to Arabize
- verb
- /ˈærəˌbaɪz/
- While standard Spanish displays a considerable Semitic overlay in its vocabulary, Islamic Spanish has gone much further in Arabizing its syntax and semantics as well.
Examples
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The government implemented policies to Arabize public institutions in order to promote Arabic culture.
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The city and its environs, once heavily Kurdish, were "Arabized" by Saddam in an effort to weaken the Kurdish hold on Iraq's northern oil-producing region.
Academic text (2008) -
Efforts to Arabize the curriculum were made to ensure that students learned about Arab history and literature.
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Many families chose to Arabize their children's names to reflect their cultural heritage.
Synonyms
Learn and use the customs and ways of another group
How Arabic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Arabize = Arab (transparent) = Arab + ize
Clear verb-forming suffix '-ize' added to 'Arab' yields the meaning 'make or become Arab/Arabic', which learners can infer from known parts.
Etymology
Arabize comes from Arab and the ending -ize, where -ize means 'make' or 'become'. So to Arabize people or a system is to make them adopt Arabic language or customs.