Italian & Portugese Lexical Similarities

I decided to post a sample of some Portuguese words of Arabic origin here anyway (there are many, many more)

Abade, acácia, açafate, açafrão, açaimo, acelga, acerola, acertar, chacar, achaque, acicate,açoite, açorda, açotéia, açougue, açúcar, açucena, açude, adarga, adobe, aduana, adufe, ajaezar, alambique, alarde, alazão, albarda, albarnoz (albornoz), alboque, albricoque, albufeira, albuquerque, alcachofra, alcaide, alcaparra, alcaria, alcatéia, alcatifa, alcatra, alcatrão, alcatraz, alcatruz, alcazar, alcácer, alcofa, álcool, alcorão, alcova, alcunha, aldeia, aldraba, alecrim, aletria, alface, alfafa, alfageme, alfaia, alfaiate, alfama, alfândega, alfanje, alfarrábio, alfarroba, alfavaca, alfazema, alferes, alfinete, alfobre, alfombra, alforje, alforria,algaravia, algarismo, algarve, algarismo, algazarra, álgebra, algebrista, algema, algibeira, algodão, algoritmo, algoz, alguazil, alicate, alicerce, aljôfar, aljuba, aljube, Allá, almadia, almanaque, Almeida, almeirão, almenara, almirante, almíscar, almoadem, almocreve, almoeda, almofada, almofariz, almôndega, almorávidas, almotacé, almotolia, almoxarife, almude, alpargata, alpiste, alqueire, alqueiva, alvaiade, alvará, alveitar, alverca, alvíssaras, alvoroço, arroz, azeite, azeituna.

Bairro, baraço, barbaca, bardaxa, beduíno, berinjela, bolota, bórax, bússola.

Caaba,cabidela, Cáceres, cacifo, Cádiz, cáfila, cafre, calatrava, califa, camelo, canjar, cenoura, ceroulas, cetim, chafariz, copta, cuscuz.

Dinar,

Elixir, emir, emirado, enxerca, enxaqueca, enxoval, enxovia.

Falua, fáqui, faquir, farda, fateixa, felá, fota, fulano.

Gabar, garrafa, gaze, gazel, gazela, gergelim, gibão, Gibraltar, ginete, giz, gomia, Gualajara, guitarra

Hamurabi, harém, haxixe, hégira, huri (pretty woman).

Islão, Islamismo, islamita,

Jaez, jarra, jasmim, javali, jilaba

Lezíria,

Macabro, Maçaroca, magano, magazine, magnetismo, mana, manara, maquia, marabu, maravedi, marfim, maronita, marrano, marroquim, marroquino, máscara, mascate, masmorra, massagem, mastaba, mate, matraca, mazela, Meca, Medina, megera, mesquinho, mesquita, moca, moçambique, mocamo, moçárabe, moçarabismo, mofo, monção, morim, mourisco, mouresco, mouros, muçulmano, muçulmanizar, mudejar, muedem, múmia, musselina.

Nababo, nácar, nadir, naftalina, naipe, Namura, níquel, nora

Omíada, otomano, Oxalá

Pistácia

Quibe, quilate, quintal

Rabeca, ramadão, razia, rebique, rebite, recife, récova, redoma, refém, rês, resma, rima, romã,

Sáfaro, sáfio, safra, salamaleque, salema, saloio, samarra, sanefa, sunita, sura, surata

Tabica, tabique, tabuli, taça, tacho, taifa,taforeia, talco, tâmara, tambor, tanque, tara, tareco, tarefa, tarifa, tarrafa,

Ulemá

Varanda, Vargas, vizir,

Xácara, xadrez, xamata, xareta, xarope, xeque, xeique, xereta, xiíta

Zagal, zarabatana, zarca, zebu, zefir, zênite, zero, zoina

Here is another list from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portuguese_words_of_Arabic_origin

