While we were getting prepared for the first lessons with our Arabic students, we created a catalog with words, which exist in both Greek and Arabic.
A recent Arabic student of ours, Zaki, helped us with this catalog, as he thinks that these words are Arabic and through Turkish language were integrated into the Greek language.
It is true that most of the words belong to this category, such as:
Greek word Arabic pronunciation
Μπρίκι Ιμπρήκ
Τεμπέλης Τινμπάλ
Τζαμί Ζάμιι
Μιναρές Μαναρά
Μουσαφίρης Μουσάφιρ
Καφές Καχβέ
Ραχάτι Ράχα
Νταμάρι Νταμάρ
But among them exists also the word “Παράδεισος” (Paradise) (Φιρντάους), a word that comes from Persian.
There are also Greek words, which travelled to the Arabic language directly or through other languages, such as:
φλιτζάνι (φιντζάν) from the Greek word «πινάκιο»
χάρτης (χαρίτα)
φανός – φανάρι (φανόος)
κούπα – κύπελλο (κοόμπ)
At the same time, we learnt that «αλκόολ» (“alcohol”) originates from Arabic (the article «al» and the word «kohool») and it meant any kind of drink.
And it is only the beginning of the lessons!
