How to say "guy, fellow (Levantine Arabic) → dude, man (Israeli slang address)" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningguy, fellow (Levantine Arabic) → dude, man (Israeli slang address)
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
زَلَمَة
zalamaזלמה
زلمة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
זלמה
zalameزَالَامِي
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
A dialect word for 'man, fellow' whose deeper history is murky — it may not even be a native Arabic triliteral, possibly reaching Levantine dialect via Aramaic. Israeli informal speech borrowed it anyway as a casual, friendly address: יא זלמה.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
رَاجِل
rāgilראגלCairo's guy or man is rāgil; zalama is not used.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
رَاجل
rājelראג'לDarija's guy or man is rājel; zalama is not used.
In a phrase
يَا زَلَمَة، تَعَال
yā zalama, taʿālaיא זלמה, תעאלhey man, come here
More in Arabic You Already Speak
- tip, gratuity (Arabic, ultimately Persian) → tip, small bribe (Israeli Hebrew)baqshīshبَقْشِيشבקשיש
- stomping line dance (Arabic and Israeli Hebrew loanword)dabkaدَبْكَةדבקה
- my darling (feminine, Arabic) → sweetheart (Israeli slang address to a woman)ḥabībatīحَبِيبَتِيחביבתי
- poor, put-upon, pitiful (colloquial Arabic) → poor thing (Israeli slang)ghalbānغَلْبَانעלבן
- rancid, stale (colloquial Arabic) → smelly, off-putting (Israeli slang)zanikhزَنِخזנח
- safety, wellness (Arabic) → get well, bless you (Israeli informal usage)salāmaسَلَامَةסלאמה