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"Marka", the Arabic word for "brand" or "make", must have been borrowed from some European language. Here are some European words for "brand":
French: marque
Spanish: marca
Italian: marca
German: Marke

I always find that interesting the debate, regarding the origin of foreign words in a language, one of the most Arabic influenced European languages, I believe is Spanish from what I can remember from my studies throughout high school and some in college. Here's just one site of many discusses the roots of this phenomenon: http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyofspanish/a/arabicwords.htm

But yes, Desmond, thanks always for the commentary, and I highly enjoyed your article. Sorry I have been lacking in response, i've been out and about quite frequent the past few months! Mohammed and Ehab, man, you guys keep rocking.

Tomes

And, of course, in English "mark" is used especially in formal copyright law. Not synonymous with "make."

Yes, the terms "trademark" and "brand" denote two distinct concepts and have to be rendered by different words in other languages. In German, for instance, "trademark" is "Warenzeichen", while "brand" corresponds to "Marke". The meanings of "trademark" and "Warenzeichen" are apparent from the following quotations:

(a) After all the huffing and the puffing, the sulking and the name changes, the artist whose name is now a registered trademark celebrated his freedom last week with a concert at his Paisley Park studios. (The Guardian 22.11.1996: 16)

(b) In Coupland und anderswo ging es 1985 noch ohne eingetragene Warenzeichen wie "Generation x", "Slackers" oder "Twentysomething". (TAZ 1.10.1994: 17)

From the US Patent and Trademark web site:

What is a trademark?

A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name.

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What is a service mark?

A service mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services.

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What is a certification mark?

A certification mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce with the owner’s permission by someone other than its owner, to certify regional or other geographic origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristics of someone's goods or services, or that the work or labor on the goods or services was performed by members of a union or other organization.

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What is a collective mark?

A collective mark is a trademark or service mark used, or intended to be used, in commerce, by the members of a cooperative, an association, or other collective group or organization, including a mark which indicates membership in a union, an association, or other organization.

Have to say that this lesson was a bit hilarious. In the U.S., we use the French derived word "cologne" for men's bottled scent. We use the word "perfume" for women's. So using the word "perfume" over and over to refer to men's scent was a bit, ahem, funny!

Chazyouwin's comments on "cologne" and "perfume" are extremely interesting. In British English the word combination "men's perfume" is perfectly acceptable, but rare. I can find only one example on the website of the BBC World Service. If you key in "men's perfume industry" you'll find a text that was published in April 2005.

The following example sentence reflects current English usage in the UK: "But, as sales growth for men's cologne now outstrips women's perfume, it seems men are fast catching up in their desire for sophisticated scent." (BBC World Service, 14.12.2006). Here we have three nouns that belong to the same lexical field. "Cologne" is associated with men, "perfume" with women, and "scent" with both sexes. In other words, "cologne" and "perfume" can be used as co-hyponyms of "scent".

Excellent lesson as usual, however. -- Charles

In reality, cologne and perfume only refer to the percentage of aromatic compounds mixed into the products; the usage of the words are not in truth gender-oriented. However, cologne is generally sold to men where as perfume is generally sold to women, therefore society assumes one is for men and the other for women.

In the UK around the 1950s, the English author Nancy Mitford published a book about U(pper class) and Non-U English - essentially the way the aristocracy distinguished themselves linguistically from the aspiring middle classes. One of the characteristics was to choose 'true English' words over those derived from French Eg 'scent' was used instead of 'perfume'.

Ironically, going back further in time, the nobility (of Norman descent) spoke only French, one of the legacies of which is that some terms for meat that is eaten today, eg beef & mutton are derived from the French words for the animals (boeuf, mouton), whereas the old English words are still used for the animals, bull or cow and sheep.

Returning to 'men's perfume' today, aside from cologne (from the German city Köln via Eau de Cologne), the terms 'fragrance', 'eau de toilette', 'aftershave' and 'body spray' are commonly used.

PS I was surprised to see the 'male grooming' commonly provided in ordinary barbers in some Arab countries including eyebrow threading/plucking and (horrifyingly) skin whitening cream.

PPS Regarding the longevity of a particular expensive perfumes, I gather that's connected to expensive ingredients & fixing agents traditionally derived from now endangered species, eg musk & civet.

Very interesting comments, psibear, especially the one about male grooming practices!
You seem to be progressing nicely through all the "older" lessons. Congratulations and thanks for reminding us of the treasure trove Mohamed and Ehab have made available to us over the past 4 years.

Indeed it is a rich offering of so much in addition to an excellent, interesting way of learning Arabic. Thanks guys!

Regarding threading ('fatlah' or 'khite'), it seems very popular although not without controversy to the extent that questions relating to it appear on Islamic websites from people seeking guidance - technically it's forbidden as vanity unless the eyebrows are 'excessively hairy'..

ATTHAR AL HARAMAAIN

u can just buy it from some guy selling it in his stall in certain areas of UK