How to say "sister" in Arabic
CognateMeaningsister
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أُخْت
ukhtאח'ת
أخت
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אחות
akhotأَخُوت
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-خ-وHebrew root
א-חUkht = achot (אחות): the same brother-word wearing a feminine -t, which Arabic glues directly onto the stem.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
خْتِي
khtiח'תיDarija: khti — 'my sister', khtek — 'your sister'.
In a phrase
عِنْدِي أُخْت وَاحِدَة
ʿindī ukht wāḥidaענדי אח'ת ואחדהI have one sister.
Plural
أَخَوَات
akhawātאח'ואתsound feminine plural -āt; the root's lost w resurfaces: ukht→akhawāt.