مرحبا

Arabic

Arabic phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Root
ر ح ب (r ḥ b)
3 terms

Etymology

Related to the verb رَحِبَ (raḥiba, “to be wide”). (The verb رَحَّبَ (raḥḥaba, “to make welcome, to receive graciously”) is derived from this term.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mar.ħa.ban/, (pausa) /mar.ħa.baː/

Interjection

مَرْحَبًا • (marḥaban)

1. hello, welcome

Descendants

• Maltese: merħba
• Moroccan Arabic: مرحبا (marḥba)
• → Afar: marcabá
• → Northern Kurdish: merheba
• → Ottoman Turkish: مرحبا
  • Turkish: merhaba
  • → Bulgarian: мерхаба́ (merhabá), ме́рхаба (mérhaba), мараба́ (marabá)
  • → Macedonian: мерхаба (merhaba)
  • → Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ме̏рха̄ба

    Latin script: mȅrhāba

  • Turkish: merhaba
• → Classical Persian: مَرْحَبَا (marhabā), مَرْحَبًا (marhaban)
  • Tajik: марҳабо (marhabo) (rare, archaic)
  • → Hindustani:
    • Hindi: मरहबा (marhabā)
    • Urdu: مَرْحَبَا (marhabā)
  • → Bengali: মরহাবা (môrhaba)
  • → Pashto: مرحبا (marḥabā)
  • → Punjabi:
    • Gurmukhi script: ਮਰਹਬਾ (marhabā)
    • Shahmukhi script: مرحبا (marḥabā)
• → Swahili: marahaba
• → Zazaki: merheba

Hijazi Arabic

Hijazi Arabic phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Root
ر ح ب
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mar.ħa.ba/

Interjection

مرحبا • (marḥaba)

1. welcome
2. hello

Inflection

Inflected forms of مرحبا
Base form					مرحبا (marḥaba)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		مرحبا بي (marḥabā bi)		مرحبا بنا (marḥabā bana)
2nd person		مرحبا بَك (marḥabā bak)	مرحبا بِك (marḥabā bik)	مرحبا بكم (marḥabā bakum)
3rd person		مرحبا بُه (marḥabā bu)	مرحبا بها (marḥabā baha)	مرحبا بهم (marḥabā bahum)

Moroccan Arabic

Moroccan Arabic phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Etymology

From Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /marħba/

Interjection

مرحبا • (marḥba)

1. welcome

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Interjection

مرحبا • (merḥaba)

1. hello

Descendants

• Turkish: merhaba
• → Bulgarian: мерхаба́ (merhabá), ме́рхаба (mérhaba), мараба́ (marabá)
• → Macedonian: мерхаба (merhaba)
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: ме̏рха̄ба

  Latin script: mȅrhāba

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [maɾ.ha.ˈβɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.hä.bɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.hä.bɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mä.ɾä.bɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mä.ɾä.bɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæɹ.hæ.bɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäɾ.hä.bɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	marhaḇā
Dari reading?	marhabā
Iranian reading?	marhabâ
Tajik reading?	marhabo

Interjection

Dari	مرحبا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	марҳабо

مرحبا • (marhabâ)

1. bravo, good job

   Synonyms: آفرین (âfarin), بارک الله (bârek allâh), ماشا الله (mâšâllâh)

2. (archaic) hello, welcome
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 186:

     سلیمی را برآمد جان پی یک مرحبا وز ناز
     نکرد آن سنگدل با دردمندان مرحبا هرگز

     salīmī rā bar-āmad jān pa-yi yak marhabā w-az nāz
     na-kard ān sangdil bā dardmandān marhabā hargiz

     Selim's soul came forth for the sake of a single hello, and out of coquettishness
     That hard-hearted one never said a hello to those in pain [out of unrequited love for her].

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “مرحبا”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

South Levantine Arabic

South Levantine Arabic phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Etymology

From Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mar.ħa.ba/, [ˈmɑr.ħɑ.bɑ]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Interjection

مرحبا • (marḥaba)

1. hello

   Synonym: (informal) هلا (hala)

Usage notes

• People usually respond to مرحبا (marḥaba) with its dual or plural form:
  • مرحبتين (marḥabtēn, literally “two hellos”)
  • مراحب (marāḥeb, literally “many hellos”)

See also

• أهلا (ʔahla, “welcome”), أهلا وسهلا (ʔahla w-sahla, “welcome”)