Similarities between the Romance Languages – French, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese – may be more readily apparent, but Arabic has also influenced Spanish. In a video by Annenberg Media, two women show words in Spanish and Arabic that are remarkably alike. The video also explains that the Al-Andalus era, which started in 711 a.d. and lasted for 700 years, brought the nomadic Moors, their culture, and their religion from North Africa to Spain.
PRI reports that something like 4,000 Spanish words supposedly come from the Arabic language. Maria Gutierrez, a Mexican aid worker living in Jordan, is trying to track as many of the similarities every day. “I’m trying to track all those words,” she said “It’s like, ‘One more word!’ At least every day I’ll find a word, and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, it’s exactly the same as Spanish!’ or ‘It’s very close to Spanish,’” she told PRI.
The video is worth watching even if you already knew this, because the best part is seeing how the two women geek out over the similarities.
Similaries Between Arabic And SpanishSpanish and Arabic have more in common than you think, and it’s not a coincidence.
Posted by Annenberg Media on Thursday, November 5, 2015