How to say "soul" in Arabic

Cognate

Meaningsoul

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

نَفْس

nafsנפס

نفس

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

נפש

nefeshنِفِش

How the two words are related

Cognate

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

Arabic root

ن-ف-س

Hebrew root

נ-פ-ש

Hebrew נפש and Arabic nafs match sound for sound (ש↔س), and both began as "breath": Arabic nafas still means a breath, and tanaffasa is "to breathe".

مِن أَعْمَاق نَفْسِي

min aʿmāq nafsīמן אעמאק נפסי

from the depths of my soul

نُفُوس

nufūsנפוס

broken plural CuCūC — like قَلْب→قُلُوب