How to say "Tel Aviv" in Arabic

Loanword

MeaningTel Aviv

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

تَلّ أَبِيب

tall abībתל אביב

تل أبيب

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

תל אביב

tel avivتِل أَڤِيڤ

How the two words are related

Loanword

Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).

Tell/תל is one of the oldest shared words in the region — an ancient mound built up from centuries of ruined settlement, identical in Hebrew and Arabic (archaeologists everywhere now use 'tell' as the technical term for such a mound). The second half, abīb, is not native Arabic at all: it's Hebrew אביב 'spring' borrowed directly into the Arabic spelling of the city's name when Tel Aviv was founded in 1909.

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In a phrase

تَلّ أَبِيب مَدِينَة كَبِيرَة
tall abīb madīna kabīraתל אביב מדינה כבירה

Tel Aviv is a big city

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