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Oct. 10, 2005 It’s a fairly well-known fact that the Moors occupied Spain from 711 to 1492. At that earlier date, Portugal was a part of Spain and naturally came under Moorish domination. The Kingdom of Portugal was established in 868 but did not become independent of Spain until 1128. The expulsion of the Moors from Portugal took place in 1250, so we are left with the fact of over 500 years of Islamic rule in Portugal. Anyway, Portuguese navigators discovered Brazil, which is my present location, in the year 1500. I’ve known for many years that there are many Arabic words in the Spanish language, but only recently, as I began to dabble in Portuguese for my visit here, did I realize that there has been a signficant Arabic influence on the Portuguese language also. Many of the Arabic words in Portuguese have counterparts in Spanish, sometimes with predictable variations in spelling and pronunciation. But there are some Arabic words in Portuguese that do not appear in Spanish, and vice versa. Being somewhat acquainted with all three languages, I have been able to compile a tentative list, since I haven’t found a website that is fairly comprehensive. The words I have listed are ones whose cognates I already knew from Spanish, or ones whose prototypes I already knew from Arabic, or ones that look obviously Arabic. So the list is not necessarily 100% accurate, but even if you consult the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy at wordreference.com, you’1l find that Spanish words that seem to be of Arabic origin are not always known for a certainty to be so. Here is the pretty trustworthy list: Açafrão (saffron), acelga (chard), açoite (whip), açúcar (sugar), açucena (lily), aduana (customs), adubo (fertilizer), albatros (albatross), albergue (shelter), alcachofra (artichoke), alcaparra (caper: plant), alcatrão (tar), alcatraz (pelican), alcova (alcove), álcool (alcohol), aldeia (village), aldrava (knocker), alecrim (rosemary), alface (lettuce), alfafa (sic: alfalfa), alfaiate (tailor), alfãndega (customs), alfavaca (basil), alfazema (lavender), alferes (ensign), alfinete (pin), algarismo (digit), algazarra (hubbub, racket), álgebra (algebra), algodão (cotton), alguazil (city counselor), alicates (pliers) almanaque (almanac), almíscor (mistletoe), almirante (admiral), almoço (breakfast), almofada (pillow), almofariz (mortar: receptacle), almôndega (meatball), alquimia (alchemy), aluguel (rent), alvenaria (masonry), alvoroço (agitation), amido (starch), árabe (Arab), armazem (store), arroz (rice), atalaia (watchtower), ataúde (coffin), atum (tuna), azaléa (azalea), azeite (oil), azeitona (olive), azeviche (jet: stone), bairro (neighborhood), balde (bucket), berinjela (eggplant), cabide (hanger), café (coffee), calabouço (dungeon), califa (caliph), cânfora (camphor), cenoura (carrot), cifrar (to encode), dados (dice), damasco (apricot), enxofre (sulfur), gergelim (sesame), façanha (feat), garrafa (bottle), gengibre (ginger), ginete (horseman), girafa (giraffe), harém (harem), içar (to hoist), jarra (jar), jasmim (jasmine), javalí (wild boar), laranja (orange), lima (lime), limão (lemon), marfim (ivory), mesquita (mosque), múmia (mummy), nora (daughter-in-law), pêssego (peach), recife (reef), refém (hostage), safári (safári), safira (sapphire), sapato (shoe), sorvete (ice cream), talco (talc), tamarindo (tamarind), tambor (drum), tareia (task), tarifa (tariff), xadrez (chess), xarope (syrup), zénite (zenith), zero (zero). It should be evident that quite a few of these have found their way into English as well. I’ll just tell just a couple of etymologies. The Portuguese word ‘almôndega’ apparently is equivalent to Spanish ‘albóndiga’ (meatball). This comes from the Arabic word ‘al-bunduqiyya’, which is one of those round balls that used to be used as bullets in muskets in the old days. This, in turn, is from the Arabic work ‘al-bunduq’ (musket), which is undoubtedly from some other language ultimately, maybe Persian or Turkish. In Arabic, if a word has more than three consonants, the initial or terminal consonant will not be ‘b’ or ‘q’. ‘Alfândega’ (customs) is probably from ‘al-funduq’ (inn, hotel). It’s probably very likely that a wayside customshouse and a wayside inn were one and the same building at one time, or at least looked alike. ‘Adubo’ (fertilizer) is probably the same word as ‘adobe’ (sun-dried earth brick), from Arabic ‘at-tub’ (mud). Fertilizer and mortar both tend to look like mud. ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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