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)
4 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, մէրհապա (merhaba), մէրհապէն (merhaben) — Armeno-Turkish
  • Turkish: merhaba
  • → Bulgarian: мерхаба́ (merhabá), ме́рхаба (mérhaba), мараба́ (marabá)
  • → Macedonian: мерхаба (merhaba)
  • → Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ме̏рха̄ба

    Latin script: mȅrhāba

• → 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
• → Tigrinya: መርሓባ (märḥaba)
• → 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

Inherited from Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mar.ħa.ba/

Interjection

مرحبا • (marḥaba)

1. welcome
2. hello

Inflection

Inflection 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

Inherited from Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /marħba/

Interjection

مرحبا • (marḥba)

1. welcome

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• մէրհապա (merhaba), մէրհապէն (merhaben) — Armeno-Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Interjection

مرحباً • (merhaba)

1. hello, welcome

Descendants

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

  Cyrillic script: ме̏рха̄ба

  Latin script: mȅrhāba

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “merhaba”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3151b
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962), “merhabâ”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎ [Ottoman–Turkish Encyclopedic Dictionary]‎^[1] (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 741b
• Karapetean, Petros Zēkʻi (1912), “مرحبا”, in Mec baṙaran ōsmanerēnē hayerēn [Great Ottoman–Armenian Dictionary], Constantinople: Aršak Karōean, page 781a
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “مرحبا”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 1147b
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “merhaba”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Pōzačean, Yakovbos (1841), “մէրհապա [mērhapa]”, in Hamaṙōt baṙaran i tačkakanē i hay [Concise Ottoman–Armenian Dictionary]‎^[3], Vienna: Mekhitarist Press, page 568b
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “مرحبا”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[4], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1807a
• Şemseddin Sâmi (1899–1901), قاموس تركی [kamus-ı türki]‎^[5] (in Ottoman Turkish), Constantinople: İkdam Matbaası, page 1322c

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /mar.ha.ˈbaː/

 

• (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]

• Rhymes: -aː

Readings
Classical reading?	marhabā
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

Sindhi

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مَرْحَبَا (marhabā), from Arabic مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban).

Interjection

مَرَحِبَا • (maraḥibā) (Devanagari मरहिबा)

1. welcome

Further reading

• Sindhi Language Authority (2026), “مرحبا”, in Online Sindhi Dictionaries‎^[6]

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

Inherited 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”)