A Tree of Indo-European Languages

Over the last few weeks I have looked at the origins of the names of cities from many European countries. In doing this I wanted to examine the links between the various languages by comparing the elements which make up these names to English place names.

Last time I looked at Greek places which, for the most part, were derived from mythological figures. Conversely many of the other place names are derived from words which ultimately can be traced to more ancient tongues. Without a doubt the most commonly mentioned early language is Greek. In truth this is probably because more is known about this particular language than any other of comparable age.

I thought this might the ideal time to take a short break from looking at the place names and take a brief glimpse into the Indo-European group of languages and examine the family tree. The following image will show the development best of all. Note the timelines are approximate and only represent the first accepted appearance of a distinct tongue.

It is worthwhile highlighting the languages which have resulted in the majority of English place names. The Celtic languages first emerged and diversified around five thousand years ago, around the same time as the Germanic and Italic groups. The Celtic tongues have produced many of the topographical names, while the Germanic group contains Old English and Old Scandinavian, the two tongues which have contributed more to English place names than any other.

Origins of Place Names: Greek Cities

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. This time we continue the tour of Western Europe and a look at the largest Greek cities.

Athens is often heard to be named after Athena, the goddess of Greek mythology. Correctly it should be said that both share a common origin. Athens got its name, note it is plural, from the sisterhood of the Athenai. At that time the city was Mycenae, similarly a plural name for the sisterhood of females who were related to the same goddess but then known as Mykene. This all begs the question as to the root word and meaning of all these terms – this is not known, although we do know why the name is uncertain. There have been numerous suggestions as to the etymology of these names since at least Plato’s time – and here lies the problem. These names are simply too old and have been used by too many languages for us to have any chance of seeing changes in sequence and thus following a trail back to the earliest usage.

Thessaloniki is from the Greek for ‘Thessalian victory’, the suffix nike easily understood. The first element refers to Thessalonike of Macedon, a princess and half-sister of Alexander the Great. In turn she was named because of the victory by the Macedonians at the Battle of Crocus Field in 353 BC and on the day of her birth.

Patras is named after the mythical Patreus, he the son of Preugenes.

Heraklion was founded by Arab raiders from Andalusia who called it Rabd al-handaq or ‘castle of the moat’ during the early ninth century. Later Byzantine conquest saw the name become Megalo Kastro, Greek for ‘the big castle’. By the nineteenth century the ancient and original name of Heraklion was revived, itself from the Roman port of Heracleum and both meaning ‘the city of Heracles’.

Larissa is from the pre-Greek or Pelasgian word meaning ‘fortress’.

Volos has two possible origins, both agreeing that Volos had previously been known as Golos. Some maintain this is a corruption of the wealthy landlord Folos, yet it seems more likely to be from the early Mycenaean Iolkos, an ancient city of unknown meaning and given as the embarkation point for the Argo, aboard which Jason led the so-called Argonauts to search for the Golden Fleece.

Rhodes the city is named after Rhodes the island and, in turn, from the nymph Rhodos of mythology who bore seven sons sired by Helios, the sun god. While she gave her name to the island, three of her grandsons are remembered in three places on the island, Camirus, Ialysus, and Lindus.

Ioannina is Greek for ‘town of John’.

Chalcis is an ancient name and comes from the early Greek for ‘copper, bronze’, although no archaeological evidence of any mines in the area has ever been found.

Agrinio was built by King Agrios, according to mythology, and thus named after him.

Trikala is built on the site of ancient Trikka or Trikke, itself named after the mythological nymph Trikke.

Lamia was either named after the mythological daughter of Poseidon or from the Malians, the tribe who lived in this area around the same time.

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

Origins of Place Names: Finnish Cities

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. This time we continue the tour of Western Europe and a look at the largest of the places in Finland.

Helsinki is by far the largest and most populous of Finnish cities. Founded as recently as 1550 as Helsingfors, the Swedish name for the place, it takes the name of the tribe, the Helsingi with Swedish fors or 'waterfall' - this a reference to the rapids on the River Wanda and at the original site of this settlement.

Espoo takes the name of the River Espoo, itself from the Swedish Espaa which connects a or 'river' with aspe or 'aspen'. This is understood as referring to 'the river marked by a border of aspen'.

Tampere is of undertain etymology. Possibly this is of Swedish origins where damber means 'mill dam'. Alternatively, should this be of Scandinavian beginnings, this could represent pambr or pambion meaning 'thick bellied' and 'swollen belly' respectively. Should the latter be the correct definition, the swelling referred to the river and specifcally the rapids, a warning by and/or to roaming hunters these could be treacherous places to try and cross.

Vantaa has only been in offical use for the place since 1974. However the River Vantaa is recorded as such as early as 1351, itself simply meaning 'river'.

Oulu is yet another place named after a river. Here the river is the Oulujoki, itself taken from the lake Oulujarvi. Some believe Oulu to be from the Sumi for 'flood water', in which case it would be related to other words such as aulo 'melted snow'; aulot 'thaw', and oalli 'river channel'. It should be noted there are several other suggestions.

Turku is from turgu, an Old East Slavic word meaning 'market place'.

