How to say "driver" in Arabic
New wordMeaningdriver
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
sāʾiqסאאק
سائق
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
nahagنَاهَاگ
How the two words are related
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
س-و-قNo shared root — but compare the molds: Hebrew נהג sits in the qattāl professions pattern, while MSA uses the CāCiC participle, 'the one driving'. Arabic's own qattāl form, سَوَّاق sawwāq, is what the dialects actually say.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
The street word is the CaCCāC form sawwāq — the professions pattern again.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo: sawwāʾ, with the qāf as a glottal stop.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
From French chauffeur: shīfūr.
In a phrase
the taxi driver
Plural
sound masculine plural -ūn