Many words in modern Arabic dialects are originally Turkish. This articles discusses why this is the case, as well as gives lots of examples for such loan words and phrases.
This may sound strange for many, but since the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire had administrative control over most of the Middle East and North Africa, from Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Hijaz, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.
Even after the Ottomans gave up control for the colonial powers of Europe in the 19th century, the cultural influence remained. Like most societies under colonial or imperial rule, Arabs looked up to Turkey and everything Turkish. Many things were borrowed, adopted, integrated, and imitated.
My knowledge of many of these words was when I encountered them when visiting Turkey twice in the 1990s as a tourist.
|كوبري||Kobru||Brigde. The original Arabic words is جسر (Jessr) or قنطرة (Qantara). The latter was borrowed into Spansih.|
|كات||Kat||ِA story in a building. This word is used in the old part of Alexandria, and is almost unique in Egypt. The correct Arabic term is طابق (Tabiq).|
|أوضة||Oda||Room. This is used in Egypt. The original Arabic is غرفة (Ghorfa)|
|أفندم||Afandem||Affirmative answer. Used when replying to a superior, specially in the military.|
|أيوة||Aywa||Affirmative answer. In everyday use.|
|تمام||Tamam||Equivalent to "OK"|
|خلاص||Khalas||"Finished", "over", "done"|
|وابور||Vapur||The Turkish word seem to be derived from a European word (Vapour), and refers to steam engines. Nowadays it is used for ferry boats. In Arab countries, it is used for the steam engine of a train.|
|كازوزة||Gazuz||Any carbonated drink|
|ياميش||Yamish||Nuts and dried fruits. Commonly consumed in the fasting month of Ramadan. In Arabic it is known as نقل (Noqol)|
|دولمة||Dolma||Vegetables stuffed with rice and minced meat, and cooked in oil.|
|بسطرمة||Bastirma||Dried meat encased in a mixture of garlic and fenugreek seed and spices. Came to Egypt from Turkey|
|قطايف||Kadaeyf||The same word is used for different desserts in Turkey and Egypt. In Turkey it is the thin vermicelli like thing baked in the oven, and smothered with thick syrup, and stuffed with nuts, raisin, or saltless cheese. In Egypt, it is a sort of small pancakes that are rolled with nuts and raisins stuffing, then deep fried, and then dipped in syrup. The name is definitiely of Arabic origin, from the root قطف which means "picking of fruit from their trees".|
Many job titles in modern Arabic are actually Turkish. It is relatively easy to detect those, since they end with the "-ji" suffix. In Egypt, the J sound becomes G (like in Garden). Many of those have become family names.
|شيشكلي||Shishekli||Flower seller. Known in Syria.|
|خاشقجي||Khashokji||Spoon maker. In Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, there is a diamond called after that name. Also, the Saudi millionnaire arms dealer Adnan Khashokji is named so.|
|عطشجي||'Tishji||Train water (from the days of steam engines)|
|قهوجي||Qahwaji||Coffee shop waiter|
|كبابجي||Kababji||Maker of Kabab (skewered meat)|
|قبطان||Koboudan||Captain (pilot at sea)|
|قبودان||"||Variant of above|
|كبودان||"||Variant of above|
Many military ranks of Turkish origins were in use in Arab countries until recently. Although the formal titles are now Arabic, the Turkish ones are still in conversational use.
|جاويش||"||Variant of above|
Many proper names in modern Arabic are actually Turkish names. The strange thing about those is that all of them have Arabic roots, mostly from the Quran, Islam's revealed text, or from certain ideal values and qualities. Such borrowing then reverse borrowing is a very interesting phenomenon. All of these end in the ي Arabic letter (-i or -y when romanized), which approximates the Turkish sound. Others have the -t.
|مجدي||Mejdu||From Arabic Majd: Glory|
|شكري||Shokru||From Arabic Shokr: giving thanks (to God)|
|صبري||Sabru||From Arabic Sabr: patience|
|يسري||Yosru||From Arabic Yosr: Ease|
|فكري||Fikri||From Arabic Fikr: Thought|
|حكمت||Hikmat||From Arabic Hikma: Wisdom|
|حشمت||Hishmat||From Arabic Hishma: Modesty, proper attire|
|عزت||Izzat||From Arabic 'Izza: pride (?)|
|عصمت||Ismat||From Arabic 'Isma: protection (by God)|
|شوكت||Shawkat||From Arabic Shawka: Power|