Piñer explains that sfenğ also goes by "esponja" or sponge in Spanish, a word derived from the Arabic "sjenğ" of the same meaning. A similar linguistic root exists in Hebrew. The Hebrew word "sfog" refers to a round doughnut. Ladino, Judeo-Spanish spoken by Spanish Jews or Sephardim, used a mix of the Castilian and Arabic and called it "sponǧa."
