5:Dialogue.11:إضبارة د.عبدالله الفـَيفي http://www.alfaify.cjb.net

Chris

I thought you might find the transformation of this word, from Arabic to Spanish to French to English, of interest.

zenith (ZEE-nith, ZEN-ith) noun
1. The point on the celestial sphere that's directly above the observer, opposite of nadir.
2. The highest point, acme, culmination.
[From Middle English zenith, from Old French cenith, from Old Spanish zenit incorrectly copied from Arabic samt (path), in the sense of "path over the> head", opposite of nadir.]
"Unlike Huntington, I therefore maintain that clashes of civilizations reached their peak in the age of imperialism, the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Europe's world dominance was at its zenith."
Sato Seizaburo, Clash of Civilizations or Cross-fertilization of Civilizations? Japan Echo (Tokyo), Oct 1997.

Abdullah

Though, you may be surprised to know that the word “nadir” itself is an Arabic word, also. It’s “nadir” in Arabic, and it means some thing that is low or fallen from some thing else. So, in Arabic the meaning of “nadir” is the opposite of the meaning of “samt” or “zenith”. But the meaning of “nadir” in Arabic transforms sometimes to means “the rare”, since a rare thing is an unusual thing; it’s not in the zenith of knowledge for every one, but only for a special one. It is a recherché. The name of “Nader/ Nadir” in Arabic means this meaning. You may know the Lebanese Ralph Nader, who ran as the Green Party’s first presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000. He is Arabic, and his name in Arabic means what I mentioned above.
When I was studying English, usually I was impressed by the amount of English words that I know in Arabic language. Therefore, I used to write a very long list of these words, which probably some day will make a dictionary. Here are some words of the list:

E: allege / A: yalege.
E: allegation / A: lajajaton
E: cauldron / A: gidron
E: wheel, wail / A: wail
E: copper / A: sofr
E: cuff / A: cuff
E: snare / A: sennara
E: carat / A: giratt
E: syrup / A: sharab

Any way, when I finish my dictionary, it will be my pleasure to give you the first published copy! This proves that the transformation of words from Arabic to European languages was not only from the Arabic scientists’ terms of Mathematics, Algebra or Medicine, but also from many other cultural sources. This is why some linguistic scholars consider Arabic language as the source, or the grandmother, of many other languages in the world today.

Chris

This was so fascinating! Those connections you made between words are admirable, and the point about Ralph Nader is amazing! I will tell all of my friends, and especially those who are members of the Green Party, about this. Thank you for enlightening me!

Howard

Thanks so much for the very interesting issue. I will share this with the teachers who are interested in the background of words! The borrowing of the word "nadir" was particularly interesting.

Eric

Your studies on English and Arabic words is interesting. I had no idea that so many words were similar in both lanuguages, even though I am aware of the significant influence of Arabic on the evolution of Spanish.

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With my American friend

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