Each cell shows the word in its own script, then an easy pronunciation in gold, then the scholarly transliteration in small italics. Scroll sideways on a narrow screen. "Not verified" means we could not confirm the form and have left it empty on purpose. See the guide for the key.
English
Arabic
Hebrew
Aramaic (Syriac)
Mandaic
ࡉࡅࡌࡀ
yoo-ma
iuma
day (24 hours)
Hebrew mayim has a plural form (as “waters”), as does Syriac mayyā.
אוֹר
or
ʾôr
different root (ʾ-w-r)
Hebrew has ʾôr for “light”; its cognate of nūr is nēr, “lamp”. Syriac nuhrā and Mandaic nhura keep the h.
The ʿ is lost at the start of the Mandaic word.
A regular pattern: Arabic ḏ (dh), Hebrew z, Aramaic d (see also “gold”).
Mandaic form not verified.
لُبّ
lubb
lubb
core, intellect (the usual word for “heart” is qalb)
Wiktionary lists Arabic lubb as the cognate of Hebrew lēḇ. The everyday Arabic word for the physical heart is qalb, which is a different root.
tongue, languagel-s-n / l-š-n
لِسَان
li-saan
lisān
tongue, language
not verified
Quran 14:4 uses this word: bi-lisāni qawmihi, “in the language of his people”.
Arabic f where the others have p.
script not verified
nap-sha
napša
“soul, self”
Mandaic napša is from the Mandaic dictionary. Wiktionary gives a different Mandaic word for “soul”, shown in the next row.
breath, soul (a second word)n-š-m / n-s-m
نَسَمَة
na-sa-ma
nasama
breath, living being
נְשָׁמָה
ne-sha-ma
nĕšāmâ
breath, soul
not verified
ࡍࡉࡔࡉࡌࡕࡀ
nee-shee-ma-ta
nišimta
soul
Wiktionary compares Arabic nasama with Syriac nešmṯā and Hebrew nĕšāmâ. We could not confirm the Syriac spelling in our own checks, so that cell is left blank.
Compare Arabic Bayt Laḥm and Hebrew Bêṯ Leḥem, “house of bread” (and, in Arabic, “house of meat”; see “bread”).
Arabic s corresponds to š in the other three.
earth, landʾ-r-ḍ / ʾ-r-ṣ / ʾ-r-ʿ / ʾ-r-q
A famous four-way pattern: Arabic ḍ, Hebrew ṣ, Aramaic ʿ, Mandaic q.
שָׁמַיִם
sha-ma-yim
šāmayim
The Hebrew, Syriac and Mandaic forms are plural-like. Arabic has samāʾ (singular) and samāwāt (plural).
ܟܘܟܒܐ
kow-ka-va
kawkḇā
Peshitta Matt 2:2 (kawkbeh)
ܓܡܠܐ
gam-la
gamlā
wikt · Peshitta Matt 23:24
not verified
A regular pattern: Arabic j corresponds to Hebrew and Aramaic g. Mandaic form not verified.
لَحْم
lahm
laḥm
MEAT, not bread
sense differs
A false friend: the shared root means “food, bread” in Hebrew, Aramaic and Mandaic, and has come to mean “meat” in Arabic. Arabic “bread” is khubz.
script not verified
a-ba
aba
“father”
Wiktionary spelling not shown (see note)
Wiktionary has a Mandaic entry for “father” (transliterated aba), but its script spelling uses the letter for p, which does not match the b. We show only the transliteration and leave the script unresolved.
Mandaic form not verified.
ܒܪܐ
bra
brā
son (bar)
different root (b-r)
ࡁࡓ
bar
br
son
different root (b-r)
Arabic ibn and Hebrew ben share b-n-y. Aramaic and Mandaic use bar, from a different root.
Arabic bint and Hebrew bat go with ibn and ben; Aramaic and Mandaic follow bar.
Mandaic form not verified. We also found no verified Syriac word for “sister”, so that row is left out.
person, human beingʾ-n-s / ʾ-n-š
Arabic s corresponds to š in the others.
The same pattern as “ear”: Arabic dh, Hebrew z, Aramaic d.
Compare Quran 112:1, Allāhu aḥad, and Deuteronomy 6:4, YHWH ʾeḥāḏ. Arabic also has wāḥid.
ܬܪܝܢ
tren
trēn
different root (t-r-y)
ࡕࡓࡉࡍ
treen
trin
different root (t-r-y)
Arabic and Hebrew share ṯ-n-y (Arabic th, Hebrew sh). Syriac and Mandaic use a different root.
ثَلَاثَة
tha-laa-tha
ṯalāṯa
A regular pattern: Arabic th, Hebrew sh, Aramaic t.
أَمَرَ
a-ma-ra
ʾamara
TO COMMAND, not to say
ࡀࡌࡀࡓ
a-mar
amar
to say, speak
A shift in sense: the root means “command” in Arabic (the usual Arabic “say” is qāla) and “say” in Hebrew, Aramaic and Mandaic.
كَلِمَة
ka-li-ma
kalima
different root (k-l-m)
Hebrew, Syriac and Mandaic share m-l-l. Arabic kalima is from a different root (k-l-m).