Arabic words in English

Hani said:
alcohol, algebra, algorism, chemistry
Click to expand...
The etymology of the word "chemistry" is controversial. Its origin is not universally acknowledged as Arabic.

It's a good guess that any hifalutin word beginning with al- is of Arabic origin since that's the Arabic definite article. Spanish is full of them because of the Moorish influence.
 
bint
shufti

and several other ex-service men's knowledge brought back to Blighty (orig. Indian that one, IIRC).
 
Some other examples of Arabic words in English:

amber
apricot
arsenal
assassin
azimuth
azure

caliber
candy
checkmate
coffee
cotton

garble
gazelle
gerbil
giraffe

jar
jasmine

lemon
lilac
lime

magazine
mascara
massage
mattress
monsoon
mummy

orange

syrup
soda
sofa

talc
tariff
typhoon

zero
 
zero - also cypher, no?

checkmate - much modified though in pronunciation. :D
 
Hani said:
what I found that it is universally traced back to Latin "alchimista."
Click to expand...
That's a very superficial and misleading etymology. I suggest that you not rely on that source for authenticity any more. "Alchemy" and related words are not Classical Latin or Vulgar Latin, which were variants of a living language spoken by the citizens of the Roman Empire. It's what we call "Medieval Latin," by then a dead language which continued to be used as the international language of scholarship, with words added to it as needed... by the scholars who used it. We still do the same thing today. Dictionaries are full of etymologies from "Modern Latin," the most familiar of which are probably the recently created pseudo-Latin genus names for plants discovered over the past 150 years like Dieffenbachia, Poinsettia, Scheffeleria, Camellia, Azalea and Wistaria which are now used as common garden names. Escheria coli is also a well-known Modern Latin name for the intestinal bacterium most commonly responsible for food poisoning. And don't forget good old Tyrannosaurus rex, which was coined in the 19th century. :)

Alchemy was practiced by the Arabs in the post-Roman era and the root word is theirs. It was normalized with Latin phonetics and Latin grammatical structure and added to Medieval Latin. Al is the giveaway Arabic definite article, but the source of chem- or khem- is not settled. It may be an old Greek word that the Arabs borrowed when they rescued European science from the compulsive ignorance of the Christian Era.
Oli said:
checkmate - much modified though in pronunciation.
Click to expand...
Another shallow etymology. Shah mat is old Persian, "the king is dead." Notice that mat is clearly Indo-European, not Semitic, cognate with Latin mort- and Slavic smert-. The Europeans got chess from the Arabs but the Arabs got it from the Persians and the Persians got it from somebody even further to the East, probably the Indians or ultimately the Chinese.
 
Fraggle Rocker

Excuse me but I have really failed to see any reason behind your last comments, I know everything you said of course and I am not as stupid as you are suggesting by saying that I don't know the difference between "Medieval Latin" and old Latin! something I believe that school kids are aware of …

And of course Alchemy is of Greek origin and checkmate is Persian, which is very wildly known and I doubt that there is any real unsettlement about it, but they both were transmitted to English via Arabic, i.e. via Arabs and their culture.

I wish to see more links or references regarding the presumed uncertainty about the origin of theses words. The list I put here is a much shortened one because it only contains the non debatable words; there are other lists that are way longer than that.

Notice that mat is clearly Indo-European, not Semitic
Click to expand...

Sorry man, but you have no idea what you are talking about.

Mat means "dead" IN SEMITIC languages and has nothing to do with Indo-European "mort".

Shah Mat means, literally, "the King is ambushed" (or "helpless" or "defeated"). It does not mean "the King is dead", although that is a common misconception.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkmate
 
Did you know that the western numerals (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are ALL ARABIC?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

Although Arabs don't use them today anymore, they use another Indian numerlas. Actually they are all Indian numerals originaly but Europeans learned them from Arabs, it doesn't matter that they are called Arabic because Indians are our brethren :p (Muslims are brothers! :D ) ...
 
Hani said:
Fraggle Rocker: Excuse me but I have really failed to see any reason behind your last comments, I know everything you said of course and I am not as stupid as you are suggesting...
Click to expand...
I apologize for the misunderstanding. I meant no offense. One becomes accustomed to providing a lot of background for the members who need it.
Mat means "dead" IN SEMITIC languages and has nothing to do with Indo-European "mort". Shah Mat means, literally, "the King is ambushed" (or "helpless" or "defeated"). It does not mean "the King is dead", although that is a common misconception.
Click to expand...
My mistake. The misconception is apparently what I learned, many years ago. Sorry. Thanks for the clarification.
 
Hani said:
Did you know that the western numerals (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are ALL ARABIC?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

Although Arabs don't use them today anymore, they use another Indian numerlas. Actually they are all Indian numerals originaly but Europeans learned them from Arabs, it doesn't matter that they are called Arabic because Indians are our brethren (Muslims are brothers! :D ) ...
Click to expand...

Yes, we all must be gratefull to the INDIANS !!!!!!!!! :)
The numerals were invented in India long before any muslims existed ........;)
 
Sputnik said:
Yes, we all must be gratefull to the INDIANS !!!!!!!!! :)
The numerals were invented in India long before any muslims existed ........;)
Click to expand...

yes, but it was Islamic India which gave them to Arabs and Arabs taught them to Europeans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top