Sound that moves: קוֹלְנוֹעַ

קוֹלְנוֹעַ

kol-NO-a, cinema.

Split it in two: קוֹל (kol) is a voice or a sound, and נוֹעַ (no’a) means moving. So קוֹלְנוֹעַ is sound that moves.

In the silent-film days, Hebrew speakers called the movies רְאִינוֹעַ (re’inoa): רְאִי is a mirror, an image. Moving pictures, no sound. In the 1930s the films started talking, and the word got a voice too.¹

How Israelis use it today:

• Going to the moviesהָלַכְנוּ לַקּוֹלְנוֹעַ אֶתְמוֹל.We went to the cinema yesterday.halachnu la-kolno’a etmol
• The buildingיֵשׁ בֵּית קוֹלְנוֹעַ קָרוֹב לַבַּיִת שֶׁלִּי.There’s a movie theatre near my house.yesh beit kolno’a karov la-bayit sheli
• The art of filmהִיא לוֹמֶדֶת קוֹלְנוֹעַ בָּאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה.She’s studying film at university.hi lomedet kolno’a ba-universita

1. Eureka, “What was the re’inoa?” (Hebrew); Pealim, קולנוע.