South Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘ship’ and now look at ‘south’.

South Sea has had several meanings over the years and obviously so as some parts of the world hadn’t been discovered. From the late 14th century the South Sea was the Mediterranean, and in the early 15th century used for what is now known as the English Channel. Today it is normally used to refer to the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere, as it has since the 1520s.

Go south, as in ‘vanish’ or ‘abscond’, has been in use since the 1920s.

South Africa has been used generally for the southern part of the continent since 1815, and for the nation since 1910.

Southern Cross is a constellation not visible in much of the northern hemisphere. It was named such by the English in 1756.

Nothing was described as Southern Fried, as a cooking style, until 1972.

Southwester when referring to a wind, gale, or storm is seen from 1833, and three years later pronounced as sou’wester to refer to the nautical coat protecting the wearer from any inclement weather.

Southeaster is first found rather earlier, first seen from 1797. This is not to say one was in use for more than three decades before the other, likely they were used concurrently and only seen as being from slightly different ages as there are no surviving records from earlier.

Southbound originally referred solely to the railways, although not seen until 1872.

Several familiar place names from around the globe have origins speaking of them as being seen as in the south. Australia, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Hunan (a province of China), Soweto (a community outside Johannesburg), Suffolk, Nanking (city in China),

Chinese Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘spring’ and now look at ‘Chinese’ – albeit many of these will have little association with the Orient.

Chinese lantern is first seen in 1825.

Chinese chequers is not recorded before 1938.

Chinese homer – also known as a Harlem home run, Polo home run, or a Pekinese poke – is a derogatory term used in baseball to describe a ball clearing the nearest point to the base for a home run, first seen in the Los Angeles Times when reporting on a minor league game in August 1919.

Chinese whispers is first found in 1939 when appearing in the Derbyshire Times.

Chinese fire-drill is US military slang first heard in 1962, and describes people running about in a disorderly or chaotic fashion and achieving nothing.

Chinese burn first appears in print in 1936 in the Thames Star, a New Zealand newspaper.

China, as in the porcelain, is first seen in 1650, although this is a shortened form of the earlier China-ware (1630) and China-dishes (1570), and none of these were sold in a China-shop before 1750.

China doll – ie a doll made from china – is first seen in 1756, although it did not become common until the middle of the 19th century.

China plate is unrecorded before 1880.

China syndrome is first recorded in 1970, it refers to the theoretical idea that a nuclear disaster or meltdown would result in it sinking through the Earth and create a hole leading to China and has since been used as a synonym for ‘meltdown’.

China white, a euphemism for very pure form of heroin, is first seen in 1791.

Chinaman’s chance, now considered offensive, first came to prominence in the early 19th century; today we are more likely to say ‘ghost of a chance’.

Chinaman is a cricketing term referring to a ball delivered by a left-arm bowler which spins the wrong way from the natural delivery, ie in to the right-handed batsman. The term comes from what would today be regarded as a highly offensive comment made during a match in 1933 between England and the West Indies. England’s Walter Robins was stumped by the wicketkeeper having been beaten by the ball delivered by Ellis ‘Puss’ Achong who had Chinese ancestry. As he passed the umpire on his way to the dressing room, he said to the umpire “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.” On reflection it is probably a good job Robins didn’t refer to the bowler by his nickname, it may have led to all manner of complaints when naming the delivery.

Uzbekistan 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 Uzbekistan cities.

Tashkent is thought to mean either 'stone tower' or 'stone city', a tower said to mark the midpoint between Europe and China.

Lake Charvak comes from the Persian char bagh meaning 'four gardens'

Samarkand comes from the Sogdian samar kand 'stone fort / town'.

Namangan comes from Persian namak kan 'a salt mine'.

Nukus comes from an old tribal name of the Karakalpaks.

Bukhara is thought to come from the Sogdian buxarak meaning 'place of good fortune'.

Qarshi means simply 'fort'.

Margilan is said to have been named by Alexander the great and named when he was given lunch of chicken murgh and bread nan.

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

Seas and Oceans

Chose the perfect week for a UK holiday this year - not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the low thirties. In an attempt to keep a little cooler we took many boat trips around the Devon coastline. Obviously we all know the origins of the English Channel, etymologicially not geologically - 'English' from 'England' or 'the land of the Angles' and 'channel' correctly referring to 'a bed of running water' in the 14th century (interestingly it was the British Channel prior to 1825) - but I wondered about the origins of others seas and oceans. Doubtless those enjoying the waters of more exotic locations, such as the Irish Sea, will wonder how the names Wonder no more.

