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Ojalá
Words
Certain: The standard etymology in the RAE dictionary and in Corriente; no serious doubt.Food & garden · Common

ajonjolí

sesamesésamo

Comes from Arabic

الجُلْجُلَان

al-juljulān

“the sesame (its seed)”«el sésamo (su semilla)»

In Andalusi Arabic: الجُّلْجُلِين aj-juljulīn

Arabic today says

سِمْسِم

simsim

The article

Spanish kept the Arabic article al- glued to the word.

The story

In Andalusi Arabic, j assimilated the article as if it were a sun letter (aj-juljulīn), and imāla turned ā into ī. Hence ajonjolí.En andalusí la j asimilaba el artículo como si fuera letra solar (aj-juljulīn), y la imāla convirtió la ā en ī. De ahí ajonjolí.

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