What are ARABISMS: examples and meaning

Arabisms are words of Arabic origin that are part of the Spanish language.. There are more than 4,000 Arabisms in our language. We tell you in a Teacher!

The Arabs dominated a large part of the Iberian Peninsula through the years 711 and 1492, more than 700 years! Therefore, it is not surprising that they left part of their culture, their gastronomy, their music and their art here. But, what many people do not know is that part of the Arab-Muslim legacy can also be seen in our language, since their language had a great influence on Spanish.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR, we want to explain what are arabisms with examples so you can see where some of the most used words in our language come from. With the examples you will be able to see the clear influence of Arabic in our dictionary.

Index

1. What are Arabisms?
2. Examples of Arabisms
3. How to identify Arabisms

During the centuries in which we had a Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula,

There are many Arabisms in our vocabulary, exceeding 4,000 words. Some very clear examples are the words "basil", "lemon" or "lute". These three words show us how the Arab identity was intertwined in a very organic way with Spanish, adding linguistic nuances such as the prefix "al-", the aspirated pronunciation of the letter "h" and the suffix "-i" for gentiles.

In addition to words, the Arabic influence extended to various disciplines and fields of knowledge. During the Middle Ages, the Muslim civilization had advances in areas such as cooking, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing, warfare, and science (mathematics, astronomy, and medicine). The advances and techniques introduced by the Arabs were directly assimilated by Christians without the need to create new words.

It is important to highlight that the Arabic influence in Spanish is not limited only to words, but has left a very deep mark on the cultural identity from certain regions. In it south of SpainIn particular, you can find a strong Arab imprint that is manifested in architecture, traditions, gastronomy and music.

In a Teacher we discover you what are loanwords.

we leave you with some examples of arabisms and its definition, so you can see that the origin of the word clearly comes from Muslim culture.

• Pillow: from the Arabic "al-mujadda", which means "what is placed under the cheek"
• Chess: from "ash-shatranj", meaning "the game of kings"
• Number: from the Arabic "sifr", which means "zero" or "nothing"
• Carrot: from the Arabic "zahra", which means "the flower"
• Ojalá: from "inshallah" (law šá lláh), meaning "God willing." It is used to express a wish or hope.
• Guitar: from "qitara", which means "stringed instrument".
• Basil: From "al-habaqa", meaning "herb". It is used to refer to the aromatic plant used in cooking.
• Acequia: from "as-saqiya", which means "the one that waters". It is used to refer to the irrigation channel used in agriculture.
• Alcázar: from "al-qasr", which means "the palace". It is used to refer to the fortification or residence of a ruler.
• Mayor: from "al-qadi", meaning "the judge". It is used to refer to the municipal authority.
• Andalusia: derived from Al Andalus, an Arabic name under the Muslim occupation.
• Algeciras: derived from Al Jazeera Al Khadra, "the green island".
• Almería: Al Meraya, “observation tower”.
• Guadalquivir (River): Al–wadi Al-kabir, “the great river”.
• Medina Sidonia: town in the province of Cádiz, derived from the Arabic Madinat, "city"

More examples of Arabisms

Have you fallen short? examples of arabisms What have we presented to you? Well, here we leave you with a list that contains many more. If one of them catches your eye, do not hesitate to search for its origin and compare it with the current meaning of the word:

• Olive
• Acorn
• Lute
• Sugar
• Cotton
• Lemon
• Champion
• Drum
• Dungeon
• At sign
• Hashish
• Yemeni
• Chess
• Feat
• Dagger
• Basil
• Arsenal
• Algorithm
• Construction worker
• Overcoat
• Carrot
• Albace
• Marinade
• souk
• Dace
• Slacker
• Islam
• piggy bank
• Tile
• Blonde
• Alcazar
• Skirt
• Noria
• Guitar
• Cobble
• Nasrid
• Orange
• Hostage
• Kermes
• Hopefully
• Magnet
• imela
• Task
• Given
• Set
• Pillow
• Customs
• square

In unProfesor we offer you a tour of the formation of the Romance languages.

It is fascinating how these cultural influences have left their mark on our language and names. of places that we use in our day to day, but how to know if a word comes from the Muslim language? When we want to know if a word in spanish comes from arabic, there are two key clues that can help us identify its origin in a very schematic way.

The first is to detect if the word begins with the prefix "al-", which works in Arabic like our "el" or "la" articles. Here are some examples that will help you understand this first clue: bedroom, mayor, bricklayer, basil, warehouse, rent, alcohol, cotton, and piggy bank. There are even some well-known places that start with this prefix and, therefore, we can detect its Arabic influence: Alcalá, Albarracín, Albacete, Almería, Algeciras, etc.

On the other hand, there is a second way to detect if a word in Spanish has an Arabic past. This is if the prefix by which begins is "gua-" which means "river" in Arabic. Many names of places and rivers in the Iberian Peninsula carry this prefix. For example: Guadalajara, Guadarrama, Guadalquivir, Guadiana, etc.

Now you know what the meaning of arabisms and you've seen some examples. If you want to continue discovering some of the secrets of the Spanish language, take a look at our section on history of the language, where we will accompany you on a tour of each of the curiosities that our language.

If you want to read more articles similar to Arabisms: examples and meaning, we recommend that you enter our category of Grammar and Linguistics.

• Garcia, f. m. (2012). Orientalism and colonial ideology in Spanish Arabism (1840-1917). Arab Studies Shelf, 23, 149-155.
• Morera, M. (1999). Spanish Arabism "until", its formal and semantic evolution.