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

alberca

water tank for irrigation; in Mexico, swimming pooldepósito de agua para riego; en México, piscina

Comes from Arabic

البِرْكَة

al-birka

“the pool, the pond”«el estanque»

Arabic today says

بِرْكَة

birka

And it still does

Root

ب ر ك

b-r-k

The article

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

The story

The short Arabic i opened to e: al-birka > alberca. In Mexico it is the normal word for a swimming pool; in Arabic birka is still a pond or pool.La i breve árabe se abrió en e: al-birka > alberca. En México es la palabra normal para la piscina; en árabe birka sigue siendo el estanque o la charca.

In a sentence

Los niños se bañan en la alberca.

The children swim in the pool.

يَسْبَحُ الأَطْفَالُ فِي البِرْكَة.

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