Subject: currency names

does anybody know the etymology of the following currency names : rial ( iran , oman , north yemen ) riyal ( saudi arabia , quatar ) riel ( cambodia ) real ( brazil ) and maybe other similar names beginning with ri / re end ending with l ? would it be possible that those names are of the same ( ie . ) origin , originally refering to kingdom e . t . c . ( cf . regal ) ? ( what about the russian _ rubel _ , and the _ rupee _ in india e . t . c . ? ) it would , in fact , not have to be that strange to have a currency name of the same origin in countries as far away from each other as brazil and cambodia , as currency names do not seem to follow any " national " rules . cf . the name _ dollar _ ( in use in almost 60 countries ( comes originally from the german _ thaler _ , but has supposedly spread out under the influence of usd ) ) , and the many variations of the word " crown " ( icelandic kr / ona , danish krone , estonian kroon , czechish korun e . t . c ) , and _ dinar _ in various ( arabic ) countries . thanks , veturlidi oskarsson icelandic language institute reykjavmk , iceland e-mail : veturosk @ ismal . hi . is
