How to say "hijab" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaninghijab
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
حِجَاب
ḥijābחג'אב
حجاب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
חיג'אב
khijabخِيجَاب
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ح-ج-بNo inherited root link to Hebrew ח-ג-ב — that's חגב, 'grasshopper', a tempting but false lead. Modern Hebrew didn't bother translating this one either: חיג'אב was simply adopted as the specific word for the Islamic headscarf, kept distinct from the generic צעיף 'scarf'.
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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
حِجَاب
ḥigābחגאבHard g in Cairo: ḥigāb.
In a phrase
تَرْتَدِي الْحِجَاب
tartadī l-ḥijābתרתדי אל-חג'אבShe wears the hijab.
Plural
حُجُب
ḥujubחג'בbroken plural CuCuC