# راح (raaH) / روح (rawwaH)



## Idris

Can anyone explain the difference? Thanks.


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## Josh_

Hi Idris,

This probably depends on which dialect you are talking about and what context the words are in.  

As far as the Egyptian dialect goes, _raaH_ is generally a verb that means "to go" and _rawwaH_ is a verb that means either "to go home" or "to take home" depending on whether it is used intransitively or transitively.


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## Idris

I've heard this in Jordanian, Palestinian, and Saudi dialects. I'm sure it is also used in other dialects, as you pointed out. Someone told me that rawwaH is used when talking about going to far off places, such as another country. But is it okay to use raaH where rawwaH should be used?


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## WadiH

Idris said:


> Someone told me that rawwaH is used when talking about going to far off places



I don't think so.  I think "rawwaH" is more like "left" whereas "raaH" is a more generic "went."  People also often say "rawwaH" to mean "went back home" (e.g. after work).




> , such as another country. But is it okay to use raaH where rawwaH should be used?



Yes.


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## elroy

Idris said:


> Someone told me that rawwaH is used when talking about going to far off places, such as another country.


 Not in Palestinian Arabic. 





> But is it okay to use raaH where rawwaH should be used?


 Again, not in Palestinian Arabic.

In Palestinian Arabic, it is as Josh has described.  The two verbs are not interchangeable.


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## WadiH

elroy said:


> Again, not in Palestinian Arabic.
> 
> In Palestinian Arabic, it is as Josh has described.  The two verbs are not interchangeable.



Can't you say راح البيت instead of روح?


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## elroy

Wadi Hanifa said:


> Can't you say راح البيت instead of روح?


 You can say راح *على *البيت, but not just راح.


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## Idris

I remember once a Palestinian friend of mine saying "rawwaHat?" to me, meaning to ask me whether or not I went to my country for the vacations. Also, I've heard Jordanian (and perhaps Palestinian, too) students saying "Ana murawwiH" when they want to say they are going home (not to their countries, but where they live in the same city). I conclude from this is "rawwaH" is used for far off places.


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## elroy

Idris said:


> I remember once a Palestinian friend of mine saying "rawwaHat?" to me, meaning to ask me whether or not I went to my country for the vacations. Also, I've heard Jordanian (and perhaps Palestinian, too) students saying "Ana murawwiH" when they want to say they are going home (not to their countries, but where they live in the same city). I conclude from this is "rawwaH" is used for far off places.


 How so??? 

Both of your examples involve going _home_ (you were going to *your country* on vacation, and the students you referred to were going *home*).  And in the second example, the places the students were going to were _not_ far away; they were in the same city!

I guarantee you that in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" has nothing to do with distance and everything to do with whether the place you are going to is _home_.

If you were going to travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic to go on vacation somewhere that you did not consider home, you would not say that you were going to "rawweH" to that place.  And you can "rawweH" to a place that's only a few feet away; if you were hanging out at your neighbor's apartment on the fifth floor and your apartment was on the fourth floor, you would "rawweH" to your apartment just a couple flights of stairs away.


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## djamal 2008

Actually, the arabic language doesn't have the alif. In origin, it's either a waw or a ya (ي).


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## Idris

elroy said:


> I guarantee you that in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" has nothing to do with distance and everything to do with whether the place you are going to is _home_.
> 
> If you were going to travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic to go on vacation somewhere that you did not consider home, you would not say that you were going to "rawweH" to that place. And you can "rawweH" to a place that's only a few feet away; if you were hanging out at your neighbor's apartment on the fifth floor and your apartment was on the fourth floor, you would "rawweH" to your apartment just a couple flights of stairs away.


 
I see. So in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" cannot be used for anything else except to indicate going home? Is it the same case with the other dialects? What about Jordanian or Saudi?


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## WadiH

In Saudi Arabia, it's hardly used at all, except in its imperative form (_rawwiH_), which means "proceed" or "go ahead."


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## elroy

Idris said:


> I see. So in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" cannot be used for anything else except to indicate going home? Is it the same case with the other dialects? What about Jordanian or Saudi?


 Yes, that's the way it is in Palestinian Arabic.  I imagine it's the same in Jordanian.  Wadi answered your question about Saudi.


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## djara

Idris said:


> I see. So in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" cannot be used for anything else except to indicate going home? Is it the same case with the other dialects? What about Jordanian or Saudi?



Exactly the same usage in Tunisian Arabic.


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## shining_star24

Yes, the usage of both words are the same in both Palestinian and Jordanian dialects .. but at the first glance I read it as Rawi7 which is an imperative tense to say " come back home NOW" . Usually used by parents when we are late


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## Mahaodeh

In Iraq, rawwa7 it may be used to mean "he made him/her/it go/go away/disapear/leave". Example: روّح البقعة من القميص = he made the stain disappear from the shirt; روّحت أختها للمدرسة = she made her sister go to school.

It also has nothing to do with distance.


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## cherine

Idris said:


> So in Palestinian Arabic, "rawwaH" cannot be used for anything else except to indicate going home? Is it the same case with the other dialects?


It is the case in Egypt. rawwaH only means "went home". Even when used in a more complex sentence, like: روَّح الأولاد ورجع = he took the kids home than came back. But it's still about going hom or taking someone to his/her home. 


Idris said:


> I remember once a Palestinian friend of mine saying "rawwaHat?" to me, meaning to ask me whether or not I went to my country for the vacations. Also, I've heard Jordanian (and perhaps Palestinian, too) students saying "Ana murawwiH" when they want to say they are going home (not to their countries, but where they live in the same city). I conclude from this is "rawwaH" is used for far off places.


I understand how you guessed that meaning, but you should also focus on the idea that these examples were mainly about going home, be it your home in another country, or your friend's home a few or many blocks away.

P.S. In Egyptian, راح can be used with hom to mean going home (like rawwaH): أنا حروح البيت الأول وبعدين أنزل مع اصحابي (I'll go home first, then go out with my friends).


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