Sunday 26 January 2020

Serbia Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Serbian cities.


Belgrade, the capital, is the Anglicised version of the Serbian Beograd meaning 'white city'. The settlement began as the Celtic city of Singidunum, founded by the Scordisci tribe in the 3rd century BC. Here the suffix meaning 'fortress' follows an uncertain first element which could be related to seng 'slender, narrow'; Sings, the Thracian tribe who may have occupied the area previously; sin-gi 'old prayer'; or perhaps the Sinds a Scythain tribe named by Herodotus as living hereabouts in the 5th century BC.


Novi Sad is from the Serbian for 'new orchard'.


Nis is said to get its name from the Nisava River. However, it seems more likelt to be from Serbo-Croat niz meaning 'along the course of'. If this idea is correct, it means an early settlement gave its name to the river and not vice versa.


Kragujevac is from a Serbian word, kraguj refers to a species of hawk. Common to the area and used for hunting, the city's name of 'hawks' roost' reflects this era.


Subotica appeared earlier as Zabotka or Zabatka, possibly from szabad a derivative of svobod or 'peace'. Alternatively the South Slavic word of zabat or 'gable' and thus a reference to a different style of house in the area.


Krusevac is from the Serbian krusac or 'river stone', a common material used in building houses at that time.


Kraljevo is a name meaning 'the kings' town', this given by King Milan I of Serbia (d1889) and a reference to the six Serbian kings who had been crowned in this region.


Pancevo has an uncertain origin but possibly comes from an Old Slavonic term referring to this being largely marshland.


Zrenjanin was named after Zarko Zrenjanin (1902-1942) in 1946 as he was one of the leaders of the Vojvodina Communist Partisans during the Second World War.


Sabac is first recorded in 1454, the origin uncertain but may share an origin with the local River Sava, itself thought to come from Proto-Indo-European sewh meaning 'to take liquid' (and a root also giving us the English 'sup') but here with the suffix -eh to describe 'that which waters' and a reference to it irrigating the land.


Cacak was once known as Gradac or 'little town'. First recorded as Cacak in a document dated 3 January 1409, it may be from cackovit referring to lumpos of frozen or dried mud used as a building material, alternativel this could represent skak or 'jumping', although it is not clear how the latter would work etymologically.


Novi Pazar means 'new bazaar', a name used since the 15th century when there was another well-established market less than two miles east of here.


Sombor takes the family name Czobor, first used in 1543, who owned this area in the 14th century. Earlier had been known as Czoborszentmihaly.


Sremska Mitrovica gets the latter from Saint Demetrius. Added to the area of Syrmia, an ancient region now divided between Serbia and Croatia, named from and ruled by the city of Sirmium - itself now known as Sremska Mitrovica. Sirmium means 'flowing water, wetland' and refers to its location by the River Sava.


Loznica began as lozica, the Serbian for 'small vine'.


Pozarevac can be translated as 'fire town', this thought to refer to a burning of a settlement here.


Jagodina is first recorded as jagodna a word meaning 'strawberry' in Serbian.


Zajeca is from the Torlak dialect zajec 'hare' and thus this place was once renowned as 'the man who breeds hares'.


Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday 19 January 2020

Senegal Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Senegalese cities.


Dakar is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The name hass been corrupted by the Europeans from the Wolof Ndakaarou which has been suggested to come from deuk raw meaning 'whoever settles here will be in peace' - nice sentiment despite the poor grammar.


Touba is from the Arabic Tuba meaning 'felicity' or 'bliss'. It is not only a reference to life in the hereafter but also the name of the tree of paradise.


Rufisque probably comes from the Portuguese Rio Fresco 'freshwater river'.


Ziguinchor is another misquoted Portuguese name, here Cheguei e choram meaning 'I came and they cry', a reference to the sight of the Europeans making the people think they were about to be taken as slaves.


Saint-Louis is named after 13th-century king of France, Louis IX who had been canonised, and also mentions the then French king of Louis XIV. The local name of Ndar comes from the Wolof tongue and means 'pasture'.


Richard Toll was named for the park of the Chateau de Baron Roger, this designed and laid out by the botanist Jean Michel Claude Richard, the French colony's chief gardener.


Linguere is the French version of the Wolof lingeer, meaning 'queen, princess' depending on the context.


Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday 12 January 2020

Saudi Arabia Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Saudi Arabian cities.


Abha is probably the same as the Sanskrit abha and means 'splendour, light'.


Tabuk is mentioned in the Quran and dated at 3500BC as being known as Ashab al-Aykah or 'the companions of the wood'.


Ta'if has a name describing its early use, for this former fortified town's name means 'with a wall around'.


Najran was traditionally named after the first man to settle here, one Najran ibn Zaydan ibn Saba ibn Yahjub ibn Yarub ibn Qahtan. The Arabic word najran does have a couple of other meanings, 'thirsty' could well be the origin of a place name, while the idea of this referring to 'the wooden frame on an opening door' sounds rather forced, at best.


Ar Rass comes from the Arabic and means '(place) at the old well'.


Riyadh simply means 'gardens', a reference to the earlier oasis towns which were effectively the origin of the city.


Uyun AlJiwa is another from a water reference, referring to the water ponds which once surrounded the area and translating as 'the valley's ponds'.


Qatif translates to either 'harvest' or 'grain' depending on the context.


Ras Tanura is Arabic for 'cape oven' or 'cape brazier', thought to be a reference to the heat generated by the topography.


Jeddah has two possible origins. Somethimes explained as the Arabic word for 'grandmother', traditionally this is where Eve's tomb is to be found. Alternatively this is named after Jeddah ibn Al-Qudaa'iy, the clan chief.


Dammam has two explanations: either from the Arabic dawwama 'whirlpool' and a warning to shipping that such had to be avoided, or it is onomatopoeic and sounds like the drums sounded to alert the villagers that the fishing fleet were returning.


Medina comes from the Arabic al-Madinah meaning simply 'the city'.


Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Sunday 5 January 2020

Sao Tome and Principe Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Sao Tome and Principe cities.


Sao Tome is simply the Portuguese for 'Saint Thomas'.


Ilheu Gabago translates from Portuguese as 'the bragging islander'.


Trindade is Portuguese for 'trinity'.


Santa Cruz is Portuguese for 'saint of the cross'.


Pantufo is simply the Portuguese word for 'slipper'.


Santo Antonio translates, somewhat predictably, as 'Saint Anthony'.


Santa Catarina is the portuguese for Saint Catherine.


Porto Alegre is Portuguese for 'happy port', although we have no idea why.


Sao Joao dos Angolares translates as 'Saint John' with Angolar a Portuguese-based creole language.


Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.