Learn Arabic › B2 › حِكايَة
حِكايَة
story, tale /ħɪˈkaː.ja/
nounB2#3032 most common
Also: narrative, yarn (informal), saga (informal)
Example sentences
هذه حِكايةٌ جميلةٌ.
This is a beautiful story.
أُحِبُّ أَنْ أَقْرَأَ حِكايةً قبل النوم.
I like to read a story before sleeping.
حَكَتْ لنا جَدَّتي حِكايةً عن الماضي.
My grandmother told us a story about the past.
كانت الحِكايةُ أكثرَ تعقيدًا مما توقعتُ.
The story turned out more complicated than I expected.
تحمل هذه الحِكايةُ الشعبية دلالاتٍ رمزيةً عميقةً تعكس قيم المجتمع.
This folk tale carries deep symbolic meanings that reflect the values of society.
على الرغم من بساطةِ الحِكايةِ الظاهرةِ، فإنها تنطوي على نقدٍ اجتماعيٍّ لاذعٍ لمؤسساتِ السلطةِ.
Despite the story's apparent simplicity, it carries a scathing social critique of institutions of power.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | حِكَايَةٌ (ḥikāyatun) | حِكَايَاتٌ (ḥikāyātun) |
| Genitive | حِكَايَةٍ (ḥikāyatin) | حِكَايَاتٍ (ḥikāyātin) |
| Accusative | حِكَايَةً (ḥikāyatan) | حِكَايَاتٍ (ḥikāyātin) |
| Vocative | يا حِكَايَةُ (yā ḥikāyatu) | يا حِكَايَاتُ (yā ḥikāyātu) |
Word family
حَكَىto tell, narrate
حَاكِيnarrator; (colloquial) phonograph
مُحَاكَاةimitation, simulation
حِكَايَاتstories, tales (plural)
حِكَائِيّnarrative (relating to storytelling)
Etymology
حِكايَة is a verbal noun from the Arabic verb حَكَى (ḥakā), built on the triliteral root ح-ك-ي. The root's core sense is imitation or mimicry, and the meaning shifted toward recounting or narrating, since telling a story often means reenacting someone's words or actions. This is a native Semitic development, not a borrowing.
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