How to say "to carry, bear" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningto carry, bear
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥamalaחמל
حمل
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
nasaنَاسَا
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-م-لHebrew root
ח-מ-לNot the word it looks like: עמל ('toil') is a false lead, a different root entirely. The real, if debated, connection is חמל — Klein's dictionary connects Arabic ḥamala, 'to carry, bear a load', with Hebrew חמל, 'to have compassion, to spare': the notion of 'bearing with' someone slides naturally into 'showing mercy toward' them.
Related Hebrew word:חמלkhamalخَامَال
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo's carry is shāl.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija's carry or lift is hezz.
In a phrase
He carried the heavy suitcase