How to say "around, about" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningaround, about
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥawlaחול
حول
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
savivسَاڤِيڤ
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-و-لHebrew root
ח-ו-לSame swirling root as حَالَ, 'to turn, change' — traditionally set beside Hebrew ח-ו-ל, 'to whirl, dance in a circle', the root behind מָחוֹל, 'round dance' (Psalm 30's הָפַכְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי לְמָחוֹל, 'you turned my mourning into dancing'). Arabic sent the turning outward into a preposition of encirclement, 'around'; Hebrew kept it on the dance floor. Same twirl, two destinations.
Related Hebrew word:מָחוֹלmakholمَاخُول
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 around is ḥawalēn.
In a phrase
We sat around the table.