The Spanish Language

 

la alhambraLa Alhambra – Palace of the Moorish rulers

Arabic influence on the Spanish language

The arabic influence in the Spanish language stems from the moorish occupation of Spain that lasted for 500 years. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ended the moorish occupation and Spain became a united reign.

Estimates of the number of Arabic loanwords in the Spanish language range from 2000 to 3000 words, a majority of which are nouns, with a more limited number of verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions, thus not substantially changing the grammar or basic structure of the language. The exact number of words of Arabic origin in Spanish is not known. Many Arabism’s not included on this list are regionalisms: words which are used in certain parts of Spain and/or Latin America but are generally unknown elsewhere.

  1. aceite: oil. From Arabic az-zayt (الزيت) “oil.”
  2. aceituna: olive. From Arabic الزيتون (az-zaytun) “olive.”
  3. ajedrez: chess. From Arabic ash shitrang (الشطرنج).
  4. alcohol: from Arabic al-kuhul (الكحول) fine powder of antimony sulfide used as eye makeup.
  5. algodón, “cotton”, from Arabic “al-qutn”, meaning “the cotton”
  6. alhaja: jewel. From Arabic al-hagah “the valuable thing.”
  7. almacén: deposit. From Arabic al-majzan of makhzan (المخزن) “the storage” or “the depot.”
  8. almanaque: almanac. From Arabic al-manakh (المناخ) “the climate.” Or possibly from Greek almenichiakon “calendar.”
  9. azafrán: saffron. From Arabic za’firan of the same meaning. Perhaps from safra “yellow.”
  10. azúcar: sugar. From Arabic (سكر) sukkar of the same meaning.
  11. azul: Blue. Derived from Arabic Lazaward.
  12. café: coffee. From قهوة (qáhwa) of the same meaning.
  13. cero: zero. From صفر (sifr) of the same meaning.
  14. escabeche: Pickle or marinade. From Arabic as-sukbaj. Originally from Persian Sekba.
  15. hasta: Until. From Arabic حتى hatta (same meaning).
  16. jirafa: giraffe. From ziraffa (زرافة) of the same meaning.
  17. latón: brass. From Arabic latun from Turkish altin “gold.”
  18. lima: lime. From Arabic limah of the same meaning.
  19. ojalá: I hope; I wish. From law šaʾ allāh (وشاءالله), “God willing.”
  20. ¡olé!: The most famous expression of approval, support or encouragement, comes from wa-Allah والله , by Allah!