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Originally Posted by
Kafka's Crow
Well, in Lithuanian language coffee is called cava too although they make their coffee with ground roasted acorns!
Arabic has 'Aaraab' or 'zer', 'zabr', 'paish' 'sakin', then the first three are doubled to add an 'n' sound at the end of the alphabet thus 'alif zabr' (the tiny right slash on top) becomes 'Aa', 'alif zer' (the tiny right slash under) becomes 'Eee', 'Alif paish' (the tiny comma on top) becomes 'Ooo' whereas the smaller and open-topped comma of 'sakin' keeps the alphabet without an accent. These things are later developments as after the conquest of Iran, the Caliph ordered this addition to avoid mis-pronunciation of the Quranic language. Arabic is subtle as slight mis-pronunciation or even stress on the wrong syllabus can totally alter the meaning. Everyday Arabic is still the same and Arabic in newspapers etc does not use these pronunciation marks whereas Quranic Arabic does.
As you said it didn't have these pronunciation marks, I think it is called
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Arabs were traders. They were visiting India and China centuries before Vasco de Gama and Marco Polo. They took their goods everywhere and naturally the more exotic goods got Arabic names in certain places.
Spanish is hugely influenced by Arabic because of the highly diverse and vibrant society under the Moorish Caliphs whose rule lasted over 700 years. I am fascinated by that chapter in European history. When Germans were hunting Gypsies with dogs, Moors were welcoming them and letting them bring their exotic arts to their lands. I am fascinated by the history of the Romani Gypsy folks as well. Apparently they were low-caste Hindus from India. When Sultan Mehmmod of Ghazna attacked the Indian and sacked their temples and took away their treasures, only to come back next year, year after year (he attacked India 17 times!), the upper castes 'upgraded' the lower castes to the 'fighting castes' temporarily. Naturally they failed to stop the onslaught. But Sultan Mehmood, that great patron of arts, architecture and literature (oh yes, he had a huge number of very great poets in his court. He paid Firdousi with thirty camels loaded with pure gold for his Shahnameh which is dedicated to Mahmood). All this gold had to come from somewhere and all those palaces and architectural wonders needed cheap labor. The defeated armies of the Hindus were driven over the mountains to Afghanistan (that mountain range is still called Hindu Kush or 'Hindu Killer'). Most died on the way, some escaped and some reached the other side only to build palaces etc. Those who escaped just went away in any direction. Some decided to roam in Central Europe (mainly Romania), some went further. Another fascinating fact pops up here. Nations who were nice to these black-eyed, dark-skinned people received exotic arts and culture in reply. The French, the Spanish culture is all the more colorful because of the gypsy element. Nations who were hostile to them became monolithic, mostly white, and less vibrants. Germans hunted them with dogs, entire forests were burnt to 'smoke out' gypsies who were literally 'hounded' to death. This lasted over five centuries and culminated in the Gypsy holocaust at the hands of Nazis, one long, harrowing tale of prosecution of the innocent. Gypsies were welcomed in the Moorish Spain and France, specially the Southern regions. Some also moved in the British Isles via Scotland. Living in England, I know that these people are still hated here!
Is it relevant here? I think the great influence of the 'Indo'-European languages has something to do with the Gypsy Diaspora which had started in the 10th Century and the movement of these Indic people is still going on. With Romania set to join the EU, we are seeing more and more of these people on the streets. Their complexion, black eyes and language raise eyebrows but I really do hope they bring with them their great and 'outrageously' exotic traditions of singing, dancing and story-telling.
How interesting! All languages influce each other in different ways.