Similarities Between Arabic and Amharic

**~~Kamal900~~** · 07-09-2018, 08:39 PM

It's crazy how similar both of these Semitic languages belonging to different branches in the language family are:

**Sp_loa** · 07-09-2018, 09:00 PM

As a Hebrew speaker I could understand most of the words.

In Hebrew you say (The words from the video):
1. Blood= Dam (exactly like in Arabic)
2. 30= Shloshim (more like Arabic, less close to Amharic but still close enough)
3. Sky= Shamaim (Actually closer to Amharic in pronounce than to Arabic)
4. Life= Haim (Closer to Arabic)
5. Minute= Daka
6. House= Bait (same as both Arabic and Amharic)
7. Eye= Ayin (same as Arabic)
8. Hour= Sha'a (sounds similar) but Time= Zman (not close at all to Amharic/Arabic)
9. 7= Sheva (similar to both Arabic and Amharic)
10. Sunday= Reeshon (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)
11. Thursday = Yom hamishi (very similar to Arabic but different than Amharic)
12. Horse= Sous (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)

I never imagined to Amharic (East African language) would be that similar to the Hebrew language. I know Hebrew and Arabic are similar (but honestly it's just some words, no Arabic speaker can understand Hebrew without learning it and vice versa. I think English has more similarities with Spanish than Hebrew with Arabic).

**~~Kamal900~~** · 07-09-2018, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by DR_2001

As a Hebrew speaker I could understand most of the words.

In Hebrew you say (The words from the video):
1. Blood= Dam (exactly like in Arabic)
2. 30= Shloshim (more like Arabic, less close to Amharic but still close enough)
3. Sky= Shamaim (Actually closer to Amharic in pronounce than to Arabic)
4. Life= Haim (Closer to Arabic)
5. Minute= Daka
6. House= Bait (same as both Arabic and Amharic)
7. Eye= Ayin (same as Arabic)
8. Hour= Sha'a (sounds similar) but Time= Zman (not close at all to Amharic/Arabic)
9. 7= Sheva (similar to both Arabic and Amharic)
10. Sunday= Reeshon (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)
11. Thursday = Yom hamishi (very similar to Arabic but different than Amharic)
12. Horse= Sous (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)

I never imagined to Amharic (East African language) would be that similar to the Hebrew language. I know Hebrew and Arabic are similar (but honestly it's just some words, no Arabic speaker can understand Hebrew without learning it and vice versa. I think English has more similarities with Spanish than Hebrew with Arabic).

Indeed. Arabic and Hebrew, while both are central Semitic languages, had diverged from one another around 3,500 years ago or something which is a very long ass time ago. It's not like in the case with say Croatian with Serbian or Bosniaks where they can understand each other's languages. Learning Hebrew is actually more easier than Arabic surprisingly.

**rein** · 07-09-2018, 09:06 PM

Interesting. Didn’t know about this Amharic language before.

**Sp_loa** · 07-09-2018, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by Toppo900

Indeed. Arabic and Hebrew, while both are central Semitic languages, had diverged from one another around 3,500 years ago or something which is a very long ass time ago. It's not like in the case with say Croatian with Serbian or Bosniaks where they can understand each other's languages. Learning Hebrew is actually more easier than Arabic surprisingly.

I learned Arabic in Middle school and I hated it. My Spanish is better than my Arabic lol.
BTW my grandmother speaks Moroccan Arabic (I think the Jewish dialect but I'm not sure) and she says it's impossible to understand the Egyptian and the West Asian types of Arabic. Are those dialects that different?

BTW 3500 years ago It's about the time when the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah were formed if I'm not wrong)

**~~Kamal900~~** · 07-09-2018, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by DR_2001

I learned Arabic in Middle school and I hated it. My Spanish is better than my Arabic lol.
BTW my grandmother speaks Moroccan Arabic (I think the Jewish dialect but I'm not sure) and she says it's impossible to understand the Egyptian and the West Asian types of Arabic. Are those dialects that different?

