How to say "truth, right" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningtruth, right
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥaqqחק
حق
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
emetإِمِت
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-ق-قHebrew root
ח-ק-קShifted cousins: Hebrew חוק is a statute — from ח-ק-ק, "to engrave", a law carved in stone — while Arabic ḥaqq is what stands firm: truth, or a right you can claim.
Related Hebrew word:חוקkhokخُوك
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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
The qāf becomes a glottal stop in urban Levantine: maʿak ḥaʾ = you're right.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo, too, turns the qāf into a glottal stop: ḥaʾʾ — ʿandak ḥaʾʾ, you are right.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija keeps the q: ḥeqq — ʿandek l-ḥeqq, you are right.
In a phrase
You're right.
Plural
broken plural CuCūC — like قَلْب→قُلُوب; the plural means "rights": ḥuqūq al-insān = human rights