Jyvaskyla has two possible origins. Most often this is said to be jyvas and associated with an Old Prussian word juwis in which case this refers to 'yew trees'. Others argue there is also the possibility of this element referring to the sun's reflection on the waters here, yet this would not be a common source for a place name in any language or culture. In either case the suffix is kyla or 'village'.

Kuopio is another with more than one potential origin. Traditionally this is said to be the from the 16th century when an influential character named Kauhanen changed his name to Skopa, which became pronounced locally as Skopa, Coopia, and eventually Cuopio. However this does not explain the reason for the name, so perhaps this represents kuopia meaning 'paw' in the sense of a horse pawing the ground and understood to refer to the depression created by such. The most popular is a man's name, one Prokopij being a Karelian name recorded in the Middle Ages.

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

Origins of Place Names: Swedish Cities

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. This time we continue the tour of Western Europe and a look at the largest Swedish cities.

Stockholm is of uncertain origins, although the suffix is undoubtedly Swedish holm or 'island'. It would seem logical to assume the first part is from the same language, yet this assumes they were named at the same time which is highly unlikely, however, if so, this would be stock or 'post, pole' and used as a marker. Alternatively this may be an old Germanic word referring to a fortification, today still used in 'stockade'.

Gothenburg has the suffix seen in English place names as Old English burg and seen here as from borg. The first element refers to the Geats, those who lived in the region known as Gothia and corresponding to modern-day southern Sweden. It is related to the better-known word 'Goth' and shares a common etymology which is understood to have the highly simplistic meaning of 'men'.

Malmo's earliest record gives the name as Malmhaug which, depending upon how this is viewed, could refer to 'gravel pile' or 'ore hill'.

Vasteras is a Swedish name coming from vastra aros meaning 'the mouth of the Svartan (river)'. The Germanic name of the river is not difficult to see when we reveal this is 'the black river'.

Orebo gets its name from a feature also associated with aforementioned Svartan river. Here the literal translation is of 'the bridge of the gravel banks', this being where the river drains into Lake Hjalmaren.

Linkoping's first element is thought to originate from the Lionga ting political assembly - the suffix certainly comes from koping or 'market place'.

Helsingborg has the same suffix as Gothenburg, borg being related to Old English burg. The first element is shared with the Danish city of Helsingor which lies across the narrow strait and this is exactly what hals or 'neck' alludes to.

Jonkoping another place with the suffix koping or 'market place'. Here the first element comes from the small river known as the Junebacken.

Norrkoping and yet a third example of a koping or 'market place', here said to be 'to the north'.

Lund shares an origin with Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. This comes from Old Norse lund, which in the case of Lundy is defined as 'puffin' but probably used in a looser sense here rather than relating specifically to this awkward-looking sea bird.

Note the spellings are, for the most part, English as the piece is written in English.

Origins of Place Names: Norwegian Cities

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. This time we continue the tour of Western Europe and a look at the largest Norwegian cities.

Oslo, as so many crossword compilers are fond of asking us (and that includes me), was known as Christiana from 1624 until 1925 (with the later spelling of Kristiana). This alternative came from King Christian IV, who rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by fire. Now reverting to its original, and quite ancient, name, Oslo comes from an Indo-European os or 'mouth' with the addition of the river name. Hence this is 'the mouth of the River Lo', with the river name thought to come from Old Norwegian ass og or 'the forest clearing'. Hence a real chicken / egg / chicken situation where the city was named after the mouth of a river, itself named after a feature on dry land.

Bergen is of more recent and simple origins. Here the Norwegian name of Bjorgvin is derived from 'mountain pasture'.

Trondheim has a surviving listing from 997 AD, earlier than any other Norwegian name but certainly not the most ancient of derivations despite the area having been settled for thousands of years. Trondheim may well have a claim as the most renamed city in Europe. It was first known as Kaupangen , this meaning 'trading place'; later it is Nidaros or 'mouth of the River Nid'; it is only now it becomes Trondheim, albeit Nidaros was reinstated for 14 months in the early 1930s and during the German occupation of the Second World War became Drontheim. The present name is taken from the district name of Trondelag, itself meaning 'the district or people of a common law'.

Stavanger takes us back to water, here the two elements are stafr meaning 'staff or branch', followed by angr 'inlet or bay'. In the case of stafr it is not clear if it refers to the shape of the inlet or to the nearby mountain. Whilst the latter is certainly not shaped thus, it is a common description when speaking of high and steep mountains in this country.

Kristiansand is, like medieval Oslo, named for King Christian IV with the addition of sand a reference to the headland on which it was constructed.

Fredrikstad is simple enough, the suffix stad indicates 'city' and follows the name of the founder King Frederick II.

Skien was known as Skitha, this Old Norse name literally meaning 'straight plank'. This probably refers to the very straight section of the local brook.

Tromso is named after the island of Tromsoya, itself of uncertain etymology although the element oy clearly means 'island'. Possibly this comes from an unrecorded name of Trumsa, a common enough river name derived from straumr or 'strong current'.

Drammen a name which has undergone several changes making the origins difficult to pinpoint. Yet the most likely is from the river name, known in Old Norse as the Drofn and coming from drofn meaning 'wave'.

Sandnes is a simple and fairly modern name derived from its position on 'the sandy headland' and coming from sand nes.

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