How to say "prison" in Arabic
New wordMeaningprison
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
سِجْن
sijnסג'ן
سجن
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
כלא
keleكِلِي
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
س-ج-نLearn 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
حَبْس
ḥabsחבסThe street word is il-ḥabs, root ḥ-b-s — cognate with Hebrew ח-ב-ש 'to imprison', the root behind army slang מחבוש.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
سِجْن
signסגןCairo keeps the MSA word with its hard g: is-sign; il-ḥabs is heard too.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
حبْس
ḥebsחבסDarija says l-ḥebs, the same ḥ-b-s word as the Levant.
In a phrase
قَضَى سَنَة فِي السِّجْن
qaḍā sana fī as-sijnקצ'א סנה פי א-סג'ןHe spent a year in prison.
Plural
سُجُون
sujūnסג'וןBroken plural CuCūC — like قلب→قلوب.