Spanish’s Arab Connection
Language of the Moors is Major Contributor to Vocabulary
If you speak either Spanish or English, you probably speak more Arabic than you think you do. It’s not “real” Arabic you’re speaking, but rather words that come Arabic. 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’re 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 álgebra, Alá, álkali and alkimia, respectively. But they are far from the only ones. A variety of other types of common words such as “coffee,” “zero” and “sugar” (café, cero and azúcar in Spanish) also come from Arabic.
The etymology of English words goes beyond the scope of this article, but the introduction of Arabic words into Spanish began in earnest in the eighth century, although even before then some words of Latin and Greek origin had roots in Arabic. People living in what is now Spain spoke Latin at one time, of course, 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 invasion of the Arabic-speaking Moors in 711. For many centuries, Latin/Spanish and Arabic existed side by side, and even today many Spanish place names retain Arabic roots. It wasn’t until late in the 15th century that the Moors were expelled, and by then literally thousands of Arabic words had become part of Spanish.
Following are some of the most common Arabic-origin Spanish words you’ll come across. As you can see, many of the words also are a part of English. Although it is believed that the English words “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. Not all possible English translations of the Spanish words are listed.
aceite – oil adobe – adobe aduana – customs (as at a border) ajedrez – chess Alá – Allah alacrán – scorpion albacora – albacore albahaca – basil alcade – mayor alcoba – bedroom, alcove alcohol – alcohol aldea – village (same source as English word “alderman”) alfombra – carpet algarroba – carob algodón – cotton algoritmo – algorithm alkimia – alchemy almacén – storage almanaque – almanac almirante – admiral almohada – pillow alquiler – rent amalgama – amalgam arroz – rice asesino – assassin atún – tuna ayatolá – ayatollah azafrán – saffron azúcar – sugar azul – blue (same source as English “azure”) baño – bathroom barrio – district berenjena – eggplant burca – burqa café – coffee cero – zero chisme – gossip, gadget Corán – Koran cuzcuz – couscous dado – die (singular of “dice”) embarazada – pregnant espinaca – spinach | fez – fez fulano – what’s-his-name gacela – gazelle guitarra – guitar hachís – hashish harén – harem hasta – until imán – imam islam – Islam jaque – check (in chess) jaque mate – checkmate jirafa – giraffe laca – lacquer lila – lilac lima – lime limón – lemon macabro – macabre marfil – marble masacre – massacre masaje – massage máscara – mask mazapán – marzipan mezquita – mosque momia – mummy mono – monkey muslim – muslim naranja – orange ojalá – I hope, God willing olé – bravo paraíso – paradise ramadán – Ramadan rehén – hostage rincón – corner, nook sorbete – sherbet sofá – sofa rubio – blond talco – talc tamarindo – tamarind tarea – task tarifa – tariff toronja – grapefruit zanahoria – carrot |