A
Açafate (assafat)
Açafrão (azzafaran)
Acéquia (assekyah)
Achaque (ashshaka)
Acicate (ashshukat)
Açoite (assaut)
Açorda (athurda)
Açoteia (assutaiha)
Açougue (assok)
Açucena (assusana)
Açude (assudd)
Açúcar (assukar derived from Sanskrit çarkara)
Adarga (addarka)
Aduana (addwana)
Alá (al + ilâh)
Alabão (allabban)
Alambique
Alarife (alarif)
Alarve (al+ árab)
Alazão
Albarda (albarda'a)
Albardar (albarda'a)
Albarraque
Albornoz (Al'burnus)
Alcáçova (alkasaba)
Alcachofra (Alkharshof)
Alcaide (alkaid)
Alcaidaria (alkaid)
Alcaiote (alkawwad)
Alcalóide (composed word: Arabic. alcali and Greek eîdos)
Alcaravia (alkarawiya)
Alcaraviz (alkarabís)
Alcateia (alkataia)
Alcatifa (alkatifa)
Alcatruz (alkadus compound word: Arabic. al and Greek kádos, jar for water or wine)
Alcavala (alkabala)
Alcofa (alkuffa)
Álcool (alkohul)
Alcorão (Alkuran)
Alcova (alkubba)
Alecrim (aliklil)
Aletria (alitríya)
Alface
Alfafa
Alfaia
Alfaiate
Alfândega
Alfanje
Alfaraz
Alfarela
Alfarrábio
Alfarrabista
Alfarroba
Alfarrobeira
Alfavaca
Alfazema
Alfeire
Alferes (alfaris)
Alfobre (alhufra)
Alforge (alhurj)
Alforria (compound word: Arabic.al and French feurre)
Algarismo (alkarizmi, name of Arab mathematician Abu Ibn Muça)
Álgebra
Algema (aljami'a)
Algeroz (azzurub)
Algibeira (al-jibaira)
Algodão (alkutun)
Algodoeiro
Algoritmo
Alguidar (algidar)
Alicate (allikkát)
Aljama (aljamaa)
Aljava (aljaba)
Almadrava (almadraba)
Almanaque (almanakh)
Almedina (almedina)
Almóada
Almocreve (almukari)
Almofada (almukhadda)
Almofate (almikhyat)
Almofre
Almogávar (almugauar)
Almôndega (albundeca)
Almorávida (almurabit)
Almotacé (almuhtasib)
Almotolia (almutli)
Almoxarifado
Almoxarife
Almude
Alqueire
Alqueive
Alvanel
Alvará
Alvazil
Alveitar
Alvitana
Alvíssaras
Alvorge
Armazém
Arrátel
Arroba
Arroz
Arsenal
Atafal
Atafona
Atalaia
Azar
Azeite
Azeitona
Azemel
Azémola
Azimute
Azenha
Azinhaga
Azulejo

[edit] B
Baraço
Bolota

[edit] C
Café
Cáfila
Califa
Ceifa
Ceroulas
Chafariz
Cherne
Chifra
Cifra

[edit] D
Damasco

[edit] E
Elixir
Emir
Emirato (Emirado)
Escabeche (Sikbaj)

[edit] F
Falua (faluka)
Fatímida

[edit] G
Garrafa (garrafâ)

[edit] H
Harém
Haxixe

[edit] I
Imã (imam)
Islão (Islã)

[edit] J
Javali (jabali)

[edit] L
Laranja (naranj derived from the Persian naräng)
Laranjeira (naranj derived from the Persian naräng)
Lezíria (al-jaza'ir)
Limão (laimun derived from the Persian limun)
Limoeiro (laimun derived from the Persian limun)

[edit] M
Madraçal (madraça, school)
Marabuto
Masmorra (matmura)
Matraca (mitraka)
Mesquita (masdjid)
Metical (Mozambican mitķāl, an Arabic unit of weight, from taķāl', weigh).
Moçárabe (must'rib)
Mudéjar (mudajjin)
Muezim
Maomé (originally Muhammad; also Maomet; formerly Maomede, Mafoma, Mafamede)
Muladi (malado)

[edit] N
Nadir (natir)
Nora (na'ûra)

[edit] O
Omíada
Oxalá (in sha allah or inshallah, God willing)

[edit] R
Ramadão (Ramadã)
Rês
Resma

[edit] S
Sáfaro (sahra', desert)
Safra (safaria)
Salamaleque (as-salam-alaik, may peace be upon you)
Saloio (çahroi)
Sultanato (sultan, ruler)
Sultão (sultan, ruler)
Sura

[edit] T
Tambor (tanbur derived from the Persian dänbära)

[edit] X
Xadrez (xatranj derived from the Sanskrit xaturanga)
Xarope (xarab)
Xaveco (xabbak)
Xeque (xaikh)
Xeque-mate

[edit] Z
Zarabatana (zarba tãnâ)
Zénite (samt)

[edit]

Finally some interesting language discussions! Thank-you for the lists, Gilbert. I wonder if some of the words are simply "Semitic", not just Arabic. I believe that "camel" is actually of Hebraic or Egyptian origin.

To Guest: Which authors do you mean? Very interesting.

K.T. you bring up an interesting point. Portugal was in fact influenced by Semitic. Some Jewish lexicon entered into the Portuguese language too, but, remember that all things Jewish were strictly prohibited by the inquisition and thus strictly vigilated - such was not the case with Arabic influence. However, if you listen carefully, there is smiliarity between the Portuguese accent and hebrew accent - especially in the 'shuh & zhuh' sounds. Consider that it is believed by Portuguese scholars that the population of Portugal was 1/5 Jewish (more to the point 'converso' - converted Jews to Christianity) in 1496, out of a population of a million. It stands to reason that the 'Hebrew' accent likely fused with the 'Old Portuguese' accent. In fact, if you read Ladino, and listen to Ladino, you can easily see that many Ladino words are spelled and sound like Portuguese i.e., 'Port. chapeu = Ladino chapeo' = hat', 'Port. abaixo = Ladino abásho = below'. Don't forget, that the majority of Portuguese Jews remained in Portugal (although some were expelled to the diaspora) and were forcibly converted to Christianity; conversely, in Spain the majority of Spanish Jews were expelled in 1492. Thus, the influence of the Hebrew accent influenced the phonology of the Portuguese longer than Spanish. Food for thought :-)

Here is more about the Hebrew/Portuguese language connection re: Ladino: The following is taken from an article in Wikipedia.

