Geolinguistic Trivia

[mcgillianaire]

What, if any, is the relationship between the third longest river in Spain (The Guadalquivir) and the suburb of Muscat, Wadi Kabir?

Comments

[mrputter.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's neat.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

There's quite a few words like that. Last year I was pleasantly surprised to learn that, that oh-so-British symbol, Trafalgar Square, had some rather humble Arab origins. Trafalgar <- Cape Trafalgar <- Cabo Trafalgar <- Taraf al-Garb (Cape of the West (of Spain)). :)

[smilingbuddha.livejournal.com]

oh and Algebra comes from Al Zabr, a mathematically-inclined denizen of Baghdad in the glory days (think Arabian Nights)

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

You're right that the word algebra has Arab connections but the name of the person is generally agreed to be al-Khwarizmi. The actual connection between Arabic and Spanish is nothing new to me... I've been studying the relationship between Islam, the West and the Judeo-Christian religions since I was 12 but it's simply fascinating to discover 'new' connections. Wikipedia has some great stuff if you're interested too:

Al-Khwarizmi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi)
The Influence of Arabic on Spanish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_influence_on_the_Spanish_language)
Andalusi (read: Spanish) Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusi_Arabic)
Al-Andalus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus)
The Caliphate of Cordoba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taifahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliph_of_Cordoba)
The Great Mosque of Cordoba"> - I've been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

And so on and so forth... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezquita)

[smilingbuddha.livejournal.com]

dude you're always full of interesting info! go hari!

where r u these days, global villager?

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

thanks man... history has been my first love since the age of 3. ;)

i am still in silicon valley... finishing up assignments for a couple finance courses i took @ stanford and preparing myself for an assault on jobs in england, come the new year. briefly stopping by montreal early-december and then heading to oman for christmas. (speaking of which, apparently eid al-adha is going to coincide with new year's. dubaiwalla, you'll be glad to know, i hope, that my dad asked me to prepone my departure from montreal (back to muscat), so that he can procure 'permits'. he won't divulge details about the destination but considering there is only one border that is frequently used to apply for such permits, it's pretty obvious where it is! (-: )

[dubaiwalla.livejournal.com]

So we can do NYD together? Awesomeness. Should I start trying to investgate options?

I've been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

[dubaiwalla.livejournal.com]

I've been, and I didn't think it was all that. Although for the record, this was before I took the course on Andalusia that mrputter referred to.

Re: I&#39;ve been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

>I've been, and I didn't think it was all that.
Coincidentally, I thought of your comment when I wrote mine. From the little that I have read, seen pictures and heard about it from others I am extremely confident that I will enjoy it in person. As low a regard as I have for the way Islam has remained stagnant in general, I am a great fan of their Renaissance.

Re: I've been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Is that an (onion) rava dosa in the userpic? If so, and even if it isn't, the onion rava is my favourite kind of dosa, hands down. It definitely doesn't look like a regular dosa, or a wheat dosa but I've been proven wrong before... then again, to be proven wrong about a food-item that is zimbly zouth would be "well embarassing", as me main man from the bogs of Staines would say...

Re: I've been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

[dubaiwalla.livejournal.com]

I just GISed dosas. But it does look like a rava dosa of some sort. I'm personally much bigger on masala dosas though, I find rava stuff nice only as a change.

Re: I&#39;ve been waiting to visit it for over a decade now!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Mysore Masaala dosas are a special and wonderful breed by themselves indeed!

[pappubahry.livejournal.com]

Note: The word 'algebra' doesn't come from the name 'al Khwarizmi', but rather part of the title of al Khwarizmi's treatise, 'al jebr', which the OED translates as "the redintegration or reunion of broken parts".

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Yeh...

[kapitankraut.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even thought of that one before, which is odd since I surprise people with the Gibraltar = Jebel Tariq routine every now and then.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Hehe. I know exactly what you mean because I do the same thing with Trafalgar Square! :)

[kapitankraut.livejournal.com]

Them pesky Ayrabs, takin' our words

[smilingbuddha.livejournal.com]

I do not have much info on this, but this kid from mexico in college was once telling me about how the spanish and islamic cultures were connected in some way back in the day.

[pappubahry.livejournal.com]

:)

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Yeh, the Muslims ruled right up to Cordoba (perhaps even higher?) more than a millennium ago.

[mrputter.livejournal.com]

Right up to the Pyrenees at the French border, actually.


(Thank you, THM 101.)

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Dhanyavaad Putter-ji.

[mrputter.livejournal.com]

Ого! Слишком много языков!