Words in different languages

[Houari_DZ]

Hello language lovers

Why are these words so similar in completely different languages from different origins?

The check………….English
“Essak”…………….Arabic
le cheque…………..French
El cheque…………..Spanish
der Scheck…………German
o cheque………….Portuguese


Sugar……………English
Assukkar………..Arabic
Le sucre…………French
o açúcar…………Portuguese
zucchero………..Italian
el azúcar………..Spanish
der Zucker………German

The potato………..English
El Batata…………. Arabic
a batata…………..Portuguese
La patata…………Spanish
La patata…………Italian
La patate in French is the sweet potatoe though


The tomato……….English
Ettamatim…………Arabic
La tomate..........French
Das Tomatoe………German
El tomatoe………..Spanish
il tomatoe…………Italian
o tomatoe…………Portugese

Houari_DZ

P.S Do you have other examples?

[Edited by Houari_DZ on 28th August 2005 at 07:33]

[lazzhar]

Houari khoya thanks for the thread.
Words are always travelling from a nation to antoher but in my opinion those words are originaly taken from arabic. It's well known that arabic is older than languages mentioned.

[Houari_DZ]

Saha Lezhar,
I agree to some extent with what you said, but I doubt that it is the case for all the words: Potatoes for example are not originally from the arabic land (gulf countries) because it was first discovered in Peru: see http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable.../c15potat.html

Origin of Potato

A member of the Solanaceae family, the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) is closely related to the tomato, pepper, and eggplant. Potatoes originated in the Andes mountains of Peru and Bolivia and have been cultivated for at least 2400 years

Thanks for your input khoya Lezhar

Houari_DZ

P.S. Your signature is awesome, keep up the good work !

[lazzhar]

Yes you're right about the Potato.
I think Tomato is not called Tamatem in arabic. I used to hear instead: Banadora.



ps: Thanks for you kind works about my reel. It's the collection of what I did the last year. Hope to imrpove my skills and make something to be proud of.

[TonyStarks]

Bandora is what people from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine call it. However, the official word for it in Arabic is 'tamatim.' Banadora is similar to our tomatish, its just a regional name.

[TonyStarks]

Lazzhar, you made that video in your sig ???

[lazzhar]

I though that it's wrong to call Tomatish: Tamatem. Thanks for clearing things.

Originally posted by TonyStarks
Lazzhar, you made that video in your sig ???

Yes Tony.