Sunday 29 September 2019

Panama 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 Panama's cities.


Panama City gave its name to the country and, as explained in detail in my post Countries of the Americas, means 'many butterflies' or 'abundance of fish'.


David is named after the biblical King David.


La Chorrera has always been thought to refer to the large number of waterfalls, although the name does not mean waterfall and does not translate at all.


Santiago de Veraguas has a Spanish prefix, meaning Saint James, and the name of the province, itself from an indigenous language where Veracua or Viragua was probably a proper name, although there are many (unproven) theories.


Penonome comes from peno Nome, where Nome was the local chieftain put to death by Spanish conquistadores when he dared to resist their rule. Peno Nome literally means 'Nome was punished'. Legend speaks of his love for a local woman named Zarati. However, the tribe didn't approve of their love and told him she had drowned. He is said to have thrown himself into the same river and perished, thus giving names to the Zarati River and a slightly different meaning for the place name of 'Nome mourned'.


Puerto Armuelles was named to honour Colonel Tomas Armuelles, a hero of the Coto War between Panama and Costa Rica and fought over a period of thirteen days in February and March 1921. Port Armuelles was named shortly after his death in a train accident on 18 March 1921, it had previously been known as Rabo de Puerco or 'pigtail'.


Chitre takes its name from the local tribe, the Chitra.


Almirante is the Spanish word for 'admiral'.


Last Tablas takes its name, according to folklore, from planks of wood salvaged from a Spanish ship which ran aground after fleeing from the pirate Sir Henry Morgan. The only evidence to support this is the literal translation of las tablas as 'the boards'.


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

Sunday 22 September 2019

Palau 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 a few of Palau's names.


Ngerchoki was held to be where the waters of youth could be found, Jumping in the waters would result in one looking many years younger. But don't bother going today as the waters have lost their powers ever since a woman and her child came along to drink the water. However it was a hot day and she jumped in with the expected result. Unfortunately her child no longer recognised her and cried until she jumped back in and reversed the process. Since then the waters have proven useful only as water.


Kabekel is also the name of a war canoe.


Ngiwal is named for being the stomach of Uab, hence the people have very big appetites and in particular the local dish of soup, pumpkin, rice and coconut milk.


Koror was known as Los Arrecifes by the Spanish, it simply means 'the reefs'.


Helen Island was first charted by the Spanish naval officer Felipe Tompson, who referred to it as the San Felix shoal.


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

Pakistan 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 Pakistan's cities.


Karachi is reputed as being founded in 1729 as Kolachi and said to have honoured Mai Kolachi, she a fisherwoman who settled here. When her husband was lost in a storm she, despite warnings to the contrary, went to search for him and proved successful. Interestingly her surname is said to come from the Baloch tribe originating from Kulanch, while Mai is a word still used to mean 'respected lady'.


Lahore has a number of suggested origins, most often cited as coming from Ravawar (R to L is common in languages derived from Sanskrit), itself a simplified version of the name Iravatyawar, from the Ravi River or Iravati, she the daughter of Kadru and Kasyapa in Indian mythology. Hindu legend suggests the name comes from Lavpur or Lavpuri meaning 'city of Lava'. This is not molten rock but named after its founder, Prince Lava, the son of Sita and Rama.


Faisalabad means 'the city of Faisal' and named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a great benefactor to Pakistan. Earlier, during the time of the British Raj, the place was named after the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Sir James Broadwood Lyall, where the addition of Sanskrit pur or 'city' gave us the name Lyallpur.


Gujranwala means 'abode of the Gujjars' in Punjabi, this tribe of nomads and grazers living in northern Punjab. Some consider their tribal name to be derived from the area around the Caspian Sea, for their ancestry came from this area and the sea's alternative name of Bahr-e-Khizar produced tribal names of Khizar, Guzar, Gujur, Gurjara, and Gujjar.


Peshawar likely comes from the Sanskrit Purushapura, either 'the city of men' or 'city of Purusha', the latter an ancient king, although likely a fictional one as no evidence has been found.


Multan is possibly from the Old Persian word mulastana 'frontier land' or the Sanskrit word mulasthana a Hindu deity worshipped at the Multan Sun Temple.


Hyderabad was named in honour of Ali, the fourth caliph and a cousin of the prophet Muhammad. It translates as 'Lion City' from haydar 'lion' and abad 'settlement'.


Islamabad is derived from two words abad 'settlement', preceded by the religion meaning 'submission to God'.


Quetta is a variation of the Pashto word Kot meaning 'fortress'.


Sukkur is thought to come from the Arabic word shakkar 'sugar' as sugarcane fields were once abundant here.


Sheikhupura was earlier known as Virk Garh or 'Virk fort', this the name of the tribe resident here. Later it became Jehangirabad, named after the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, with the modern name derived from Jehangir's nickname of Shekhu, coined by his mother.


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

Sunday 8 September 2019

Oman 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 Oman's cities.


Adam has a very long history and thus the origin of the name is uncertain. However, most sources give this as Arabic for 'the fertile land'.


Al Ashkarah is a delightful place name, being taken from a poisonous plant indigenous to this area.


Mount Shams is the highest point in the country, hence it is appropriate that its name means 'the sun mountain'.


Al Suqayq is simply the Arabic for 'market'.


Ibra has been suggested as coming from an Arabic verb and means 'purification of guilt'.


Muscat's origins are disputed, some claim this is from Arabic where moscha means 'inflated hide or skin', although others suggest an alternative Arabic term for 'letting fall the anchor', the latter seems a little contrived. Perhaps this from the Old Persian muscat or 'strong scented', or maybe other ancient languages have contributed to the name meaning 'falling place' and 'hidden place'. The problem here is the age of the settlement. Ptolemy's map of the region give two names for this area: Cryptus Portus and Moscha Portus, suggesting the original name may have come from Old Sumerian maa-kan 'sea people'.


Nizwa possibly comes from the Arabic for 'alone' but this would be an odd meaning for a place name, although phonetically it fits much better than the water spring which has flowed here for the entire age of the settlement.


Rustaq comes from the Middle Iranian rostag or 'district'. Note this ancient tongue is close to the root word which has given similar terms in many Indo-European languages, including the modern Iranian rusta 'large village' and Latin rustica 'village'. The latter has given us the modern English 'rustic'. This is why etymology, the study of language, and toponomy, the study of place names, prove so fascinating for me.


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

Sunday 1 September 2019

Nigeria 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 of Nigeria's cities.


Lagos is a name given to the place by the Portuguese, it means simply 'lakes'.


Kano was originally known as Dala, after Dalla Hill, and remained such until the end of the 15th century. Later it took its current name, itself borrowed from the name of the hereditary rulers named Kano.


Ibadan comes from the phrase eba odan, 'between the forest and the plains'.


Benin came from the Portuguese pronunciation of the original name of Ubinu, itself from Ile-Ibinu 'the land of vexation' as coined by Prince Oranmiyan, he frustrated in his attempts at governing this area.


Port Harcourt, built in 1912, was named to honour Lewis Vernon Harcourt, Secretary of State for the Colonies.


Jos is recorded as originally being known as Gwosh, a former village named for its position n the hills.


Enugu is derived from two Igbo words, where Enu Ugwu means 'hill top'.


Zaria was named after Queen Zaria.


Bauchi was named after a hunter called Baushe or encouraged Yaqub, of the Sokoto Empire, to build this city.


Sokoto is a modern version of the earlier Arabic name, itself from suk meaning 'market'.


Yola comes from the Fulfulde meaning 'great plain'.


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