How to say "hand drum, tambourine" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaninghand drum, tambourine
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
دَفّ
daffדף
دف
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
תוף
tofتُوف
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
د-ف-فHebrew תוף and Arabic daff name the same hand-drum, but the consonants don't line up by the regular rules — ת does not regularly correspond to د. This looks like a shared Ancient Near Eastern percussion word (a "Wanderwort") that spread into both vocabularies rather than a true inherited Semitic root.
Related Hebrew word:תוףtofتُوف
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In a phrase
دَفّ صَغِير
daff ṣaghīrדף צע'ירa small hand-drum
Plural
دُفُوف
dufūfדפוףbroken plural CuCūC