VERY different indeed. I couldn't even understand what most of them say even. I speak Palestinian and I understand Egyptian and Hejaz Arabic even though they're different from each other. Maghrebi Arabic is very divergent to a point that really it should be a separate Arabic languages rather than simply as dialects.

**~~Kamal900~~** · 07-09-2018, 09:09 PM

Originally Posted by rein

Interesting. Didn’t know about this Amharic language before.

It's spoken by the Amharic people and most of the people in Ethiopia as lingua-franca in the country.

**Sp_loa** · 07-09-2018, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by Toppo900

VERY different indeed. I couldn't even understand what most of them say even. I speak Palestinian and I understand Egyptian and Hejaz Arabic even though they're different from each other. Maghrebi Arabic is very divergent to a point that really it should be a separate Arabic languages rather than simply as dialects.

Is it because Maghrebi Arabic heavily Berberized ?
BTW please check your message box when you'll have some free time. I sent you a message few hours ago lol

**~~Kamal900~~** · 07-09-2018, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by DR_2001

Is it because Maghrebi Arabic heavily Berberized ?
BTW please check your message box when you'll have some free time. I sent you a message few hours ago lol

Indeed.

Yeah, I'll respond to it. I was taking a nap before, lol.

**Aren** · 07-09-2018, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by DR_2001

As a Hebrew speaker I could understand most of the words.

In Hebrew you say (The words from the video):
1. Blood= Dam (exactly like in Arabic)
2. 30= Shloshim (more like Arabic, less close to Amharic but still close enough)
3. Sky= Shamaim (Actually closer to Amharic in pronounce than to Arabic)
4. Life= Haim (Closer to Arabic)
5. Minute= Daka
6. House= Bait (same as both Arabic and Amharic)
7. Eye= Ayin (same as Arabic)
8. Hour= Sha'a (sounds similar) but Time= Zman (not close at all to Amharic/Arabic)
9. 7= Sheva (similar to both Arabic and Amharic)
10. Sunday= Reeshon (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)
11. Thursday = Yom hamishi (very similar to Arabic but different than Amharic)
12. Horse= Sous (not similar at all to Arabic/Amharic)

I never imagined to Amharic (East African language) would be that similar to the Hebrew language. I know Hebrew and Arabic are similar (but honestly it's just some words, no Arabic speaker can understand Hebrew without learning it and vice versa. I think English has more similarities with Spanish than Hebrew with Arabic).

Interesting. Modern Eastern Syriac in comparison

1. Blood= Demma
2. 30= Tlathi, th pronouced like in English Math. Closer to Arabic, but some Assyrian dialects swap hard "t" and fricative "t" for "s" so they say "tlasi" or "slasi" for the number 30.
3. Sky= Shmayya, very close to Hebrew.
4. Life= Khaiotha/Xaiotha or Khaye/Xaye. Pronunced witha fricative "x" like with German/Dutch harsh "kh/g" sounds.
5. Minute= Daqqa, close to all three languages.
6. House= Betha in my dialect, but is Bayta for Assyrians from Iran and Beytha for Assyrians from Turkey. Original Syriac is Beytha. No typical Semitic "ayin" sound in any of our dialects like in Arabic or Amharic.
7. Eye= Ena, but is Ayna for Assyrians from Iran.
8. Time/Hour= Shetha, but I think Arabic loan Sa'aa is being used more and more.
9. 7= Shoa, in most dialects though is Showa.
10. Sunday= Kho-shaba/Xo-shaba pronouced like a single word though. Litteral translation would be "first of the week". If it was like in Arabic/Hebrew/Amharic it would be Yomet Kha= day one.
11. Thursday= Khamshu-shaba/Xhamshu-shaba. Just like with Sunday this means "fifth of the week".
12. Horse= Susa for a stallion(male horse) and Susta for a mare.