Arabic-L:LING:ifranja

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Fri 06 Apr 2007
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject:ifranja

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1)
Date: 06 Apr 2007
From: "NEWMAN D.L." <daniel.newman at durham.ac.uk>
Subject:ifranja

Hello,

The Arabic words 'ifranja', 'firanja', etc. ultimately go back to the  
Byzantine Greek 'frangoi' (φραγγοι), which denoted the Franks,  
a European (Germanic) people whose kingdom (Francia) covered a large  
part of present-day Western Europe. The term predates the existence  
of 'France' as a clearly defined political entity. Probably the  
earliest mention of 'Ifranj' in Arabic is to be found in Ibn  
Khurradadhbih's 'Kitab al-Masalik wa 'l-Mamalik' (9th c.), the oldest  
surviving Arabic geographical manual.
Best,

D. Newman

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