How to say "happy holiday! (many happy returns)" in Arabic

Cognate

Meaninghappy holiday! (many happy returns)

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

كُلُّ عَامٍ وَأَنْتُمْ بِخَيْر

kullu ʿāmin wa-antum bi-khayrכל עאמן ואנתם בח'יר

كل عام وأنتم بخير

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

חג שמח

khag sameakhخَاگ سَامِيَاخ

How the two words are related

Cognate

Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.

Arabic root

ك-ل-ل

Hebrew root

כ-ל-ל

This opens with kull, 'every' — the very word Hebrew has as כֹּל/כָּל, both from root k-l-l, 'totality.' 'Every year and you are well' is said at Eid, New Year, and other holidays alike, much as Hebrew reaches for כל שנה, 'every year.'

Related Hebrew word:כלkolكُول

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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

كُلّ سَنَة وِإنْتُو طَيِّبِين

kull sana w-intu ṭayyibīnכל סנה ואנתו טייבין

The everyday Levantine version — sana replaces ʿām for 'year,' and ṭayyib, 'good' (the same word as base-set طيب), stands in for bi-khayr.

Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta

كُلّ سَنَة وِانْتَ طَيِّب

kull sana w-inta ṭayyibכל סנה ואנת טיב

Cairo's classic: kull sana w-inta ṭayyib — w-inti ṭayyiba to a woman, w-intu ṭayyibīn to a group.

Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

مْبَارك عْوَاشْرك

mbārek ʿwāshrekמבארך עואשרך

Morocco's holiday cheer is mbārek ʿwāshrek, 'blessed be your holy days'.

In a phrase

كُلُّ عَامٍ وَأَنْتَ بِخَيْر

kullu ʿāmin wa-anta bi-khayrכל עאמן ואנת בח'יר

happy holiday to you (to one person)

More words from this root

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