Saturday, January 12, 2008
Asal-usul Perkataan 'Mosque'....
Question: There is a book entitled TheComplete Idiot’s Guide toUnderstanding Islam. It discusseswithin it many things, including theetymology of the word “mosque”. Itsays that this word is derived fromthe Spanish word for “mosquito”. Itclaims that the word was first usedduring the Christian invasion ofMuslim Spain in the 15th century whenthe forces of King Ferdinand and QueenIsabella boasted they would swat outMuslim prayer houses like so manymosquitoes. Is this true?
Answered by the Scientific ResearchCommittee - IslamToday.netThis etymology is incorrect.The Spanish word for "mosquito" ismosquito and literally means “littlefly”. This is a case where the Englishlanguage borrowed the word directlyfrom the Spanish.The word for “fly” in Spanish ismosca, which is derived from the Latinmusca. The diminutive suffix “-ito” isattached to it to form the wordmosquito or “little fly”.The Spanish term for “mosque” ismezquita, derived from the old Spanishmesquita. This word was most certainlyderived from the Arabic word masjid,which many Arabs then and nowpronounce as masgid.In Spain during the era of Muslimrule – and this was before the time ofKing Ferdinand – Spanish speakers wereusing the word mosquito for the insectand the word mesquita for the Muslimplace of worship. The two words arenot related to one another in any way.The word “mosque” was introduced intothe English language in the late 14thor early 15th century from the French.It comes from the French word mosquéefrom the old French word mousquaie.The French, in turn, derived the wordfrom the Italian word moschea frommoscheta. The Italians got it eitherdirectly from the Arabic word masjidor from the old Spanish mesquita.References:The American Heritage Dictionary ofthe English Language, Fourth Edition;© 2000 Houghton Mifflin Company.Online Etymology Dictionary, ETYMOLOGYMoo-Muchttp://www.etymonline.com/m8etym.htm
Posted at 08:05 am by
tudge
