Influence of Arabic on world languages

  • Thread starter Thread starter manaal
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 29
  • Views Views 7K
In English

zenith: from 'سمت الرأس' abbreviated into 'سمت' through Old-French

nadir: from 'نَظِيرُ السَّمْت ' abbreviated into 'نَظِيرُ' through Medieval Latin

coffee: from ' قهوة' through Italian and Turkish

admiral: from 'amir al-rahl' through Old-French

In Turkish & Bosnian

sevdah: from 'sawdah'
Valla!: from 'wallah' 'By God!'

and much-much more
 
Al-Indunisiy said:
In English

zenith: from 'سمت الرأس' abbreviated into 'سمت' through Old-French

I thougt "azimuth" was borrowed "السمت" , your explanation is the correct one, apologies

nadir: from 'نَظِيرُ السَّمْت ' abbreviated into 'نَظِيرُ' through Medieval Latin

coffee: from ' قهوة' through Italian and Turkish

admiral: from 'amir al-rahl' through Old-French

In Turkish & Bosnian

sevdah: from 'sawdah'
Valla!: from 'wallah' 'By God!'

and much-much more
Click to expand...

"checkmate" --> "شاه مات"

This is one is really amazing
"alphabet" --> "أ(لف)بت"
 
Last edited:
GreyKode said:
"checkmate" --> "شاه مات"

This is one is really amazing
"alphabet" --> "أ(لف)بت"
Click to expand...

'Shah Mat' is Persian/Farsi, the key word is the 'shah', I think 'mat' is Arabic though, but there is a possibility it is native.

'Alphabet' is more of a cognate then derivative. See, the Greeks and the Semitic (and possibly all western cultures that borrowed the Phoenician writing system besides/through them) use the first 2 or 4 initial letters to name their respective writing systems. Example:

Arabic: 'abjad' Alif Ba Jim Dal
Greek: 'alphabeta' Alpha Beta
Ge'ez: 'abugida' A Bu Gi Da
Hebrew: 'alephbeth' Aleph Beth
Latin: 'abecedarium' A B C D
 
:sl:
Yes, it true, there are loads of English words with Arabic derivatives. I know alcohol is one. as is salary, algebra, admiral, adobe, giraffe, zenith. and i think safari and Sahara were/are originally Arabic as well.
 
In Uygur

Rekhmet (Thank You)

Ra7mah means blessing... but I guess it's not a good meaning in slang Arabic if it is used to call a lady (Sitti Ra7mah).
 
this is a lighthearted reply but still very true....
there was a jeopardy final question not that long ago -
what is the number one number system and the number two alphabet system in the world.

Yup you guessed it...... Arabic.

its a shame... that at least to my experience... its french and spanish that are taught... i was lucky enough to take russian in college, but i seriously wish i had taken arabic in college while i had the chance.

Peace to all
Serena
 

Similar Threads

Back
Top