Arabic in Western Languages and Culture - Ordentop

One might think that Arabic is actually as distant from Western languages as is possible at all. After all, Arabic is spoken in a completely different part of the world – not to mention that it uses a completely different script, unrecognizable from the Latin alphabet.

But if we dig a little deeper into the history of the language, we soon realize that Arabic is deeply connected to Western languages and culture. This rich and beautiful language has influenced many languages that are still in use today. In this post, we will look at the role of Arabic in the development of a number of English, Spanish, Italian, and French terms, among others.

Arabic was able to enter Western dialects due to the widespread Islamic power during certain periods of history.
The language was most influenced by those countries that at some point were under Islamic rule. During the heyday of the Islamic Caliphate, beginning in the seventh century, Islam and the Arabic language spread as far as modern Spain.

Because of this, Arabic borrowings and influences penetrated many languages, including Spanish, Italian, French, English, Hindi, Amharic, German, Greek, and others. In fact, some languages take their linguistic structure from Arabic.

Languages such as Maltese (spoken on the small Mediterranean island of Malta) and Nubi (a Creole language of Arabic origin spoken in parts of Uganda and Kenya) not only contain Arabic loanwords, but also use the structure of the Semitic language.

Arabic and English sound and feel very distant from each other. But because English borrows many words from other European languages such as Spanish and French, it also contains a significant amount of vocabulary of Arabic origin.

What is your native language?

Did it have an Arabic influence?

 

Arabic in Western Languages and Culture
Arabic in Western Languages and Culture