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

azafrán

saffronespecia roja de los estigmas de una flor

Comes from Arabic

الزَّعْفَرَان

az-zaʿfarān

“the saffron”«el azafrán»

Arabic today says

زَعْفَرَان

zaʿfarān

And it still does

The article

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

The story

The sun letter z doubled the article (az-zaʿfarān), and the ʿayn disappeared in Spanish. It is the spice that gives paella its color.La z solar dobló el artículo (az-zaʿfarān) y la ʿayn desapareció en castellano. Es la especia que da color a la paella.

In a sentence

La paella lleva azafrán.

Paella has saffron in it.

يُضَافُ الزَّعْفَرَانُ إِلَى البَايِيَّا.

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