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The Spanish-Arabic Connection
The introduction of Arabic words in Spanish began in the eighth century, although even before that, some words of Latin and Greek originally had roots in Arabic.
When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance, there was a place of immense sophistication and beauty in Muslim Spain?
Not only was Muslim Spain artistic, scientific and commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry. Moors, as the Spaniards call the Muslims, populated Spain for over 700 years (711 - 1492 AD).
If you speak either Spanish or English, you probably know more Arabic than you think you do. After Latin and English, Arabic is probably the biggest contributor of words to the Spanish language, and a large portion of English-Spanish cognates (words that the two language share) that don’t come from Latin, come from Arabic.
The English words you are most likely to think of as Arabic origin are those that start with “al-,” words such as “algebra,” “Allah,” “alkali” and “alchemy,” and they exist in Spanish as algebra, Ala, alkali and alkimia, respectively. But these are not the only Arabic words in Spanish. A variety of other types of common words such as “coffee,’ “zero” and “sugar” (cafe, cero and azucar in Spanish) also come from Arabic.
The introduction of Arabic words in Spanish began in the eighth century, although even before that, some words of Latin and Greek originally had roots in Arabic. People living in what is now Spain spoke Latin at one time, but over the centuries Spanish and other Romance languages such as French and Italian gradually differentiated themselves. The Latin dialect that eventually became Spanish was highly influenced by the Arabic-speaking Moors in 711. For many centuries, Latin/Spanish and Arabic existed side by side, and even today many names of Spanish places retain Arabic roots. e.g. the name Gibraltar derives from the Arabic Jabal-al-Tarik (mount of Tarik).
It was not until late in the 15th century, that the Spanish inquisition expelled the Muslims, and by then literally thousands of Arabic words had become part of Spanish.
There are nearly 5000 words of Arabic origin in Spanish. Following are just some of the most common Arabic origin Spanish words you will come across. As you can see, many of the words also are a part of English. Although it is believed that the English words like “alfalfa” and “alcove,” which originally were Arabic, entered English by way of Spanish, (alfalfa and alcoba), most Arabic words in English probably entered English by other routes.
Arabic-origin Spanish words = English
aceite - oil
adobe - adobe
aduana - customs - as at a border
ajedrez - chess
Ala - Allah
al-acran - scorpion
al-bacora - albacore
al-bahaca - basil
al-cade - mayor
al-coba - bedroom, alcove
al-cohol - alcohol
al-dea - village - alderman
al-fombra - carpet
al-garroba - carob
al-ghattas - alcatraz - as pelican
al-godon - cotton
al-gontmo - algorithm
al-kimia - alchemy
al-macen - storage
al-manaque - almanac
al-mirante - admiral
al-mohada - pillow
al-qasr - alcazar - fortress
al-quiler - rent
amalgama - amalgam
arroz - rice
asesino - assassin
atun - tuna
ayatola - ayatollah
azafran - saffron
azucar - sugar
azul - blue - azure
bano - bathroom
barrio - district
berenjena - eggplant
cafe - coffee
cero - zero
chisme - gossip, gadget
Coran - Koran
cuzcuz - couscous
dado - die - singular of “dice”
embarazada - pregnant
espinaca - spinach
fez - fez
fulano - what’s-his-name
(www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles)
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