To non-speakers, Arabic can seem strange and difficult; yet many of those alien words have actually become part of our English (and Italian) vocabulary, here are ten of the most common:

قطن [qotton]: cotton, for which Egypt was the main provider

غزال [gazal]: the gazelle, super fast in their natural African habitat

الكحول [alcohol]: alcohol, as in an alcoholic drink

قيراط [qirat]: carat, the unit of measure for gemstones and gold

سكر [sukar]: sugar, produced in large quantities in the Middle East

قيثارة [quitar]: guitar, to strum out the sensual Arabic melodies

صحرا ء [sahara]: the name of the famous African desert, in Arabic the word sahara is actually desert which means that the Sahara Desert is actually the Desert Desert or should we say the Desert of Deserts!

ليمون [limun]: lemon, that citrus flavor that permeates Arabian nights

شراب [sharab]: syrup, did you know that historically some of the most important doctors were Arabs? Lebanese to be exact, take Avicenna, one of the father’s of modern medicine.

جمل [gamel]: camel, the fellow that accompanies you through a walk in the desert

Intriguing how, a world so different in habits and customs has given us so many words that to use on a daily basis, just another example of early globalization.

Even Arabic is closer to us than we imagine, and knowing it can open up new worlds and new markets for business.

maka language consulting
www.makaitalia.com