Adriatic - named from the town of Atria, modern Adria, in Picenum near Venice. At the time it was a seaport but is now more than 10 miles from the coast. This comes from atra from 'black' or 'the black city'.

Aegean - traditionally named for Aegeus of Greek mythology, the father of Theseus who threw himself to his own death when thinking his son had perished. However the more likely explanation is the Greek aiges 'waves', which is not unlike the Latin aqua from Proto-Indo-European akwa 'water'.

Andaman - thought to come from the Andaman Islands, itself said to be from Andoman, a form of Hanuman, the Sanskrit name of the Indian god.

Arabian - from Arab, itself traceable to the Greek Arabos probably meaning 'inhabitant of the desert' and related to the Hebrew arabha 'desert'.

Aral - in the Turkic tongues aral means 'island' or 'archipelago' and can thus be understood as 'sea of islands', of which some 1,100 were once found here. Correctly the Aral Sea had been the fourth largest lakes in the world but irrigation projects have diverted waters and there are now four small lakes of higher salinity.

Azov - another likely named from a settlement on the shore, here Kipchak Turkish azaq meaning 'lowlands'. However another origin theory points to the Cuman prince Azum who was killed defending a local town in 1067.

Baltic - until the 11th century this was the Mare Suebicum, Latin for 'the sea of the Suebi', the local people who may, depending upon which source is accepted, have named themselves as 'one's own' or were named by the Celts as 'vagabonds'. The modern name is unknown until the German chronicler Adam of Bremen and, while the origin is disputed, may come from the Germanic belt or 'strait' as this is still used for two Danish straits known as the Belts.

Beaufort - an Arctic sea named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort, a naval officer who lived in Ireland but was descended from the French Huguenots and who had the Beaufort wind scale named after him. Despite being self-educated he was associated with contemporary mathematicians of the calibre of John Herschel and Charles Babbage.

Bering - named for the Danish navigator Vitus Bering, the first European to explore the region extensively.

Black - one of four 'coloured seas' in English but one which is difficult to see as in any way darker than others. Thus the modern idea is this related to the Red Sea as the 'north sea' (see below).

Caribbean - named after the Carib people (which is why the American pronunciation is correct). The Kalina people are how they know themselves, the western name comes from the Spanish Caribe, a bad pronunciation of the Arawakan kalingo 'brave ones' or kalino 'strong men'.

Caspian - named for the people who lives on the shores of the Caspian Sea, themselves originally from the Caucasus, who were named Caspii or 'whites' by the Romans.

Coral - abounds with coral as evidenced by the Great Barrier Reef. The word 'coral' is of semitic origin, related to Hebrew goral 'small stone' and Arabic garal 'small pebble' and originally only applied to the red coral found in the Mediterranean.

Dead - the Dead Sea is named because of its salt content (the Bible refers to it as the Salt Sea). Now people will jump up and down and claim all the sea is salty, yet the Dead Sea's salinity at 34.2% is great deal higher than the 3% to 4% of the vast oceans of the world. It is known as the Dead Sea although it does support a very small population of bacteria and microbial fungi and is correctly a lake.

Galilee - is named for the province of Palestine and derived from the Hebrew root galil used here to mean 'district' but usually meaning 'circle'.

Irish - named after the Irish inhabitants of Ireland, itself derived from the Old Irish Eriu and Proto-Celtic Iveriu and understood as 'fat' as in 'prosperous'.

Ionian - of unknown origins but ancient Greek writers attributed it to the myth of Io, who was said to have swum the sea. The name is probably pre-Greek and could be related to Sanskrit yoni 'womb' and reference to a goddess.

Java - named after the most populous island on the planet, itself of disputed origins. This could be from the jawa-wut, a plant also known as foxtail millet grown in India since before records began, and certainly grown in China some 8,000 years ago. Other suggestions point to jau 'distant, beyond' or Sanskrit yava 'barley', or even a Proto-Indonesian word Iawa meaning 'home'.

Labrador - named after the Portuguese explorer Joao Fernandes Lavrador. His family name is 'Fernandes', the last element shows he was a landowner for lavrador means 'farmer, plougher'.

Ligurian - named after the ancient Ligures people who inhabited the area known as Iberia. Little is known of these Celtic people, which may be due to the suggestion their name is Pre-Celtic and only the suffix asco 'village' has survived.

Marmara - the sea, once again, took its name from the island of Marmara. The place is a rich source of marble, which is why the Greek marmaron meaning 'marble'.

Mediterranean - the name is of Latin derivation, where mediterraneus means 'inland' or 'middle of the land', which is a good description of the sea which, one day, will be very much an inland sea.

