‘Europe Speaks Arabic', written by V. Abdur Rahim, an illustrious professor in Arabic and specialist in philology - who has authored a number of books for those wanting to learn Arabic - aims to inform readers about the sheer number of Arabic words that have permeated English and a host of European languages. What gives this popular and much researched topic a fresh twist is that it is presented in the form of a lively discussion between two characters: Ahmed and Eric. The book is not a mere catalog of words but a lively discussion between the two characters on the basis of linguistic evidence, enriched with copious literary quotations and characterized by profound mutual respect for views and cultures. The content of the book has been arranged into seventeen chapters, dealing various domains: history, mathematics, astronomy, science, trade, amenities, clothing, food and other miscellaneous things. Only those words that are recognized by European linguists as borrowing from Arabic, and mentioned in reputed dictionaries, are included in this book. Rahim holds a masters' degree in English (language and literature) from the University of Madras, India. He subsequently received an MPhil and PhD in Arabic philology from Al–Azhar University, in Cairo, and has taught Arabic philology at the Islamic University of Madina in Saudi Arabia for 26 years. He has authored many books in several languages, and currently is the director of the Qur'an translation center at the King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex, in Madina. The book's chapters often take a word - pertaining to a particular genre - and explain in detail how the word made its way from Arabia to Europe, before mentioning other such derivatives. In the chapter dealing with mathematics for instance, the author -with reference to the Arabic system of enumeration which was adopted by Europe in the ninth century - discusses the transformation of the Arabic word sifre to cipher and its derivatives. The word sifre - literally meaning empty - when adopted by the Italians became zifro, and then zero much later on before traveling to every nook and cranny of the world. The word cipher also gave way to the English word decipher. Indeed the adoption of an Arabic word into a European language and then to English is also a discernible trend. The chapter on amenities, for example, discusses the transformation of the Arabic word mitrah meaning ‘a quilted cushion', to metelas in French and then mattress in English. The chapter also mentions common day-to-day words like sofa, coffee, soda and evidence proving their Arabic origin. The chapter on entertainment also provides interesting details about the origin of familiar words like chess, lute - the stringed musical instrument - and mask. The latter is derived from the Arabic word maskharah (a buffoon), which, in turn, is derived from the verb sakhira (to mock). The chapter related to trade likewise, provides many familiar words like tariff from the Arabic ta'rif (notification), quintal, karat, arsenal, and magazine, amongst others. According to the chapter on clothing, Iraq has provided the names for two fabrics: muslin, from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul where the cloth originates, and damask, the rich silk fabric woven with elaborate designs that comes from the old city of Damascus. Another chapter provides much food for thought, as it focuses on the Arabic origins of various vegetables and fruits - artichoke from al-harsaf, orange from naranj, and brinjal from bandanjan. There are several other familiar words that we come across in this book like azure whose Arabic counterpart is al-lazaward and became azzurro in Italian and azur French. Interestingly, the book also includes Arabic words used in some European languages but not in English, such as al-funduq (hotel) which became alhondiga in Spanish. This book really opens up new worlds of fascinating information in the domain of etymology, phonetic changes and semantic development, and is a welcome change from those studies that are either too technical for the ordinary reader, or too incomprehensible. - SG “Europe Speaks Arabic”, by Dr. V. Abdur Rahim. Published by Institute of the Languages of the Qur'an Inc., 3077 Weston Road, Suite No. 1912, Toronto, ON, Canada __
