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| WORD OF
THE MONTH |
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Al-bunduqiyya » البندقية
is the Arabic word for a rifle. It is derived from « al-bunduqa »
البندقة the
hazelnut, as the first bullets shot by the crossbows, before the invention of
the firearms, were similar to the fruit of the hazel tree : « al-bunduq
» البندق .
In the Middle East, the first firearms were introduced by Venetians merchants,
this is why nowadays Venice is called in Arabic « madînat al-bunduqiyya »
مدينة البندقية
, the city of the rifle. As it is frequent for quadriliteral words, its
plural is internal : « banâdiq » بنادق
.
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French translator and Arabic
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