How to say "carpenter" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningcarpenter
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
نَجَّار
najjārנג'אר
نجار
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
נגר
nagarنَاگَار
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ن-ج-رHebrew root
נ-ג-רHebrew נגר and Arabic najjār are the same borrowed craftsman: Aramaic naggārā, from Akkadian naggāru (itself likely from Sumerian nagar), supplied both. Each language then dressed him in the same professions mold — Hebrew qattāl and Arabic CaCCāC, a perfect pattern match.
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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
نَجَّار
naggārנגארHard g in Cairo: naggār.
In a phrase
النَّجَّار يَعْمَل بِالْخَشَب
an-najjār yaʿmal bi-l-khashabא-נג'אר יעמל באל-ח'שבThe carpenter works with wood.
Plural
نَجَّارُون
najjārūnנג'ארוןsound masculine plural -ūn