CertainPlaces · Everyday

Guadalquivir

great river of Andalusia that flows through Córdoba and Sevillegran río de Andalucía que pasa por Córdoba y Sevilla

Comes from Arabic

الوَادِي الكَبِير

al-wādī al-kabīr

“the great river”«el río grande»

In Andalusi Arabic: وَاد الكَبِير wād al-kabīr

Arabic today says

النَّهْر الكَبِير

an-nahr al-kabīr

Root

و د ي

w-d-y

The article

It came in without the article.

The story

In Andalusi Arabic wādī was shortened to wād, hence Guad-. The first article was lost, but the second (al-kabīr) is still inside: Guad-al-quivir. Careful: in modern Arabic wādī mostly means "valley" or "dry riverbed"; a river is nahr.En andalusí wādī se acortaba a wād, de ahí Guad-; el primer artículo se perdió, pero el segundo (al-kabīr) sigue dentro: Guad-al-quivir. Ojo: en árabe moderno wādī es sobre todo «valle» o «cauce seco»; un río es nahr.

In a sentence

El Guadalquivir es navegable hasta Sevilla.

The Guadalquivir is navigable as far as Seville.

الوَادِي الكَبِير صَالِح لِلْمِلَاحَة حَتَّى إِشْبِيلِيَة.

More words from the root و د ي

Guadalajara

city in Castilla-La Mancha; also Mexico's second city, which took its name from the Spanish one · ciudad de Castilla-La Mancha; también la segunda ciudad de México, que tomó el nombre de la española

Certain

وَادِي الحِجَارَةwādī al-ḥijāra

Places

Guadalmedina

river that runs through the city of Málaga · río que atraviesa la ciudad de Málaga

Certain

وَادِي المَدِينَةwādī al-madīna

Places

Guadalupe

town and monastery in Extremadura; its Virgin gave her name to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico · pueblo y monasterio de Extremadura; su Virgen dio nombre a la de Guadalupe de México

Disputed

وَادِيwādī

Places

Guadarrama

mountain range and river north of Madrid · sierra y río al norte de Madrid

Disputed

وَادِي الرَّمْلwādī ar-raml

Places

Guadiana

river that rises in La Mancha and marks the border with Portugal · río que nace en La Mancha y marca la frontera con Portugal

Certain

وَادِي آنَةwādī āna