How to say "nose" in Arabic
CognateMeaningnose
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَنْف
anfאנף
أنف
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אף
afأَف
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-ن-فHebrew root
א-נ-פHebrew אף began as *ʾanp — Arabic anf kept the n that Hebrew swallowed. The lost letter resurfaces in Aramaic אנפין 'face' (as in the kabbalistic זעיר אנפין).
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
مَنَاخِير
manākhīrמנאח'ירEveryday speech usually says manākhīr, literally 'nostrils'.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
مَنَاخِير
manakhīrמנאח'ירCairo says manakhīr as well.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
نِيف
nīfניףDarija's nose is nīf.
In a phrase
أَنْفُهُ كَبِير
anfuhu kabīrאנפה כבירHis nose is big.