Uganda 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 Ugandan cities.

Kampala began as the name of a nearby hill. Originally it was known as kasozi impala or 'hill of the impala' but that description became shortened.

Entebbe comes from the Lugunda langaugae and means 'seat, chair'.

Kabale comes from the local Rujiga language and means 'small stone'.

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

Tuvalu 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 places of Tuvalu.

Tausoalima means 'hand of friendship' and typifies the very basic meanings of Tuvalu's place names.

Falekaupule translates as 'traditional island meeting hall'.

Papa Elise is a reference to Father Ellice, the missionary who came to Funafuti in the late 19th century.

Te Afuafou comes from te afua fou or 'the new beginning'. This refers to an incident with the first contact with a white man, when the locals were allowed on the vessel and one stole a bucket. The perpetrator was shot at, much to the astonishment of the locals.

Tepuka comes from te puka, the name of a tree known to science as Hernandia peltata, itself named after the Spanish botanist Francisco Hernandez de Toledo.

Meang is a name which simply means 'west'.

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

Turkmenistan 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 Turkmenistan cities.

Ashgabat translates from the Persian as 'city of love' or 'city of devotion'.

Turkmenabat, which clearly refers to the people, was formerly known known Chharjvy, the Persian for 'four canals'.

Dasoguz is the Tyrkmen for 'stone spring'.

Balkanabat adds abad to the name of Balkan mountains. It was founded as Neftedag in 1933, this from the Russian neft dag or 'oil mountain'.

Yoloten translates as 'the way passes over'.

Marghab is a river which takes its name from the Murghab District.

Anua comes from the Persian and means 'new water'.

Geok Tepe comes from Turkmen and means 'blue hill or summit'.

Murgap comes from the Turkmen roots mur gap and describes 'the land with the place of water'.

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

Turkey 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 Turkey cities.

Istanbul is thought to be named from the personal name Byzas, the legendary founder of the city. Previously known known as Constaninople 'the city of Constantine'.

Ankara was known as Ankyra or 'anchor' to the Greeks.

Izmir is the Turkish rendering of the original Greek Smyrna, known to be a personal name but no knowlegde of who the person may have been.

Bursa was known as Prusa to the Greeks, this named after the King of Bithynia Prusias I, who was given the kingdom by Philip V of Macedon. The city was once known as Hudavendigar, the Persian for 'God's gift'.

Gaziantep has several suggested origins: from the Hittite khantap or 'king's land'; from Arabic ain and Aramaic tan giving 'praise the spring'; from Arabic ain tayyib 'good spring'; or Aramiac ayin debo 'spring of the wolf'.

Konya is recorded in history as Ikonion, which has been said to come from the Greek eikon or 'image'. In turn this has been said to refer to the gorgon Medusa, Perseus using her head to defeat the population before founding a new city.

Antalya was founded as Attaleia from its founder Attalos II, King of Pergamon and who died in 138BC at the reported age of 82.

Kayseri was originally known as Mazaka, named after its founder Mishak. The modern name comes from Caesar Augustus, it named at his death in AD14.

Eskisehir comes from the Turkish eski sehit or 'old city'. Not a bad name for a city which has evidence of being occupied by the Phrygians some three thousand years ago and may well be a thousand or more years older.

Diyarbakir is Arabic for 'the land of Bakir', the name of the tribe who settled here in the 7th century. The Romans and Byzantines called it Amida.

Denizli is thought to refer to this 'having an abundance of water sources'.

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