The Arabisms are the Spanish words whose origin is Arabic language. For example: basil, lemon, lute.
The identity with which Arabic endowed Spanish is especially noticeable in some nuances of the language, such as the usual prefix al-, the pronunciation of the H in an aspirated form tending to resemble a J (unlike literal Spanish which takes it as a letter without any sound) and the suffix -í for gentilic adjectives , is a denomination completely detached from the Arab influence.
On the other hand, many words that have a large number of equal vowels (usually A) separated in some cases by H, are also derived from the Arabic languages.
In the Middle Ages the Muslim civilization had some advances in several disciplines with respect to the Christian one and this made that some techniques, objects and situations that were not known to Christians were assimilated in a direct way, without the need to create a new word.
That is why most Arabisms are related to techniques or trades (cooking, agriculture, commerce and manufacturing, war), or scientific disciplines (in mathematics, astronomy or medicine).
It can serve you:
- Localisms (from different countries)
- Xenisms
- Foreigners
Examples of arabisms
| Olive | Acorn | Lute |
| Sugar | Cotton | Lemon |
| Adalitd | Drum | Dungeon |
| At sign | Hashish | Yemeni |
| Chess | Feat | Dagger |
| Basil | Arsenal | Algorithm |
| Builder | Overcoat | Carrot |
| Albace | Marinade | Souk |
| Dace | Slacker | Islam |
| Piggy bank | Tile | Blonde |
| Alcazar | Skirt | Noria |
| Guitar | Cobble | Nasrid |
| Orange | Hostage | Kermes |
| If only | Magnet | Imela |
| Homework | Dice | Set |
| Pillow | Customs | Escaque |
History of Arabisms
During the Middle Ages (which includes the end of the first millennium and the first half of the second) the Arab presence in the territory that today is Spain and Portugal was almost total, and the interactions between Muslims and Christians were permanent. Caliphates (like the one in the Córdoba region), emirates and kingdoms even came into being.
The enormous interaction between cultures also had an impact on a literary, architectural, and even artistic level, endowing the entire Middle Ages with some very own characteristics. Like the rest of the languages whose origin is the Iberian Peninsula, Spanish was from its beginnings linked to the Arabic language. The existence of bilingual people allowed the birth of a large number of commercial interactions and, according to the different reigns of the Iberian region, the acceptance of the Arabic language occurred to a greater or lesser degree.
