TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
shorty667's TIGBlog
shorty667's TIGBlog
Do you speak Arabic without realising it?..


The Arab contribution to civilisation

Language is a marvellous recorder of meetings between cultures, a living museum. For proof of this, one need look no further than the ports of the Mediterranean, where linguistic boundaries are scorned and their rules broken; thus are linguae francae created.

The following lines (freely translated from Sigrid Hunke's Le soleil d'Allah brille sur l'occident: notre héritage arabe) are a playful presentation of just some of the terminology – and objects – that the West has borrowed from the Arabs.

The Spice of Daily Life. Or, Arab Names for Arab Gifts.

"Might I invite you to have something with me in this café? Take off your jacket and sit down here on this sofa, unless you would rather sit on the divan with the crimson mattress, of course. Would you like a cup of coffee – with one sugar lump or two? Or perhaps a nice cool carafe of lemonade, or even something alcoholic?

"But of course! Let me buy you lunch! I think artichokes would be a lovely starter, don't you? And how about capon with rice and spinach to follow? For dessert, what would you say to a piece of apricot tart, or an orange sorbet? And at the end of the meal we'll have a cup of mocha.

There is no reason, of course, for any of these things to appear in any way strange or exotic to you – they have been part of our daily life for such a long time. But did you know that they were all borrowed from a foreign culture, namely Arab culture? This café and the demitasses of coffee they serve, the sugar without which any menu would be almost unimaginable, the lemonade and the carafe, the jacket and the mattress, we owe them all to the Arabs. And it doesn't stop there: in most European countries, these things are known by their Arabic names! And the same goes for candy, bergamot, oranges, sherbet and many other good things besides.

Well, you might say, there's nothing so surprising about fruits that grow in hot countries (and even certain foodstuffs and drinks) coming from the Orient; and, that being the case, why shouldn't they keep their original names, after all?

As for the sofa or the divan, or the ottoman in the alcove, on which it is so nice to flop down – well, any child could tell you that such exotic sounding words could only be 'foreign'. Morocco leather – there's another easy one. But what about the textiles that you might find alongside your morocco leather bags in the same shop? There's muslin and other cotton cloths, soft and supple mohair, elegant satin, distinguished taffeta, shimmering moiré, sumptuous damask (originally from the city of Damascus), and all in such a range of shades, from saffron through orange and carmine to lilac. So many gentle reminders that it is to the Arabs that we owe these useful and precious fabric as well as their striking colours.

But you also encounter a host of Arab "discoveries" whenever you set foot in a pharmacy or a herbalist's. You only need glance at the labels on the jars and draws: you might find camphor, benjoin and benzine, soda, borax and saccharine, perhaps also amber, gum Arabic and cumin, not to mention tarragon, ginger and saffron – all of them Arab drugs with Arabic names. The gauze, talc or hair lacquer that you might buy at the pharmacy are also of Arabic origin, as are numerous chemical terms such as alkali or aniline.

There's no denying that a great many of the Arabic words which have found their way into our language designate items of everyday use to which the Arabs introduced us. Nor that these things have added countless delicate touches to our previously insipid – even rather squalid – lives, literally "spicing" them up, enriching them with new colours and new scents. In fact, we in the West ought to thank the Arabs for making our lives healthier and more hygienic, as well as more comfortable and elegant.

So there you are – checkmated! And once again, we're using Arabic without even thinking about it. Because the expression "checkmate" – which comes of course from chess, a game that is said to have been introduced to Europe by an emissary of the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid, who taught Charlemagne's court how to play it – is a direct derivation of the Arabic al-shah mat, meaning simply "the king (shah) died"!

Amazing!

October 7, 2007 | 7:17 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


Angie's Profile

Angie's Friends


Latest Posts
Faith
Trust!
Poetry
Look Into My Eyes!
Motivating Ourselves!

Monthly Archive
October 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
May 2008
August 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
and arab education guidance.. healthandwellbeing heart... islamic just life... love love.. peace.. peaceandconflict poetry.. ramadan.. relationships the world..

