Arabic origin of Portuguse word 'alcaide'

Vinny - yes, wadi - but pronounced 'wad' in North Africa. (In fact, pronounced 'wad l-kbir').

qadi made it's way via Turkish into Serbo-Croatian as kadija, nowadays described roughly as "judge in Turkish times" and most often used in the phrase "Kadija tuži, kadija sudi" (Kadi accuses, kadi judges), describing a fair trial...

#20 -- Wadi'l-kabir is pronounced like that because the vowel of the article is always swallowed up by a preceding vowel (not just in North Africa). Are you saying that wadi is pronounced wad in North Africa even if it ends a phrase? I never noticed that but I can't say for sure I remember how wadi (in final position) was pronounced in Libya.

You guys are right about the surname Alcaide coming from Arabic. But it was origionally prounounced al-qaid. Commander or leader, Since the Spanish and Portuguese werent really able to prounounce it correctly. The words in the surname eventually became fused. And the prounounciation eventually became altered. So al-qaid, eventually became Alcaide.

halaunalcaide is right, according to the sources I've looked at. I wonder if I was relying on my memory above. Stupid of me, and I apologize.

There are three separate Arabic roots in the words mentioned here:

q3d (3 = ayin, pharyngeal consonant with no English equivalent), form which al-Qaeda, the base, is derived.

qDy (with an emphatic D, a different consonant from the d's in the two other roots), from which Qadi, judge, is derived.

qyd, from which qaid, leader is derived.

Thanks, halaunalcaide.