Arabic institutional titles survived in Castilian but with transformed meanings

Evidence

In describing what he found in his valuable exploration of the archives, Meyerson uses terminology such as qadi (judge) and faqih (mayor). These, by their apparently pristine Arabic form, seem to convey that in the period he is describing the officials who bore such designations filled roles that were substantially identical to similarly named officials in Islamic countries. There is a trap here. That Valencia’s institutions were derived from those of the region’s Islamic past is not to be denied, but the linguistic changes that had taken qadi and brought about the creation of Castilian alcalde, for example, served to reflect profound institutional changes in the nature of that office. In speaking of this period, it is, therefore, perhaps less misleading to use the evolved Castilian (or Catalan) designations than the original Arabic ones in the way that Meyerson does. The chief justice of the local Islamic community who was known as the alcalde cannot be said to have in reality fulfilled the functions of the qadi as they might have been exercised within any truly Islamic polity. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 446 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sixteenth-century written Aragonese drifted toward Castilian orthography; Arabic office names surviving in Castilian masks profound institutional change — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 446; The Spanish loanword ‘moriscos’ entered colloquial Arabic retaining its Castilian plural form (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Arabic office names surviving in Castilian masks profound institutional change #expands (0.95) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 446