Palabras de orígen árabe- Huellas del pasado

[Baracutay]

Leslie thank you for a wonderful post! You are 100 % correct in that we forget just how much Arabic linguistic influence there is in Caribbean Spanish. Some Arabic wordds have been attributed to having a taino origin when in fact it is clear that they are not. One such word is Safa (zafa).This an expression that some Dominicans particulary in the Samana region use when they hear Columbus's name. When they hear his name mentioned they will cross their fingers and then uncross them and say Zafa. Words beginning in Z's or ending with Z's are very rare if not non- existant in Taino lexicon.
One word that is of great interest to be is Tabacco. It is a word that is found both In Taino and Arabic. The Arabs use the word TABBAC to describe certain erbs. In Taino Tabacu is the name of any reed that is hollow and can be used for smoking the cojiba (Tabacco). Since many of the men that came with Columbus were familar with this word (having either moorish ethinicity or speaking Arabic) it stands to reason that the word is either Arabic, or Taino, or it is word that clearly demonstrates linguistic convergence.
Your thoughts?
Baracutei

[Lesley D]

As I mentioned in my previous post I have nothing else to add to the thread at this time but I will give a one time response to your post.

I can't comment on whether tabaco is Arabic and/ or Taino exclusively based on your comment. IMO, when it comes to certain aspects of language one can not speculate without credible linguistic back up. However, if you look in the rae.es (La Real Academia) it indicates that tabaco is of Arabic origin therefore in my opinion that's the true starting point. My suggestion is to do more linguistic research to get your answer.

As a general comment Arabic had an impact on the Spanish language on the whole, Taino had an impact on Dominican Spanish and Spanish spoken in some parts of the Caribbean thus another level etymological studies is required. Surely there are resources out there however, the more specific your analysis is the more difficult it is to ascertain reading material.

Although I have some interest in word etymology it's definitely on a higher level, such as words of Arabic origin that exist in Spanish as general vocabulary and to a lesser degree the impact of all indigenous languages in the Americas on the Spanish language such as Aimara (Bolivia), Quechua, Guaraní (Paraguay) just to name a few.


-LDG.
(Lesley D)

[JohnYu]

This might be helpful

[JohnYu]

The first link does not work. Let's try this one Arabic influence on the Spanish language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Baracutay]

Originally Posted by JohnYu

The first link does not work. Let's try this one Arabic influence on the Spanish language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for the Post John Yu.
I looked through all the words on the list of the link you sent and it is truly amazing how Arabic modern Spanish really is!
I found only one word that I cannot atribute to be soley Arabic that is the word Maimon. In the DR we have a town and a fruit by this name and. Both Indigenous.

[Norma Rosa]

Originally Posted by Baracutay

I found only one word that I cannot atribute to be soley Arabic that is the word Maimon. In the DR we have a town and a fruit by this name and. Both Indigenous.

Señor Baracutay, have you ever heard of Maimónides? (Moisés Ben Maimón: El Santo Tomás del judaísmo.)

[margaret]

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

Abreu is Portuguese or Galician but could well have those origins.

Abreu is a Portuguese town but abroo and aabroo are Persian words.

aabroo -- prestige (water/splendor + face)
abroo -- eyebrow

There might be some connection?

[Baracutay]

Originally Posted by Norma Rosa

Señor Baracutay, have you ever heard of Maimónides? (Moisés Ben Maimón: El Santo Tomás del judaísmo.)

Señorita Norma Rosa,

To answer you question, yes I have heard this name before and it has not escaped my curiosity. That said, please note that Taino was not a wriiten language and many words around the word sound the same. For example "mona" refers to the island and passage between DR and PR. This name is Taino, but it sounds a lot like Mona which of course is Spanish for a female monkey. I find it highly un-likely that we would name a river, a fruit and a town after Santo Tomas.
If you take a look at the earliest maps of the DR you will find that most of the rivers on the island were not renamed by the Spanish, in fact of the 55 rivers and streams we have on the island, only three have actual Spanish names
(See Bernardo Vega, Herencia Indigena en la cultura Dominican Hoy). The rest are Indigneous and of these you will find Maimon.
Interstingly Mai-mon, Mai-ze, Mai-reni and a plethora of Tainos names, expressions and so fortrh have the adjective "mai" in it.
What does Maimonides mean?
All the best
Baracutei

[Norma Rosa]

Originally Posted by Baracutay

Señorita Norma Rosa,

To answer you question, yes I have heard this name before and it has not escaped my curiosity. I find it highly un-likely that we would name a river, a fruit and a town after Santo Tomas.
Baracutei

Su excelencia, you did not read my most well. It is about Maimonides, not about Santo Tomas. (Sorry, working with a different computer. Cannot place accent marks.)

Ademas, it was a joke.

[Baracutay]

Originally Posted by Norma Rosa

Su excelencia, you did not read my most well. It is about Maimonides, not about Santo Tomas. (Sorry, working with a different computer. Cannot place accent marks.)

Ademas, it was a joke.

Ah a joke. Yes, I'm some what familiar with those!
As for excelencia.........another joke eh? LOL
Bueno su majestad, la dejo por ahora. Esperare sus "posts" sin aliento...