Why is there so much Arabic in Spanish?

Spanish is a language of the Romance group, that is a descendant of Latin. However it differs from its relatives - French, Romanian, Italian, Catalan and Corsican. The main difference is in its grammar.

Surprisingly, Arabic had a significant influence on Spanish. The fact is that a large part of the Iberian Peninsula was under the rule of Arab Muslims. That's why Spanish has tens of thousands of words of Arabic origin. Although many Spaniards don't even realize it.

To dive deeper into this topic, we offer a little historical background.

In the Middle Ages, in the early 7th century, Arab Muslims invaded the Iberian (Pyrenean) Peninsula, where Spain and Portugal are located today.

By the way, the Iberian Peninsula now boasts the Basque Country, the beautiful Mediterranean coast, the vibrant Arab architecture of Andalusia, Catalonia, and Valencia. But these are not the only interesting places on this peninsula.

Arab Muslim groups invaded from the south and settled on the peninsula. The conquest even reached almost present-day France. It took them only 7 years to conquer the entire peninsula. At the end of these seven years, the state of Al-Andalus appeared on the Iberian Peninsula. Arab rule over the Iberian Peninsula began and lasted for 8 centuries until 1492, when the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand regained power.

The images below depict the State of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) and a map of the state.

The Arabs developed education, organized schools and libraries, and the literacy rate among the population was higher than in Christian Europe. The works of the great Muslim scholars, philosophers, and writers were translated.

Borrowings from Arabic are observed in vocabulary, as the local language was already established by the arrival of the Arabs. The Spanish linguist and language historian Rafael Lapeza identified more than 4,000 Arabisms. Let's look at some interesting Arabisms below.

Next, we suggest grouping Spanish vocabulary of Arabic origin by themes. In addition to that, many words have been preserved from the fields of military affairs, governance and judiciary, trade, currency units, and agriculture.

It's time for practice!
We found two videos where two native speakers (one Arabic-speaking and one Spanish-speaking) are asked to pronounce a specific word in their native language.

Here is the summary of the article in Spanish:

La influencia árabe en el idioma español es evidente. Desde el siglo VIII hasta el XV, los árabes gobernaron gran parte de España, lo que llevó a una gran cantidad de palabras árabes que se introdujeron en el idioma español. Hoy en día, todavía se pueden encontrar muchas palabras de origen árabe en el español moderno.

Algunas palabras comunes que vienen del árabe son "aceituna" (oliva), "azul" (azul), "alfombra" (alfombra), "albóndiga" (albóndiga), "alcoba" (alcoba), "alcalde" (alcalde), "acequia" (canal), "algarrobo" (algarrobo) y "azúcar" (azúcar).

Además de las palabras, la influencia árabe también se puede ver en la gramática española. Por ejemplo, la construcción "ir + infinitivo" se usa para expresar el futuro, lo que refleja la falta de una forma verbal para el futuro en el árabe.

En resumen, la influencia árabe en el idioma español es un recordatorio de la rica historia y cultura de España, y las palabras árabes siguen siendo una parte importante del vocabulario español en la actualidad.