Loanwords: The Slippery Business of Soap
Most of us are not aware that words we use on a daily basis have their origins in another language. For example, the English word panic is derived from the name of the Ancient Greek god Pan, whose scream was said to confuse and throw enemies into a state of terror.
Borrowing vocabulary from another language is a gradual process that occurs when two civilisations come into contact. Often, the donor language is perceived as bringing more power and prestige, resulting in an asymmetrical borrowing of words from the donor language to the recipient language. Not all borrowed vocabulary is the same. Foreign words remain as they are in the donor language and retains the original spelling and pronunciation. Loanwords, on the other hand, are usually variants of the original word. Over time, these words are absorbed into the recipient language and many speakers even forget that they are from another language at all. One such word that is frequently used in English is Kindergarten. It is German in origin, and transliterates to “children’s garden”.
In rare occurrences, a loan word may be shared by several languages which come into contact with a common donor language. ‘Soap’ for example, is pronounced sabun in Malay, Indonesian, Hokkien and Hindi. It is sabon in Tagalog and Urdu, sabao in Portuguese and sapun in Albanian. Although there is no way to ascertain it, a quick trace of its history suggests that these languages came into contact with Arabic-speaking peoples at some point in their history, resulting in their common adoption of the Arabic word صابون, (pronounced: ṣābūn).
How did a language which was used only in the Arabian peninsula, come to be adopted by so many languages around the world?
Arabic first spread during the expansion of the Arab world during the Middle Ages. After the Islamic Prophet Muhammad converted and united the tribes in the Arabian Peninsula into a single, Arab Muslim polity, he led the start of the Muslim Conquests, also known as the Arab Conquests, in 622. The military conquest of the surrounding territory continued aggressively under the succeeding Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750). The Arabs subsumed regions such as Mesopotamia and the Levant, and expanded far beyond the Middle East. At its peak, the Arab Empire encompassed parts of Europe (Spain, Portugal and Sicily), North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and even the Indian subcontinent, comprising in total 29% of the world population. It was under Arab rule that Arabic came into contact with and influenced languages that have seemingly no ties to the Arab world, such as Spanish, Portuguese and Urdu.
However, as with all great Empires, the Caliphates started to decline after defeat at the hands of the Mongols, and collapsed after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The extent to which Arab characteristics, including loanwords, were retained in native cultures, depended on the length of Arab rule as well as subsequent historical events. For example, expanding Christian Kingdoms retook the Iberian Peninsula from the Arabs as part of what is known as the Reconquista. The remaining population was forced to convert to Christianity, or face expulsion. This resulted in the departure of many Arabs to North Africa or the Ottoman Empire. Despite the enduring mark of Christianity, Arab influence is still evident in the Portuguese word sabao and the Spanish word sabonete.
Arabic might have also spread through the practice of Islam, independently of military conquest. Adherents of Islam were exposed to the language, as the Quran was written in Classical Arabic. Most prayers are still recited in Arabic. Through this medium, Islamic countries who have never experienced Arab conquest have adopted some Arabic words into their native language. This is the case for Malaysia and Indonesia, who both use the word sabun. Evidence of Arabic influence in the Archipelago dates back to the 14th century, and religious and trade connections have become increasingly established ever since.
The process of borrowing vocabulary often occurs or accelerates simply by proximity. Singaporean Hokkien, a variant of the Hokkien dialect, which is spoken in Singapore, has borrowed extensively from the other languages spoken locally, including Teochew, English and Malay — it uses the Malay loanword sabun.
The usage of sabun extends beyond former Arab territories or Islamic regions. The equivalent word in Thai is pronounced sà-bòo, despite the fact that Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand. This phenomenon might be explained through the historical trade of Arab-made soap in these places.
Under the Abbasid Caliphate, the Arab world experienced the “Golden Age of Islam”, a period where the Arabs were prosperous and at the forefront of knowledge, trade and culture. By the 12th century, soap-making had become a thriving and established industry, particularly in Syria. The Arabs produced perfumed soaps which were widely popular in other parts of the world, because the soap produced in Europe then was comparatively less pleasant-smelling. During this period, Baghdad replaced Damascus as the new capital, and became a centre of trade between Asia and Europe. Baghdad’s large population and the size of the Caliphate facilitated the export of goods produced in the Arab world to other parts of the world.
Evidence of such trade was found at the ancient capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya lies 85 km north of Bangkok, and was the largest and most cosmopolitan city in Southeast Asia in the 17th century. Merchants from all over the world, including the Chinese, Portuguese and Arabs gathered to trade in the city. Perhaps it was in this time that the Thai language made the Arabic word their own, whether directly through the Arabs or indirectly through the Portuguese.
The process of borrowing vocabulary occurs for many reasons: historical conquest, the proliferation of religion, and trade. Loanwords may also be used because there is no equivalent word in the native language (such as sushi). Nonetheless, soap is not a culturally unique item, suggesting that the recipient language chose to use a loanword instead of their native word for it, because the donor language and culture has greater appeal or power. Over time, loanwords are absorbed into the vocabulary of the recipient language and their origins are often forgotten, even by speakers of the recipient language. The etymology of the Arabic word, ṣābūn ( صابون), shows that languages evolve over time, and cannot be fully understood without understanding the wider historical and cultural context.
By Yi Jia Loh
