How to say "back" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningback
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ẓahrט'הר
ظهر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
gavگَاڤ
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ظ-ه-رHebrew root
צ-ה-רThe Hebrew cousin is not גב but צהריים: Arabic ظ regularly matches Hebrew צ, and the root ẓ-h-r 'be visible, prominent' gives both ẓahr 'back' and ẓuhr 'noon' — the sun at its most prominent. Hebrew kept only the noon sense (צהריים).
Related Hebrew word:צהרייםtsohorayimتْسُوهُورَايِم
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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
Spoken Levantine shifts ظ to ḍ: ḍahr.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo says ḍahr too.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija: ḍher.
In a phrase
My back hurts.