How to say "window" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningwindow
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
شُبَّاك
shubbākשבאך
شباك
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
חלון
khalonخَالُون
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ش-ب-كHebrew root
ש-ב-כA shubbāk was originally a latticed opening, from ش-ب-ك "net" — and Biblical Hebrew שבכה is exactly that lattice or network (with the regular שׂ ↔ ش match, as in עשר/عشر). Arabic kept the grille and made it the whole window.
Related Hebrew word:שבכהsvakhaسْڤَاخَا
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
شرْجم
sherjemשרג'םA different word: sherjem is the Darija window.
In a phrase
فَتَحَ الشُّبَّاك
fataḥa ash-shubbākפתח א-שבאךHe opened the window.
Plural
شَبَابِيك
shabābīkשבאביךbroken plural CaCāCīC — like سِكِّين→سَكَاكِين