How to say "marriage" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningmarriage
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
zawājזואג'
زواج
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
nisu'in, khatunaنِيسُوئِين، خَاتُونَا
How the two words are related
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ز-و-جThe verbal noun of the same root behind zawj/zawja (husband/wife) — ultimately Greek zeugos, 'a yoke, a pair', borrowed into Semitic via Aramaic. The same Greek pair still peeks out in Hebrew zug (זוג) and ben-zug, 'partner'.
Related Hebrew word:זוגzugزُوگ
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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
Levantine speech often flips the consonants: jawāz for zawāj (compare zawj/jōz for 'husband').
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo flips the consonants too, with a hard g: gawāz (and il-gōz, the husband).
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija keeps the MSA order: zwāj.
In a phrase
the wedding day