Lebanon 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 Lebanese cities.

Beirut is the capital, an Anglicised version of the Arabic Bayrut. This is ultimately from the Phoenician place name Berot or Birut, both seen in the Canaanite or Phoenician be'rot which, some 3,500 years ago, describes this place as 'the wells'.

Tripoli can also be traced back to the Phoenician age, during which time it has had several names. This name is derived from the Greek and means 'the three cities'. The Arabic name is al-fayha 'the scent or smell' and a reference to the vast orange orchards once found here.

Sidon comes from the Phoenician Sidun 'fishing town'.

Tyre refers to its location on a rocky formation and means simply 'rock'.

Byblos is difficult to trace because of the variety of records coming from speakers from several languages. It is most likely a name meaning 'God's well', where the name refers to God's place rather than a source of water.

Aley is from Aramaic and means 'high place', it does indeed stand at least six hundred metres above sea level.

Nabatieh is another from Phoenician, this meaning 'the appearance' and a reference to how it would have been easily recognised from the sea owing to its many grottoes.

Baalbek was known as Helioupolis or 'sun city' to the Greeks. Its present name refers to 'Ba'al, Lord of the Beka'.

Zahle is a Syriac word meaning 'moving places' and points to the continuous danger of landslides in this area.

Zgharta has been explained as coming from the Aramaic zaghar or 'fortress'.

Ehden is a region named from the Aramaic for 'the mountain's base and slope'.

Batroun is from the Arabic al-Batroun and the Phoenician word bater 'to cut'. A reference to the sea wall which created the harbour here.

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

Latvia 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 Latvian cities.

Daugavpils is the pils or 'castle' on the river Daugava. Also known as the Western Dvina, it is from an early Indo-European word meaning simply 'river'.

Jekabpils also features the suffix pils 'castle', here following the name of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland.

Jelgava, known as Mitau until 1917, a name either meaning 'the middleof the Aa' (a river name), or 'the place of trade', gets its current name from the Livonian jalgab 'town on the river'.

Jurmala is from two Latvian words jura mala or 'edge of the sea'. Although we would normally say 'seaside'.

Liepaja takes its name from the river Liva on which it stands, this from the Livonian word liiv meaning 'sand'.

Riga is the capital and largest city with a population of more than 630,000. Its name comes from the Livonian ringa meaning 'loop', this a reference to the natural harbour, a feature of a tributary of the Daugava river.

Valmeira comes from the Old German name Waldermar and its Slavic version of Vladimir. It is not clear just which person this common name refers to, but seems most likely to be a reference to the noble of the Principality of Pskov Valdimir Mstislavich, a vassal of Albert of Riga from 1212.

Ogre is possibly from a Russian source, an early name for the river on which it stands and meaning 'eels' from ugri. However an earlier name for the place was Wogene, Woga and is possibly from the Estonian voog 'stream, flow, waves'.

Talsi comes from the Livonian word talusse telling this was once a 'secluded place'.

Aluksne comes from the Latgalian word oluksna meaning 'spring in the forest'.

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

Laos 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 Laos cities.

Vientiane has a rather uncertain origin. Some maintain this comes from the Pali language of Theravada Buddhism, pictographs showing the original name meant 'city of sandalwood'. However others point to 'city of the moon' as the true origin. The disagreement is to be expected for it is unclear whether this comes from Sanskrit chandra 'sandalwood' or Sanskrit chandana 'moon', for both are pronounced and written phonetically as 'chan' in modern Lao.

Pakse comes from the Laotian describing its location at 'the mouth of the river', actually at the confluence of the Xe DOn and Mekong rivers.

Kaysone Phomvihane has only been known as such since 2005, it named after the man born here and later became the first leader of Laos independence. Earlier it had been known as Savannakhet, itself from the province of Savanh Nakhone and meaning 'heavenly district' or 'fertile land of agriculture'.

Luang Prabang literally translates as 'royal Buddha image', an appropriate name for there are numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries here.

Xam Neua, like all good place names, describes its location and translates as 'the northern swamp'.

Muang Xay apparently owes its name to an event from the year 1323. The inhabitants of Takka Sila, as it was known at the time, were in the forest cutting bamboo when they came upon a monk named Paxay. He asked them what they were doing cutting down bamboo to make a fishing basket. He offered them food and refreshment and they changed the name to Muang Xay in his honour.

Xiangkhouang is the name of a province with a name translating as 'horizontal city', this whole area a plateau.

Bokeo is the name of a province meaning 'gem mine', the area known for its sapphire mines.

Mekong is an Anglicised river name from the Lao Mae Nam Khong where mae nam refers to 'the mother of waters' and is used to describe virtually every major river hereabouts, while Khong is its proper name. However khong is an archaic word meaning 'river' or 'the river' and showing both effectively mean the same thing.

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

Kosovo 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 Kosovo cities.

Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, the origins of its name not entirely certain. Most often said to be from a Proto-Slavic pryscina 'spring of water'. A second possibility is a personal name, there being a few possibilities. However, the idea it comes from the Serbian prist meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour' is impossible as this would never bring about a suffix of -ina.

Gjilan has a disputed etymology, ideas differ depending on the view of neighbouring countries and peoples. For example Albanians maintain it comes from the original settlers here, these led by Bahti Beg Gjinolli of Gjinaj and arriving in the middle of the 18th century. This seems very late for a record which is not documented and there is evidence of earlier inhabitants. Serbians claim it comes from the Serbian word gnjio, which is something of a derogatory description for it means 'putrid, rotten' and, while certainly not unheard of in place names, seems unlikely to be retained by the current nation.

Pec is a Serbian word meaning 'furnace' or 'cave' depending on the context. This would refer to the caves in Rugova Canyon which were home to Serbian Orthodox hermit monks.

Mitrovica comes from the Greek Demetrius and named after the 8th century Byzantine church and dedicated to St Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the patron saint of agriculture, peasants and shepherds.

Ferizaj was known as Ferizovik when under the Ottoman Empire, changing soon after the railway came through here in 1873, sparking a period of growth. It then took the name of the hotel, one already standing when the railway arrived, named after the owner Feriz Shasivari.

Gjakova is the Albanian name, Serbians refer to it as Dakovica. Several theories as to the origin, including a personal name Jakov, a minor lord who once held the town but at least managed to get his name on coinage; the Serbian dak'pupil' and a reference to the Serbian schools here; or, for reasons unclear, the Albanian word gjak 'blood'.

Vucitrn has two possible origins. First settled in the time of the Illyrian Empire some 2,500 years ago, the Illyrian could have name meant 'the side of the calves'; alternatively the Serbian Vucitrn is the name of the plant ononis spinosa, which is abundant in the area but could well have been named by the place. Incidentally ononis spinosa is commonly known as spiny restharrow and is found throughout much of Europe. Russians used an extract in the manufacture of bulat steel. The finished weapon dipped in a mixture containing the restharrow extract and then held aloft while on a galloping horse, thus allowing it to dry and harden. Not difficult to see why such a process was brought to Europe by the nomadic armies of the Mongolian Empire under Genghis Khan.

Kosovo Polje is takes the name of the nation and adds the Serbian polje or 'field'.

Orahovac is from the Serbo-Croatian orah meaning 'walnut'.

Suva Reka is the Serbian for 'dry river'.

Kacanik is likely from the Turkish Kacanlar, a reference to the Albanian bandits operating in this area who used the town as their base.

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