The influence of Arabic upon the development of the Spanish language can be traced back to the 8th Century. It was at this time that the Moors of Africa invaded and conquered Spain, which is located just to the north of Morocco. When the Latin-speaking Roman Empire drove the Moors out of most every country in Europe, they could not conquer the Spanish Moors. Thus, both Arabic and Latin were spoken by the Spanish people for many years.
Over time, speakers of Latin came to adopt certain words from the Arabic language. Many of these words are easy to spot. For instance, the article "al," which means "the," is widely used in Arabic as a prefix. Thus, any Spanish word that begins with the letters "al" is likely of Arabic origin. Some examples are almuerzo, which means "lunch," and alcoba, which means "bedroom."
7
Which sentence from the passage supports the idea that Arabic influenced other Romance languages to a lesser extent than it did Spanish?
A.
"Over time, speakers of Latin came to adopt certain words from the Arabic language."
B.
"Spanish is considered to be a Romance language along with Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan."
C.
"When the Latin-speaking Roman Empire drove the Moors out of most every country in Europe, they could not conquer the Spanish Moors."
D.
"For instance, the article 'al,' which means 'the,' is widely used in Arabic as a prefix."
1 answer
The sentence that supports the idea that Arabic influenced other Romance languages to a lesser extent than it did Spanish is:
C. "When the Latin-speaking Roman Empire drove the Moors out of most every country in Europe, they could not conquer the Spanish Moors."
This sentence highlights the unique historical circumstance of the Spanish Moors remaining in Spain, which allowed for a more significant Arabic influence on the Spanish language compared to other Romance languages.