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics

Friends
zack
A Better Community for All (ABC4All)
Ab Ali Hb.
abu hatim
addi
Adel
Adeshina Olusanya
adewole taiwo
adewole taiwo
Adham Khalil
Adolfo BESERRA rocha
AFGHANISTAN
AhMaD
Ahmad Belal
Ahmed Tammam
Akan James
Alex Rhoden
alexawy
alfred ibulu jr
Amanda Kefalas
Amira Sobeih
Amjad Baloch Pe
Amos Ayooluwa
Amos Ayooluwa
Amro El-Zehairy
Ana
ansh
ansh
antoinette
Arslan Jumaniyazov
Arun Khadka
Ashok
Ashraf
Ashraf
ashroff ali
Atta ur Rehman Qureashi
avc
Awais Aftab
Ayoub
BEATRICE
Becca
benosman nassim
bhuban acharya
Bianca Chetto Santos
Bill King
bk
Blonde Love ♥
boutaleb- mohamed
BREANNA
BRENDA
BYJF
Ceren Gergeroglu
Charles
Christabell
chukwuemeka
clarita zarate
Connie Wokuri
cyntia williams
Dabal Bista
Daniel Hatcher
Daniel Rosenkranz
daniele
Danish Khan (webmaster@mdanishkhan.tk)
Dave Matthews
David Habba
DAVID SAFORO
Dereje Amera
Dipesh
DNA
Doctor
dr
Drbadr
driss ELAMRI
dudu
Edwin Beatusi Macha
Elhassan sellami
Eli Cavallero
Elias S. Deis
Emeka S. Okoronkwo
Erick Ochieng Otieno
Erin Daymon
f.tiger
Fai Moh
fatema
FazelQadir
Fidaim
Fikret
francis gathu nganga
Gail Mazongo
Gbenga Uriel Ogunjimi
GEH MARTINS
George C. Owens
Gibson Nabuteya Amenya
GREEN PEN
Haba Lucien
HALA .M
Hanna
harya
hayadin
hekatea
Hem Raj Ojha
Hussam Hamdan
Ibraya
idreeskhan
Ikoli victor
India Volunteer Program
islam arafa
IYSD Nepal
James Davis
Javi B
jean celeste paredes
JOAKIM PAZ
Joel
john chibuzo nwankpa
jordan
jose ohis. izeg
jose villanueva
Joselito Dimayuga
Jude
julie
JUSTICE FOR ALL
justin michael oberlander
k-weg
Kaanaeli Kaale
kama
Kayamone A. Sutton
kayhan akin
Ken Auma
khaled
Khalid
Kham
Khawajah
Kumar, Kundan
KUSHERKI
Linking Inc.
LISA
Lo Hoang Nam
LorenzoHarewood
LOUTONADIO
Maged Hassan
mahmoud
Malcolm Lawrence
Mark Okowa
Mary
maryjn
Mazhar
Mburu
Medaer Frans
MEDIATHON
Mian A Amin
mizanul islam
MOHAMED BENAIDA
mohamed elkashash
Mohammed
Moses Johnaon
Moshood
Moustapha Diouf
Mozn Shaker Akhourshiedah
Mr. Lyrics
Muhammad Abdou
muslalgiro
Mustafa
Mustapha
Muztar
NaBeeel
Nada
nady226
NARUTO
navrattan
Nikki
no-name
Norbert
norma's Bath and Body
nyende John
Oliebol
Osama Jamal
Osamuyi Okpame
Ossama ALASS
ousmane sene
Owais
Owulezi
Pepito Barahona
Peter Koll
phelgona atieno jacks
prince noor
Prudence
Quirz
Rade Glomazic
Rafiqul Islam Azad
rami rami
rebekah
Remisson Aniceto
Rex
RIZSAFI
Robert Margolis
Ronaldo
Rosalyn Knapp
roshni
Rufus Idris
S.M
Saindique
Saladin
sallaD
samantha yoder
Samer
sami sa3di
sammijo
Samson
Samson
samuel barriola
samuel kim
Schrodinger
Sean Amos
Sebastian St.Troy
Sena Aflaki
SHAFI
Sharon Stocker
Smita
SOF-BreannaB
Sofya ♥
Sohel Khan
Sphiwe
Sudip Aryal
SunnyBits
Suzana Abdel Rahman
sweden45
Sydneystudent5
syoder
Tareq
Temmy
The Black Bond
UFJ
umesh chander
Ursula Carrascal Vizarreta
UWITEKA Aristide
uzma
vas
veenos
Victor Otieno Olando
VICTOR RASUGU
VICTORY ASHAMOLE C
W.Thomas Black
Wajahat Nassar
wako-joel
WeAreTeachers
Whisper
WILBERT MASAMBA
xx
Yama Enayat
Yassir EL OUARZADI
Yuel Bhatti
zenabu Ibrahim
~ mostafa ~
¥ªsï® ßûTT
ابحث عن منحة
ابراهيم محمد احمد الشيخ
علي شرفي - رئيس جمعية البحرين الشبابية
๑۩۞۩๑ brightEYES™๑۩۞۩๑

Links
Aljazeera
Amnesty
grassroots.org
Islamonline
Palestine Film
Palsolidarity.org
Shaheen Media
Sheffieldpsc
Stop The Wall
UNICEF


104241 views
Important Disclaimer