Résumé:
The present research work sheds light on the phenomenon of loanwords in general and from Arabic into English in particular, be it directly or via other languages such as Latin, French, Spanish or Italian. In this respect, we have selected Arabic words and expressions, which have been borrowed by English from different dictionaries, Corpus as well as other references. Accent has been put on words originating from Arabic and which have enriched the occidental vocabulary in various domains such as chemistry, mathematics, medicine, architecture as well as measures and weights, religion, law and many others. The study aims to show the different transformations and alterations that occurred on the words when being transferred from Arabic into English and being modeled on the nature and the morphology of the target language to become by the end part of that language. By this, the present research work exhibits the positions and the power of Arabic which originate from its civilization and its scientific advance which were once the source of its influence over other languages in general and English in particular. In order to reach the above mentioned aim, many questions have been asked notably: 1- How does borrowing occur between distinct languages? 2- How do rule-governed languages, cultures and religions influence borrowing words and shape them in accordance with the nature of the target language? On the basis of the above asked questions, the assumption that borrowing, its causes, its emergence take place because of several factors among which are: colonization, neighborhood, trade and commerce, technology and so on… The methodology used in the present research is based on the study and the analysis of the borrowed words in Habeeb Salloum and James Peters’ book “Arabic contributions to the English vocabulary” to determine their Arabic origins via comparison and derivation. Among the results which we came up to is the fact that borrowing is a linguistic phenomenon which contributes in the enrichment of languages and their cultures.
