, eating — the everyday verbs are shared. Sitting is where Arabic and Hebrew diverged.

  1. #3236× · 35v
    You know
    שמע
    shama · heard, listened
    It's Arabic
    سَمِع
    samiʿa
    Saadia writes it
    סמע

    Hebrew ש and Arabic س map onto each other in this root. Saadia uses سمع where the Hebrew has שמע — same word, same sense.

  2. #334× · 4v
    You know
    כתב
    katav · wrote
    It's Arabic
    كَتَب
    kataba
    Saadia writes it
    כתב

    Identical root in both languages, identical meaning. The Modern Hebrew מכתב (letter) and Arabic مكتب (office, lit. 'place of writing') are cousins from the same family.

  3. #3429× · 27v
    You know
    אכל
    akhal · ate
    It's Arabic
    أكَل
    akala
    Saadia writes it
    אכל

    Same letters, same act.

  4. #355× · 5v
    You know
    ישב
    yashav · sat, settled, dwelled
    It's Arabic
    جَلَس
    jalasa
    Saadia writes it
    גלס

    Different roots, despite identical meaning. Saadia uses جلس where the Hebrew has ישב — a place where Arabic and Hebrew chose different verbs for the same action.

False friends

Same letters, different meanings. The same Semitic root specialized differently in each language; the result is words that look identical and mean something else.

  1. #15193× · 167v
    You know
    רגל
    regel · foot; (Arabic) man
    It's Arabic
    رِجل / رَجل
    rijl / rajul
    Saadia writes it
    רגל

    Same letters, two senses in Arabic: rijl = foot, rajul = man. (The unvowled JA looks identical for both — only context tells you which.) Hebrew kept only the 'foot' sense.

  2. #36
    You know
    לחם
    leḥem · Hebrew: bread; Arabic: meat
    It's Arabic
    لحم
    laḥm
    Saadia writes it
    לחם

    Same three letters, opposite ends of the menu. Classical Semitic ל-ח-ם meant 'food/substance' generally; Hebrew narrowed it to bread, Arabic narrowed it to meat. Bet-leḥem = 'house of bread.' Bayt-laḥm = same town, in Arabic, with the meat reading.

  3. #3711× · 11v
    You know
    ספר
    sefer · Hebrew: book; Arabic: travel
    It's Arabic
    سفر
    safar
    Saadia writes it
    ספר

    Different specialization of the same Semitic root — Hebrew ended up with 'book/scroll,' Arabic with 'journey.' (The Arabic word for book is كتاب, from the writing root.)