Monday morning etymology

e. put me on the spot at dinner on Saturday with a request for the etymology of Spanish marfil "ivory". The second element I remembered as Arabic fīl "elefant", but what of the first? princeofcairo guessed "tooth" and it seems he wasn't far wrong; the DRAE gives `aẓm al-fīl, lit. "bone [of] the elephant". The change of the first /l/ to /r/ is a form of dissimilation common in Castilian (cf. ARBOR > árbol). I'm impressed with the Spaniards' ingenious approach with what's been called the most difficult Arabic sound for foreigners to master, ẓ: Dump it and the syllable it came with.


(In case you were wondering, e., the contemporary Arabic word is completely different: `āj. "Ivory Coast" = Sāḥil al-`Āj.)

Speaking of dissimilation, here's a pair of false friends for you:

Sp. escoltar "escort" (< It. scortare "idem."; cf. Cat. escortar)
Cat. escoltar "listen" (< VL. AUSCULTARE "idem."; cf. Sp. escuchar)

I came across the former for the first time in the novel I was reading this morning. Fortunately, my confusion was only momentary. Yay context!