Slovakia 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 Slovakian cities.

Bratislava has only been known as such since 1919, this taken from an earlier name meaning 'Braslav's castle', although whether these were on the same site is uncertain. Prior to 1919 the city was known by its German name of Pressburg and its Hungarian name of Pozsony, the Slovak name of Presporok and the Czech name of Prespurk - all referring to the fortification and a personal name.

Kosice comes from the Slavic personal name Kos or Kosa with the suffix ice.

Presov is first seen in 1247 as Theutonici de Epuryes which many have attributed to the Hungarian eper or 'strawberry'. But this has recently been questioned and a suggestion of a personal name, either Pres or Presa has now proven more popular.

Zilina is from the Slavic or Slovak zial meaning 'a vein' and referring to the flow of the river or rivers..

Banska Bystrica has two roots: Banska from the Slovak bana meaning 'mine' and Bystrica from Slavic bystrica or 'swift stream'.

Nitra takes its name from the river, itself from Proto-Indo-European and meaning probably meaning 'to cut', in the sense of referring to its course.

Trnava is another river name, the Trnava creek is derived from Old Slavic trn or 'thornbush', these found along the riverbanks.

Trencin is similar to the above, here the Slavic refers to the 'blackthorn'.

Prieidza is likely from a personal name such as Previd and thus 'Previd's village'.

Zvolen is from Slavic and means 'the chosen one, splendid, excellent', depending on the context. However, this does not explain why it would have been described as such.

Spisska Nova Ves is a merging of two settlements: the older the Slavic Iglov from igla 'needle' together with the more recent settlement of German colonists and hence Nova Ves or 'new village'.

Komarno is of Slavic or Latin origin, where the former would give komar no refers to 'the place of mosquitoes' and the latter commercium and still easily seen as 'trade centre'.

Humenne is another from the Slavic tongue, where hummo means 'backyard'.

Levice comes from an Old Slavic name where leva means 'the left one', and it does stand on the left bank of the Hron river. Incidentally, to discover which is the left bank, you simply face downstream and on the left is ......

Hron is a river name from a Germanic tongue, the name earlier being Granahua and from gran 'spruce' and ahua 'water'.

Bardejov has almost as many stories told about its origin as letters in the name. Perhaps this is from the Hungarian bard 'chopper, hatchet' and refers to clearing the area when it was founded; or maybe Hungarian Barfta 'chopping trees'; or is it a personal name Bardej; or the name Barduj; or ......

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

Kyrgystan 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 Kyrgystan cities.

Bishkek has only been known as such since 1991, prior to that it had been known as Frunze by the Soviet Union from 1925, and as Pishpek when established as a fortress in 1825. Frunze was after the Bolshevik leader Mikhail Frunze who was born here and who died in 1925. The name of Pishkek is thought to be from a Kyrgyz word for a 'churn', one used specifically to make fermented mare's milk, the national drink.

Jalal-Abad is known for its mineral springs, the water from the spa long believed to cure leprosy. Its name comes from Jalal ad Din, who set up caravanserais (early service station)serving travellers and pilgrims to the holy mountain. The suffix of '-abad' or '-abat' comes from the Persian and denotes a place associated with the named person.

Tokmok simply means 'hammer', a reference to it being established as a military outpost.

Kara-Balta translates as 'black axe'.

Kant is the Kyrgyz word for 'sugar', for a sugar plant constructed here in 1930.

Kara-Suu is the Kyrgyz for 'black water'.

Isfana is thought to come from the Sogdian word asbanikat meaning 'the land of horses'.

Toktogul is named after its most famous inhabitant, Toktogul Satilganov a poet and composer (1864-1933).

Batken comes from the Sogdian, an Iranian language, and means 'the city of wind'.

Sulukta comes from the Turkic word zuluk and, with the suffix, refers to a place 'containing leeches'.

Cholpon-Ata is literally 'Venus father' and refers to the mythological protector of the area.

Kok-Janggak is from the Kyrgyz for 'green walnut'.

Pristan'-Przheval'sk is named after the Russian geographer Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) whose grave is found here.

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

Doctor Richard Beeching

My latest book, released this week, is a little different for me. March sees the 50th anniversary of the infamous report of the reshaping of the railways of Britain, most often referred to as the Beeching Axe. In truth there are a couple of others released on the same subject but they ostensibly deal with the report, the man, and the impact on railway transport in this country ever since. My book is somewhat different as it looks at what happened to the parts which closed. Hence my book looks at what happened in that half century following closure and asks the question – is he justifiably one of the most loathed individuals in recent British history?

Beeching 50 Years On is published by The History Press.

I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has purchased or would like to purchase a copy. As always I also welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies.