RE: Fundamentalism and beliefs

From: Lawrence DeBivort (debivort@umd5.umd.edu)
Date: Thu Jan 24 2002 - 06:17:24 GMT

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From: "Lawrence DeBivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: Fundamentalism and beliefs
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 01:17:24 -0500
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    "Mosque" is an English effort to capture the Arabic word, 'masjid'
    (pronounced in Arabic mas-jeed). The Arabic root is 'sajada', meaning 'to
    worship' or 'to bow down before God.' The prefix 'm' combined with the
    particular form of the root -- 'sjid' -- produces the meaning, a 'place to
    worship.' 'masAjid' is the plural.

    In Egypt and some parts of North Africa, the practice is to pronounce a 'J'
    as we pronounce a hard 'G', though without changing the spelling. Thus in
    those areas 'masjid' is pronounced 'masgid', and it is likely that it is
    from this pronunciation that 'mosque' was rendered. French, Italians, etc.
    rendered the pronunciation and spelling in different ways, e.g. 'mosque'e'
    in French. See, for example, 'La Grande Mosque'e de Paris' in the 5ieme.

    Alas, no relationship to mosquito. Perhaps, in between persecuting their
    Muslim and Jewish subjects, Isabella and Ferdinand found time for some
    word-play.

    Lawrence

    > > > Is it true that the word mosque is actually a derisive term
    > >etymologically
    > > > related to the Spanish for mosquito? That's what I read in _The
    > >Complete
    > > > Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam_ (by Yahiya Emerick; ISBN
    > >0028642333)
    > > > anyway.

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