How to say "message" in Arabic
New wordMeaningmessage
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
رِسَالَة
risālaרסאלה
رسالة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
הודעה
hoda'aهُودَاءَا
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ر-س-لNo Hebrew relative — but the root ر-س-ل 'to send' is behind rasūl, 'messenger', as in the Muslim epithet rasūl Allāh; a risāla is anything sent, from a text message to a scholarly epistle.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
مَسِج
masijמסג'English 'message', for texts specifically; risāle covers the rest.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
مِيسَاج
mīsājמיסאג'Morocco takes the French message: mīsāj.
In a phrase
وَصَلَتْنِي رِسَالَة
waṣalatnī risālaוצלתני רסאלהA message reached me.
Plural
رَسَائِل
rasāʾilרסאאלbroken plural CaCāʾiC — like جَرِيدَة→جَرَائِد.