Arabic Beyond the Arabs
Arabic names, Arabic dress
أسماءٌ عربيّة ولباسٌ عربيّ
The Christians of al-Andalus lived in their own quarters but met Muslims every day in the market and at work. They took their language, then their dress, then Arabic names and kunyas. By the fifth century AH few of them bore a name that showed their Christian origin. The Arab crucible, says Pérès, made them Arabs in tongue and in feeling.
- In brief
- Arabic was not only the language of books; it became the language of life
«ويتّخذون لأنفسهم كُنًى وأسامي وألقابًا عربيّة… فصيّرتهم البوتقةُ العربيّة رجالًا عربيّين [كذا] لسانًا وعاطفة.»
The print has the unusual plural «ʿarabiyyīn»; the card says «ʿarab».
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Sources
- هنري بيريس، مجلّة المجمع العلميّ العربيّ ١٩/٩ (١٩٤٤م)، ص٤٠٠–٤٠٢
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