أَبيَض
root: ب-ي-ض / adjective / definition: white
Anyone who knows both Turkish and Arabic might have realised that the terms for the Mediterranean Sea in both languages include the word “white”: we have Akdeniz in Turkish, and البحر الأبيض المتوسّط in Arabic.
But the reasons this sea is described as “white” in these two languages are very different.
In Turkic cultures, colours were used to refer to the four cardinal directions:
- North → kara (black)
- South → kızıl (red)
- East → mavi/gök, yeşil (blue, green)
- West → ak (white)
So because the Mediterranean Sea was to the West, the Turks named it “the White Sea”, Akdeniz.
(Also note Karadeniz, the Black Sea, was named as such as it’s to the north of Anatolia!)
For Arabic, we have a different derivation.
I remember hearing from one of my teachers that الأبيض in البحر الأبيض المتوسّط referred to the calmness of the sea.
But I also read that الأبيض was likely a reference to the colour of the sea, which appears light or whitish due to its vastness, apparently. Or that الأبيض is a reference to the moderate climate of the region.
I found it quite interesting how the Mediterranean Sea has been attributed the same colour in both these languages, following completely distinct derivations. And I’m sure there are many more terms like this!
If you fancy reading about another Arabic-Turkish link, check out Dictionary Finds: جِفتلِك.
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