{"id":13616,"date":"2020-07-28T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T04:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=13616"},"modified":"2020-07-27T13:02:46","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T17:02:46","slug":"spanish-words-of-foreign-origin-arabismos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/spanish-words-of-foreign-origin-arabismos\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Words of Foreign Origin: Arabismos"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image from Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Arabismos<\/em> are Spanish words whose origins trace back to the Arabic language. There are plenty of them in la lengua de Cervantes<\/em>, a direct consequence of over seven centuries of Muslim dominance in the Iberian Peninsula.<\/p>\n

Words from Arabic appear often on everyday fields, like agriculture, manufacture, handicraft or manual labor, as that language left remarkable traces in the local Spanish and Portuguese cultures.<\/p>\n

In that sense, even proper names of many places are known to come directly from Arabic: \u201cAndaluc\u00eda\u201d, from \u201cal-andalus\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0652\u0623\u064e\u0646\u0652\u062f\u064f\u0644\u064f\u0633); \u201cGuadalajara\u201d, from \u201cw\u0101d\u012b l-\u1e25ij\u0101ra\u201d (\u0648\u064e\u0627\u062f\u0650\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0652\u062d\u0650\u062c\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629\u200e), meaning \u201cstony valley or river\u201d; and \u201cGibraltar\u201d, from \u201cjabal \u1e6d\u0101riq\u201d (\u062c\u064e\u0628\u064e\u0644 \u0637\u064e\u0627\u0631\u0650\u0642\u200e), meaning \u201cMountain of Tariq\u201d.<\/p>\n

Look at these few examples of arabismos<\/em>:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aceite<\/strong>: From \u201caz-z\u00e1yt\u201d (\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0632\u064a\u062a), the Spanish word for \u201coil\u201d. This is a near-synonym of \u201c\u00f3leo\u201d, though the latter is most used for \u201coil painting\u201d and \u201coil used for religious anointing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Aceituna<\/strong>: From \u201c\u0101z-zayt\u016bnah\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0632\u064a\u062a\u0648\u0646\u0629), \u201colive\u201d. It is easy to establish a link between this noun and \u201caz-z\u00e1yt\u201d, and we could even imagine how important olive was as an oil source\u2014be it as a food item or for combustion purposes\u2014that the plant name in Spanish became forever intertwined with \u201caceite\u201d.<\/p>\n

Albahaca<\/strong>: From \u201cal-habaqa\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u062d\u0628\u0642), Spanish for \u201cbasil\u201d.<\/p>\n

Alba\u00f1il<\/strong>: From \u201cal-bann\u00ed\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0628\u064e\u0646\u0650\u0651\u064a\u0651\u200e), it means \u201cmason\u201d or \u201cbricklayer\u201d.<\/p>\n

Alcanc\u00eda<\/strong>: From \u201cal-kanz\u00edyya\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0643\u0646\u0632\u064a\u0629), it means \u201cpiggy bank\u201d. The Arabic root \u201ckanz\u201d means \u201ctreasure\u201d.<\/p>\n

Algod\u00f3n<\/strong>: From \u201cal-qutun\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0637\u0646), a cognate of the English word \u201ccotton\u201d.<\/p>\n

Almohada<\/strong>: From \u201cal-mih\u00e1dda\u201d (\u0627\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0645\u0650\u062e\u064e\u062f\u064e\u0651\u0629\u200e), the Spanish noun for \u201cpillow\u201d.<\/p>\n

Alquimia:<\/strong> From \u201calkymia\u201d (\u0627\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u064a\u0645\u0652\u064a\u064e\u0627\u200e), which comes from Greek \u201cchyme\u00eda\u201d (\u201cliquid mix\u201d). This noun means \u201calchemy\u201d and was the source of the word \u201cqu\u00edmica\u201d (Spanish for \u201cchemistry\u201d).<\/p>\n

Arsenal<\/strong>: From \u201cdar as-sina’ah\u201d (\u062f\u064e\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0635\u0650\u0651\u0646\u064e\u0627\u0639\u064e\u0629\u200e), which originally meant \u201cmanufacturing shop\u201d in Arabic, it is now use to refer to any kind of stock or supply, especially of weapons.<\/p>\n

Azar:<\/strong> From \u201caz-zahr\u201d (\u0627\u0644\u0632\u064e\u0647\u0652\u0631\u200e), the Arabic word for \u201cdice\u201d, it may be used to express \u201cluck, chance\u201d\u2014as in the expression \u201cal azar\u201d (\u201cat random\u201d)\u2014or even \u201cmisfortune\u201d.<\/p>\n

Az\u00facar<\/strong>: From \u201cal-sukkar\u201d (\u0627\u064e\u0644\u0633\u064f\u0651\u0643\u064e\u0651\u0631\u200e), another cognate with an English word, this time with \u201csugar\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lim\u00f3n<\/strong>: From \u201claymun\u201d (\u0644\u064a\u0645\u0648\u0646), a cognate with the English word \u201clemon\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ojal\u00e1<\/strong>: \u200e From \u201claw \u0161\u00e1 ll\u00e1h\u201d (\u0648\u064e\u0634\u064e\u0627\u0621\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0651\u0670\u0647). It meant \u201cand may God will it\u201d in Hispanic Arabic. Now, it is a most useful interjection meaning \u201chopefully\u201d or \u201cif only\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tarea<\/strong>: From \u201ctariha\u201d (\u0637\u0631\u064a\u062d\u0629), \u201ctask, homework\u201d.<\/p>\n

Zanahoria<\/strong>: From \u201csafunn\u00e1rya\u201d (\u0625\u0650\u0633\u0652\u0641\u064e\u0646\u064e\u0627\u0631\u0650\u064a\u064e\u0651\u0629\u200e), this word stemmed in turn from the Greek word \u201cstaphyl\u00edn\u0113 agr\u00eda\u201d (\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u03af\u03bd\u03b7 \u1f00\u03b3\u03c1\u03af\u03b1), meaning \u201ccarrot\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keep tuned for more extranjerismos<\/em> in Spanish in my upcoming posts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Arabismos are Spanish words whose origins trace back to the Arabic language. There are plenty of them in la lengua de Cervantes, a direct consequence of over seven centuries of Muslim dominance in the Iberian Peninsula. Words from Arabic appear often on everyday fields, like agriculture, manufacture, handicraft or manual labor, as that language left…<\/p>\n

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