Spanish words of Arabic origin

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Marianopolita

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Good topic to revisit Chiri. Anyone who studies Spanish formally will eventually learn a little about the origins of words in the language. The influence of Arabic in Spanish is inevitable due to presence of the Moors in Spain for centuries. The influence is not only in the language but in many cultural aspects too thus the reference to la cultura moz?rabe in many historical readings.

I always joke with my clients when they ask me about certain Spanish words. I tell them if it?s hard to pronounce, it?s Arabic meaning Spanish is such a phonetic language therefore, pronunciation is relatively easy compared to let?s say English or French. They get it right away.

The list in the link is good and I like that the author categorized the words. I was expecting to see alcachofa on the list. In general, words that have al--- tend to be of Arabic origin as mentioned in the article. Of course there are exceptions. As well, the blogger should have mentioned a key geographical name Al-Andalus which is very Arabic and refers to the Southern territory occupied by the Moors which is now the Southern part of Spain.


Some the real obvious words in the list in my opinion are:

Naranja

Alfombra

Algod?n

Almohada

Ajedrez

Ojal?

Mazamorra


There is nothing Latin sounding about these words. There are some surprise words on the list too. I will look at video when I have a moment.


-MP.
 
C

Chirimoya

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A slight digression would be all the Arabic place names in Spain and consequently in Latin America, like Guadalajara, from the Arabic Wadi Al-Bajara, River of the Stones.
Guada is from Wadi - river. Guadalquivir - Wadi Al-Kebir - big river.
The name of my hometown Gibraltar is also derived from the Arabic Jebel Tarik - Mount Tarik -after Tarik Ibn Ziyad who landed there in 711, at the start of the Moorish conquest.
Nearby in Spain we have Algeciras (the island - Al-Jazireh - like the TV station) and many towns and villages with very Arabic sounding names (Benaoj?n, Zahara, Benalm?dena).

Then there are all the Spanish surnames of Arabic origin, many of which are common in the DR - Medina, Alm?nzar, etc.
 
M

Marianopolita

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Good information.

Yes, the DR and the Spanish Caribbean in general are full of surnames of Arabic origin as well as other parts of Latin America. History tied to colonization really played a role as to why some regions have more Arabic surnames than others. Colombia for example, is full of Arabic surnames like the DR and Cuba.


Back to words of Arabic origin....interesting stuff.


-MP.
 
G

GinzaGringo

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I studied Arabic for four years and have picked up Spanish through travel and later through mi esposa. Besides individual words, the similarity I always found most interesting is the "el" and "al" construct, which is used in a similar fashion in both languages.
 
V

Virgo

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Marianopolita said:
Good information.

Yes, the DR and the Spanish Caribbean in general are full of surnames of Arabic origin as well as other parts of Latin America. History tied to colonization really played a role as to why some regions have more Arabic surnames than others. Colombia for example, is full of Arabic surnames like the DR and Cuba.
Click to expand...
The DR and much of Iberian America have had significant Arab immigration (mostly from the area around Lebanon). SD has a renown Lebanese-Syrian-Palestinian Club.

And excellent example (this time of the year) is ABINADER. His wife is ARBAJE. A Dominican VP who briefly occupied the presidency was Jacobo MAJLUTA AZAR.

San Pedro's senator will be HAZIN (whose family runs the UCE university). And so on.

And many others. Some of these people look Arab from the distance.

Interestingly, in the DR (and I think in several other places in the Americas) they aren't called Arabs but "turcos" (Turks). The reason seems to be that when they started to appear as migrants their land was part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, and in fact they carried a Turkish passport.

Here is Jacobo Majluta.
Jacobo_Majluta_Azar.JPG
 
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rubio_higuey

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This will not be a politically correct question, but are most of these Dominicans of Arabic origin Muslims or Christian?

Another curiosity,
El Sobrino de Monchy also carries Arabic surname.
 
V

Virgo

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Marianopolita said:
Good topic to revisit Chiri. Anyone who studies Spanish formally will eventually learn a little about the origins of words in the language. The influence of Arabic in Spanish is inevitable...
-MP.
Click to expand...
In the DR and a few other places FRANELA means camiseta (underwear for the upper body, often sleeveless). I understand in Arabic there is a similar word that means approximately the same.

In other Spanish speaking areas, franela is a fabric.
 
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V

Virgo

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rubio_higuey said:
This will not be a politically correct question, but are most of these Dominicans of Arabic origin Muslims or Christian?

Another curiosity,
El Sobrino de Monchy also carries Arabic surname.
Click to expand...

The vast majority (not to say all) are Christians. Not sure if they converted after arriving or were Christian originally (in Lebanon there is a strong Christian presence).

Yes, the FADUL are also "turcos".
There is also ARNAUD (deceased father, and living son), WESSIN (deceased father and living son, minor party), HAZOURI (Cap Cana, UNIBE, and much else), LAMA (Plaza Lama), HACH? (ferreter?a), RAFUL (poet, politician), and many others
 
C

Chirimoya

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Sephardic and Oriental (Mizrahi) Jews were also known as turcos in some Latin American countries, for the same reason, because most came from the old Ottoman empire.
Azkenazi (European) Jews, meanwhile, were known as polacos.
 
D

Derfish

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rubio_higuey said:
This will not be a politically correct question, but are most of these Dominicans of Arabic origin Muslims or Christian?

Another curiosity,
El Sobrino de Monchy also carries Arabic surname.
Click to expand...

Are there more than a thousand Muslims in the DR? I doubt it. Probably closer to a dozen.
 
frank recktenwald

frank recktenwald

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www.rentalmetrocountry.com
The Spanish and the French occupied Holland also for awhile and the Dutch have many words that are originally Spanish and French.
The Philippines used to be Spanish and look how many Spanish words they have in their vocabulary and how many have Spanish surnames.
 
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