North - this came to English from Dutch Noordzee as opposed to the Zuiderzee or 'South Sea'. It has also been known as the German Sea, German Ocean, Frisian Sea, Mare Frisicum, and in different languages today as the Nordsoen, Noordzee, Mer du Nord, Noardsee, Nordsee, Noordsee, Weestsiie, Nordsjoen, NNordsjon, An Cuan a Tuath, Noordzee and others.

Norwegian - clearly derived from the country of Norway, itself named for 'the northern way' which is how the English viewed it.

Okhotsk - named after the region giving its name to the town of Okhotsk, the first Russian settlement in the Far East with a name derived from the river Okhota, itself a Tungus word meaning 'river'. Hence a river name gave a district name, which gave a settlement its name, and then to the sea - of of which mean 'river'.

Red - some think this is named from the algal growth or corals, however this does not seem true of the majority of the sea for most of the year. Hence the modern idea is this refers to the 'southern sea' in relation to the Black Sea being the northern version.

Ross - along with Ross Island and the Ross Ice Shelf, the Ross Sea was named after British explorer James Clark Ross who came here in 1841 and whose name is a Gaelic word meaning 'headland'.

Sargasso - named after the Sargassum seaweed which grows in these calm waters. The seaweed was named by Portuguese sailors after a species of rock rose found in water wells in their homeland, Helianthemum. Sargassum is used in Chinese medicine as the answer to "heat phlegm" (neither do I), and of greater interest is the Sargasso Sea, which is unique in having no land borders.

South China - oddly enough it washes the southern shores of China.

Timor - comes from the island of Timor, itself derived from the Malay word timur meaning 'east'.

Tyrrhenian - named after the Tyrrhenian people but a name which is difficult to define. This is due to every early reference we know coming from the Greeks but it is not from a Greek word. It has been connected to an early loan word tursis or 'tower' but this lacks support as we have no idea how this was used. What does seem likely, however, is this shares an origin with the Tusci, the Latin exonym for the Etruscans.

Yellow - named from the sand storms across the Gobi Desert which sprinkles sand particles on the surface waters to make the sea appear yellow.

There are also a number of minor seas around the Antarctic continent, of which we have only examined the Ross Sea. Some interesting names and thus, working clockwise from the Ross Sea, we find .....

Amundsen Sea - named by Norwegian Nils Larsen in 1929 after his compatriot Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, doing so on December 14th 1911. His surname means 'the son of the respectful protector'.

Bellinghausen Sea - named after explorer Admiral Thaddeus Bellinghausen who explored the area in 1821.

Weddell Sea - named after Scotland's James Weddell, he explored this area from 1823 but was not named such until 1900.

Scotia Sea - this was not named from Scotland directly, but after the vessel Scotia of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition in 1902-04 under William Bruce, although the sea was not officially named in 1932.

Lazarev Sea - a name coined in 1962 to honour Russian admiral Mikhail Lazarev but, despite this appearing on Soviet and Russian maps, it failed to gain international approval in 2002.

Riiser-Larsen Sea - another name din 1962, this time to honour Nowegian explorer and aviator Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, who is regarded as the founder of the Norwegian Air Force. Again it appears only on Soviet and Russian maps, failing to be recognised internationally in 2002.

Cosmonauts Sea - yet again named in 1962 and only appearing on Soviet and Russian maps and also rejected at the 2002 international conference. The name was chosen to mark the first manned craft to journey into space and is an interesting word. It is formed of two Greek elements, 'cosmos' and 'nautes'. Here the suffix is 'sailor' derived from a Proto-Indo-European nau 'boat', while the prefix is Greek kosmos 'order'. Interesting to see one of the most recent words is based on a language of one of the earliest civilizations together with what must have been among our earliest Europen words.

Cooperation Sea - another only found on Soviet and Russian maps, named in 1962 and dismissed forty years later, it was meant to mark the idea of international cooperation on this massive continent - which seems to have been overlooked by the international committee of 2002.

Davis Sea - at last one receiving international approval, it was named by Sir Douglas Mawson, leader of the Australian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14 after Captain J. K. Davis, second in command of the expedition and in command of the Aurora.

Mawson Sea - as above except named by the International Hydrographic Organization of 2002 for the commander of the expedition of 1911-14.

D'Urville Sea - named after French explorer and officer Jules Dumont d'Urville.

Somov Sea - for a change not named by the Russians in 1962 but in 2002, the outcome remained the same as it was never approved. It would have honoured Russian oceanologist and polar explorer Mikhail Somov (1908-73) who commanded the first Soviet Antarctic Expedition between 1955 and 1957.