Phonology
The grammar of Ladino, and its core vocabulary (approx. 60% of its total vocabulary), are basically Castilian. However, the phonology of the consonants of Ladino and part of its lexicon are in some respects closer to Portuguese than to modern Castilian, because both retained characteristics of medieval Ibero-Romance which Castilian later lost. Compare for example Ladino aninda ("still") with Portuguese ainda and Castilian aún, or the initial consonants in Ladino fija, favla ("daughter", "speech"), Portuguese filha, fala, Castilian hija, habla. The Ladino pronunciation of s as "sh" before a "k" sound or at the end of certain words (such as seis, pronounced "sesh", for six) is also shared with Portuguese but not with Spanish. See also Judeo-Portuguese.

First, I must apologize for leaving the "o" off your name. Secondly, this topic was one of the most deeply interesting things I have read on Antimoon in a long time. I've heard Ladino samples offered here and thought they were easy to understand, but I didn't think about WHY they seemed so easy. I certainly have food for thought. Thank-you again.

You are very welcome K.T. Sharing is what it's all about :=)

You are very welcome K.T. Sharing is what it's all about :=)

I am going to try to print out these lists. Thanks again to Gilberto and to Catalina.

Spanish speaking people keep om insisting that they own the Portuguese Speaking people.

In reality, the Portufalic world would prefer to be likened to Italian or French speaking world than to Spanish speaking world.

Spanish speaking people keep omn insisting that they own the Portuguese Speaking people.

In reality, the Portugalic world would prefer to be likened to Italian or French speaking world than to Spanish speaking world.

How can Spanish speaking say that, when the Portuguese language is more widespread globally than Spanish, and 51% speak Portuguese in South America versus 49% Spanish? The Spanish speaking schools in S.A. are now teaching Portuguese as a second language. In Africa, Portuguese makes negligible any Spanish that's spoken there. Plus Portuguese is spoken is in Asia i.e., East Timor, Macau etc. The Spanish speaking world does not own the Portuguese speaking people. We do understand them perfectly though :-)

Miguel wrote: " I agree with you Oivia. I am from Colombia where we speak a very pure Spanish, and I must admit that for us Portuguese is very, very comprehensible, even if the accent is a little different - no problem though."

I think you must be talking about standard Brazilian Portuguese. I do not believe you would find European Portuguese (especially the accents from Lissabon, Madeira, Azores and Algarve, with their numerous voiceless and/or closed vocals) very, very comprehensible. Unless you have lived in Portugal or have been intensively exposed to those accents elsewehere. There is a large population of portuguese immigrants in Venezuela. And believe me, European Portuguese is very difficult to understand for venezuelans.
Try some news channel from Lisbon and you will know what I mean. In my opinion, the Lisbon accent is one of the most difficult Portuguese accents, not only for Spanish speakers but also for Brazilians. However, as Gilberto already wrote, portuguese people understand spanish perfectly. And it has a very logical explanation: the portuguese language has a very complex phonetics in comparison with that of Castilian. Portuguese people in Venezuela have no problem to understand venezuelan Spanish, which is not so pure and clearly spoken as colombian Spanish. But on the other hand, one must also say that portuguese people usually speak Spanish very, very bad or heavily accented.

And those here, whose mother tongue is Portuguese, claiming to understand 8-9 words out of 10 of spoken Italian, without previously studying it, must be lying. I can imagine that you can understand 8-9 out of 10 (sometimes 10 out of 10) words of written Italian, but never of the normally spoken language. And even less if people are speaking Italian fast.

Guest, your argument has some validity, but understand something, I met lots of Portuguese from those very places you mentioned when they were turists in my country. Apart from the accent, I understood them mainly because their vocabulary and grammar so closely matches Spanish. It's kind of like when an immigrant speaks a second language...as long as the right words are being spoken, the different accent doesn't matter too much. Now when an accent is clearer, but unfamiliar words are used, as I often found with the Italians, communication was harder, and many even spoke standard Italian. I have also been to other Spanish speaking countries where I saw firsthand the Portuguese (not Brazilians) and local Spanish speakers i.e., Cuba, communicatiing effortlessly with one another. People have this misconception that Brazilian Portuguese is always more intelligible to Spanish speakers, but that is not always the case, as there are many Brazilian accents as well, and some are quite tricky. There were some Portuguese turists who spoke Spanish with hardly an accent, and others with an accent, but it was no big deal. We Spanish speakers really like our Portuguese speaking friends and respect their language. I don't know why this is so hard for some to believe.

No Spanish or Portuguese speaker will understand 8 - 9 words out of ten of spoken Italian. Usually they can understand 6 - 7. And if it's dialect Italian even less. Let's be real.