How to say "shoe sole" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningshoe sole
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
نَعْل
naʿlנעל
نعل
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
סוליה
sulyaسُولْيَا
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ن-ع-لHebrew root
נ-ע-לNaʿl is letter-for-letter Hebrew נעל — but the two words went to different places. Biblical Hebrew נעל also once meant just the sandal-strap or sole (a sandal seals a land deal in Ruth 4), and Modern Hebrew broadened it to cover the whole shoe. Arabic naʿl stayed at the bottom: today it's the sole you resole at the cobbler, or naʿl al-ḥiṣān, a horseshoe.
Related Hebrew word:נעלna'alنَأَل
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In a phrase
نَعْل الْحِذَاء
naʿl al-ḥidhāʾנעל אל-חד'אאthe sole of the shoe
Plural
نِعَال
niʿālנעאלbroken plural CiCāC