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Ojalá
Words
Probable: The majority view, with some reservations.Places · Everyday

Sevilla

capital of Andalusia, on the Guadalquivircapital de Andalucía, a orillas del Guadalquivir

Comes from Arabic

إِشْبِيلِيَة

ishbīliya

“Arabic name of Roman Hispalis”«nombre árabe de la Hispalis romana»

Arabic today says

إِشْبِيلِيَة

ishbīliya

And it still does

The article

It came in without the article.

Arabic itself had taken it from Latin.

The story

Hispalis (perhaps of Phoenician or Tartessian origin) passed into Arabic as Ishbīliya, and from there into Spanish as Sevilla: the Latin -l- became -l(i)y-, and the initial ish- was reduced to s-. Latin alone would not have produced Sevilla.Hispalis (quizá de origen fenicio o tartesio) pasó al árabe como Ishbīliya, y de ahí al castellano Sevilla: la -l- latina se volvió -l(i)y-, y la ish- inicial se redujo a s-. El latín solo no habría dado Sevilla.

In a sentence

La Giralda de Sevilla fue alminar de una mezquita.

Seville's Giralda was once the minaret of a mosque.

كَانَت الخِيرَالْدَا في إِشْبِيلِيَة مِئْذَنَة جَامِع.

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