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30 September 2005

Spanish Arabic Connection

This is a list of some Spanish words borrowed from the Arabic Language:
aceite — oil Alá — Allah alberca — tank, swimming pool alcade — mayor alcohol — alcohol aldea — village (same source as English word "alderman") algarroba — carob algodón — cotton algoritmo — algorithm alkimia — alchemy almohada — pillow alquiler — rent arroz — rice asesino — assassin atún — tuna ayatolá — ayatollah azafrán — saffron azúcar — sugar baño — bathroom berenjena — eggplant Corán — Koran cuzcuz — couscous espinaca — spinach fulano — what's-his-name gacela — gazelle guitarra — guitar hachís — hashish hasta — until imán — imam islam — Islam jaque — check (in chess) jaque mate — checkmate jirafa — giraffe limón — lemon mezquita — mosque momia — mummy muslim — muslim ojalá — I hope, God willing olé — bravo ramadán — Ramadan rehén — hostage rincón — corner, nook

5 comments:

  1. This is only a subset of a much longer one. Many place names in Iberia have Arabic origins also.

    However, you cannot count culture-specific names as loaned into a language, simply because they cnnot have a native counterpart! From your list: Corán, Islam, mezquita, momia.

    You might find it interesting to know that almost ALL of the sceintific names of stars and constellations in European languages come from Arabic.

    By the way, why don't you blog in Arabic?

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  2. Yeah I know, but I liked to add some of the words not all of them.
    And, I do blog in arabic but this is my english blog anyway
    http://kelmeteen.blogspot.com/

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  3. I think yours is an interesting site - lots of great information in a sharp format. I saw your site profiled on Shirazi's blog. Now I plan to visit often.

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  4. With your permission, I would like to add your site to my links.

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  5. Sure you can, you needn't to ask pal

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