# אחלה and יאללה



## Zeevdovtarnegolet

Is the stress here on the first or second syllable?  Are Arabic expressions like this and "yalla " confined to use among youth and colloquially or do they creep into writing and have a wider use.


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## origumi

First syllable. Yalla is very popular for many years, 100 or so, and therefore used a lot. Akhla is younger in Hebrew but also known to everybody, although reserved for casual talk.


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

I don't really understand yalla is it supposed to mean "come on" or something?  I know people say yalla bye a lot lol.


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## origumi

By yalla you usually urge or encourage someone to do something. But it also expresses the intention to move onward, so yalla bye means let's say goodbye and depart. Sort of "Roger and out".


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

oh ok hehe.  Is the usage of these sorts of Arabic expressions really widespread?  Do grannies say yalla bye? lol


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## origumi

Yalla is old, yalla bye is new, maybe two decades or so. It's idiomatic, not just a sum of the two ideas. Many of today's grandmothers were in their 40s when yalla bye spread, so they may use it.


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## Zeevdovtarnegolet

Would any subsections of society avoid using these words? Or are they pretty much ubiquitous?


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## Egmont

I'd say they're pretty ubiquitous. If there's any segment of society that doesn't use them, it would have to be people who for some reason weren't in military service.

By the way, the translation "Onward!" fits just about all of its meanings. It can be addressed to others or used about oneself.


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## ks20495

> If there's any segment of society that doesn't use them, it would have to be people who for some reason weren't in military service.



There definitely is military slang. But, words like יאללה and אחלה are not part of it. There are tons of native Hebrew speakers who didn't serve in the army (בר רפאלי and אייל גולן, just to name to) who most certainly use them. They're words that are ubiquitous enough that they are heard in practically every home.


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## Egmont

ks20495 said:


> There definitely is military slang. But, words like יאללה and אחלה are not part of it. There are tons of native Hebrew speakers who didn't serve in the army (בר רפאלי and אייל גולן, just to name to) who most certainly use them. They're words that are ubiquitous enough that they are heard in practically every home.


I didn't mean that it's specifically military slang (it's not, I used it much earlier than age 18) or that the army is the only place to learn it. All I meant was that, if you didn't hear it anywhere else, you'd at least hear it there, so that if there's anyone who doesn't know it, they weren't there.

Sorry for any confusion.


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## OsehAlyah

origumi said:


> By yalla you usually urge or encourage someone to do something. But it also expresses the intention to move onward


From this description it almost sounds like one of the meanings for "Nu".


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## Omerik

Egmont said:


> I didn't mean that it's specifically military slang (it's not, I used it much earlier than age 18) or that the army is the only place to learn it. All I meant was that, if you didn't hear it anywhere else, you'd at least hear it there, so that if there's anyone who doesn't know it, they weren't there.
> 
> Sorry for any confusion.


You'd hear it anywhere else as well... If you go to work or study somewhere, you'll hear it just the same way that you would in the army. I don't see how the army is different here. It is used in sporting events to support a team or an individual, in popular TV shows, and even in songs. People hear it everywhere, including in their homes with their families. It's practically a word in Hebrew, which happens to have an Arabic origin.


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