So interested had I been to define the less well known names, I was in danger of omitting the major areas of ocean in the world - or maybe not.

Pacific - named by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan as the Mar Pacifico as he encountered favourable winds on the 'peaceful sea'.

Atlantic - named for the famed island of Atlantis, itself the 'island of Atlas' (the Titan who held up the world and not the book of maps).

Indian - named after India, itself derived from Indus, a river name from Old Persian word Hindu, itself from the Sanskrit word Sindhu which was the Sanskrit name for the Indus River and which means simply 'river' or 'stream'.

Arctic - from the Greek word artikos or 'near the Bear'. Note this is 'Bear' not 'bear' and thus doesn't refer to the mammal but the constellation of either Ursa Major (the Great Bear) or Ursa Minor (the Little Bear) - the latter more likely as it contains Polaris, the Pole Star or the North Star.

English spellings have been used as the piece is written in English

Countries of Asia – Etymologically Speaking (M to Z)

Following on for last week’s look at the origins of the names of Asian nations, here is the completion of the list.

Malaysia – is probably from the Sanskrit malai or ‘mountain’, although the alternative maha lanka, also Sanskrit, for ‘big island’.

Maldives – has almost as many suggested origins as there are islands. The most likely of them Sanskrit dwipa ‘island’, which would give maldiva ‘thousand islands’ even though there are twice that number.

Mongolia – another named after the native peoples, the Mongols name meaning ‘brave ones’. Earlier they called themselves Bide, a much more modest name meaning simply ‘we’.

Myanmar – used to be known as Burma, both names derived from the indigenous Bamar people themselves coming from the Sanskrit mranma or bama ‘strong ones’.

Nepal – is possibly another of Sanskrit origin where nipalaya means ‘abode at the foot’ (of the Himalayas) or alternatively from Tibetan niyampal ‘holy land’.

Oman – was also the name of an ancient city named from the Arabic for ‘stopped here’, as it was settled by nomads, or from the founder Oman-ben-Ibrahim.

Pakistan – a recent name, first suggested in 1931 although the nation did not officially exist until 1947, which is thought to come from Urdu or Iranian pak ‘clean’ (in spirit) with that common suffix stan ‘country’.

Palestine – shares an origin with the Philistines, both from the Hebrew palash meaning ‘to travel’.

Philippines – when first spotted by Magellan it was December 17th 1521 and he named them the St Lazarus Islands, this being the feast day of St Lazarus. However when the first settlers arrived in 1543 they named them in honour of the heir to the Spanish throne, the future Philip II.

Qatar – is thought to derive from an ancient port or city of the same name, although the meaning is unknown.

Russia – a surprisingly recent name only used for the entire country since the 15th century. It comes from the local Rus people, whose name has been explained several ways. Perhaps this is a Slavic name describing the Varangians, who were Swedish Vikings and ruled from the 9th century and had a name meaning ‘foreigners’. It could also refer to the Swedish Ruotsi tribe, their name meaning ‘rowers’, ie of Viking ships.

Saudi Arabia – was named after King Ibn-Saud, he united the former states of Nejd and Hejaz to create the country in 1932.

Singapore – another name of Sanskrit origins where singa pura may literally mean ‘lion town’ but should be seen as ‘strong’ as there are no lions here. The traditional story of this being named in the 7th century when an Indian prince landed here and mistakenly thought the first animal he saw was a lion can be ignored.

Sri Lanka – named as such from 1972 and taken from the local Sinhalese for ‘blessed island’, the Sanskrit lanka means ‘island’. Originally this was Singhala, named for the local people, which came from Sanskrit sinha, literally ‘lion’ but used in the sense ‘brave’.

Syria – a name of uncertain origin until the discovery of a tablet at the beginning of the 21st century which showed the name does have a link to the Assyrian people, themselves named for their chief city of Assur which was named for their chief god.

Tajikistan – is another stan or ‘country’, here being that of the Tajiks. These were undoubtedly the people who were here in the 7th century but their name is difficult to define as it is not clear if these were of Turkic or Iranian heritage.

Thailand – comes from the native name of the island of Prathet Thai meaning ‘country of the free’. Prior to 1939 it was known as Siam, this from the Sanskrit word sian meaning ‘brown’, the distinctively different colour of the skin of the indigenous people here.

Timor – is simply an Indonesian word meaning ‘east’, it is the most easterly of the Lesser Sunda Islands but one which explains why this has not been listed under the official name of East Timor.

