An Arabic Spanish Preposition!!!

Xatufan   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 02:53 GMT
I was really shocked when I found out that the Spanish word "hasta" (until) comes from the Arabic word "hatta"! Is this true? I think my dictionary has lied to me.
General_Ricardo   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 03:19 GMT
No bud, it hasn't lied to you. I don't see why you should be so surprized. Go back to any dictionaries (that you trust) and you'll find hundreds of Spanish and English words that originally come from Arabic words. It all started when my ancestors conquered Spain. http://www.mastep.sjsu.edu/history_of_tech/islam.htm
Boy   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 04:19 GMT
Al-Khwarizmi is recognized as the founder of modern Algebra. The actual name of algebra comes from the title of his most famous book, Kitab Al-Jabr wa al-Muqabilah ("The Book of Integration and Equation"). This book on algebra, in its translated form, was the principal mathematics textbook in European universities until the 16th century.


Wow, isn't it interesting?
General_Ricardo   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 05:36 GMT
You know what is even more interesting? it's when you open any Aljabra book and don't see his biography on it like any other western scientists.
Coeur de Lion   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 06:38 GMT
Neither can you see his picture because Islam doesn't let you reproduce human images.
Nico   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 18:52 GMT
I'm afraid some complex is running around here. Curiously, in Mexican books of algebra the cover is occupied by AlKhwarizmi, as you may see here

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/9684392117/qid=1095876253/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-4342445-7291819?v=glance&s=books

but Biology book covers don't feature Mendel, or Physics books Einstein.

As for Arabic words in Western languages... Arabic is full of Greek (mikanikiy, tilifun, musiqa), Latin (dinar, bank) and, in modern times, French (salat, bantalun, metro) and English (kart, ice cream, kumbiutur), not to mention Persian, Aramaic or Turkish. Languages share vocabulary, as simple as that. For a good list of Arabic words in Spanish, see:

http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Spanish/Vocabulary/Arabic_words.html

BIG BUT: sometimes these influences also fade, and it's just a pity that indeed the big majority of these words are not used or even understood by modern Spanish speakers...
Ed   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 20:31 GMT
alcalde which means mayor comes from arabic. "al" especially comes from arabic.
Krista   Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 21:53 GMT
Spanish Words Adopted from Arabic (shortlist)

aceite
adobe
aduana
ajedrez
Alá (Allah)
alacrán
albacora
albahaca
alberca
alcade
alcázar
alcoba
alcohol
aldea
alfombra
algarroba
algodón
algoritmo
alkimia
almacén
almanaque
almirante
almohada
alquiler
amalgama
arroz
asesino
atún
azafrán
azúcar
azul
baño
barrio
berenjena
burca
café
cero
chisme
cuzcuz
dado
embarazada
espinaca
fez
fulano
gacela
guitarra
hachís
harén
hasta
imán
jaque
jirafa
laca
lila
lima
limón
macabro
marfil
masacre
masaje
máscara
mazapán
mezquita
momia
mono
muslim
naranja
ojalá
olé
paraíso
ramadán
rehén
rincón
sorbete
sofá
rubio
talco
tamarindo
tarea
tarifa
toronja
zanahoria
General_Ricardo   Thursday, September 23, 2004, 04:14 GMT
Nico,
"Languages share vocabulary, as simple as that"
I totally agree with you on that, and I don't think there's any need to be "really shocked" to find out that a Spanish word comes originally from an Arabic word, unless you're really,really ignorant!
Xatufan   Thursday, September 23, 2004, 19:33 GMT
General_Ricardo: I'll tell you what happens: I know there are LOTS, LOTS of Spanish words borrowed from your beautiful language. I especially love "albóndiga". But "hasta" is an extremely used word, and it's quite weird that a word like a preposition is borrowed from Arabic or other language bu Latin.
Xatufan   Thursday, September 23, 2004, 19:36 GMT
"Paraíso" an Arabic word!!!

General_Ricardo: What does "hatta" means in Arabic?
General_Ricardo   Friday, September 24, 2004, 00:19 GMT
Xatufan,
"hatta" or "7atta~h'atta" means "untill" or "till" just like you said. For example "yajib an tabqa huna 'hatta' al thamina masa'an" means "You have to stay here till 8 pm"
General_Ricardo   Friday, September 24, 2004, 09:00 GMT
"يجب ان تبقى هنا حتى الثامنة مساء"
would be the Arabic version of the sentence...
General_Ricardo   Friday, September 24, 2004, 09:04 GMT
Oops, I didn't come out
Xatufan   Sunday, September 26, 2004, 02:10 GMT
I'm afraid of Arabic letters, as some people are afraid of mice. I don't buy cookies in the supermarket, because there are instructions in Arabic.

Arabic words in Spanish are usually the ugliest words in the language. May "alfalfa", "tarifa", "alcanfor" serve as an example. However "hasta" is a beautiful word.

General_Ricardo: Your help was very useful; now I'm happy to know my language as a mixture of languages.