How to say "to cough" in Arabic
CognateMeaningto cough
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
سَعَلَ
saʿalaסעל
سعل
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
השתעל
hishta'elهِشْتَائِل
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
س-ع-لHebrew root
ש-ע-לsaʿala is the root behind Modern Hebrew הִשְׁתַּעֵל, 'to cough' — ש-ע-ל matches س-ع-ل letter for letter (س↔ש, as in سلام/שלום). A tidy match hiding in a very ordinary word.
Learn it
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
كَحّ
kaḥḥכחCairo's cough is kaḥḥ.
In a phrase
سَعَلَ كَثِيرًا فِي اللَّيْل
saʿala kathīran fī al-laylסעל כת'ירן פי א-לילHe coughed a lot at night