Turkey – has already had a number of clues under other nations with mentions of the Turkic people with the suffix from Latin ia showing it was their territory. The Turks probably get their name from tora ‘to be born’, although some maintain the English ‘turban’ has also influenced the name.

Turkmenistan – is again named after the local tribe, these the Turkmens with the addition of stan ‘country’. The origin of turkmend or ‘Turk-like’ is possible but, with the different uses of men in Turkish languages, it is difficult to know if this is ‘pure Turks’, ‘good Turks’, ‘great Turks’, or several other similar terms.

United Arab Emirates – a name which explains itself, the unification of (seven) Arabic states headed by an emir and known by this name since 1971. Prior to this it was the Trucial States, again a comparatively modern name and dating from 1820 when British presence here ensured a truce in the area which had previously been known as the Pirate Coast.

Uzbekistan – and another stan or ‘country’ named after the indigenous peoples. The Uzbeks are thought to get their name from Khan Uzbek, the fourteenth-century chieftain of the Golden Horde, even though both the language and the race had already existed for centuries.

Vietnam – a local Annamese name meaning ‘land of the south’. Prior to 1945 the country was separated into Annam, Tonkin and Cochin-China.

Yemen – is thought to be from the Arabic yamin or ‘on the right hand’. Hence this describes this land as being to the right when facing Mecca while Sham (a part of Syria) speaks of it being ‘on the left’.

As previously etymologies for the relevant capital cities will follow.

Countries of Asia – Etymologically Speaking (A to L)

The last couple of posts have looked at the origins of the names of the countries, and then the capital cities, of the nations of the Americas. Having already looked at countries and capitals of Europe and also Africa, thought I should complete the set with those of the largest continent, Asia.

Afghanistan – is held to be named after the legendary forefather of all the Afghans and thus the name Afghana is followed by the Iranian word stan meaning simply ‘country’. It will soon become apparent this suffix is used for a number of countries around the western part of Asia.

Armenia – a name of uncertain etymology, albeit definitely an ancient one. The native name for the region is Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and the great-great-grandson of Noah who led his people around 4,500 years ago. The first mention of the present name is said to be seen on a Persian Inscription dating from 515BC as Armina and, once again, said to point to a legendary father of the nation, one Armenak.

Asia – it did seem appropriate to give the origin of the name of the continent at this point. Originally this name referred solely to the eastern coastline of the Aegean Sea where Assyrian asu with the joint meaning of ‘sunrise, east’ corresponded with ereb ‘sunset, west’ and the basis for the name of Europe. As recently as the 1st century BC the name applied only to a Roman province along this coast.

Azerbaijan – is another ancient name and of uncertain origins. However the traditional explanation points to the Persian Atropates, a satrap or governor of this region. Some suggest his name comes from the region already known as ‘land of (holy) fire’. Geologically the land here does release combustible gases and did attract a culture of fire-worshippers who built their temples here.

Bahrain – has a name originating from Arabic al-Bahrayn meaning ‘two seas’. Even today the sea to the north and that to the south are known by different names, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Bahrain, respectively.

Bangladesh – until 1971 this was East Pakistan and, as one of the world’s youngest nations, has one of the easiest names to define. This is from Bengali and means ‘Bengal nation’.

Bhutan – is quite simply the Sanskrit bhot ‘country’.

Brunei – again this may represent a Sanskrit word meaning ‘land’, although others would suggest a Malay word meaning ‘plant’. Yet traditionally this was founded, and therefore named, by one Awang Alak Betatar who came here and, on discovering the estuary, pointed and exclaimed Baru nah! meaning ‘That’s it!’

Cambodia – is yet another nation held to be named after a mythical forefather. Here the Khmers came from Cambu, also the local name for the Mekong River, and while the correct name today is Kampuchea, the earlier Cambodia is just a Portuguese version of that name.

China – as with Cambodia this has been influenced by the Portuguese. There are two possible origins for this, either from the Ch’in dynasty of the 3rd century BC or, and this seems less likely, Ji-nan ‘south of the sun’. Note the Chinese name for China is Chung-hua ‘the middle land’. As one who delights in etymologies, especially of place names, and as this ‘middle land’ is how every homeland is seen to its inhabitants, I am so very thankful others were infinitely more imaginative.

Cyprus – even with its long recorded history the name of Cyprus remains a mystery. Of course there have been suggestions, all from the Greek, where it would either be from its many cypress trees (although these are not native but were imported from Lebanon), a reference to the henna plant Lawsonia alba, or a pointer to the large deposits of copper ore.

Georgia – has its modern name from an anglicised form of the Russian name, the Russians referring to the people as Gruzia. The origins of their name is disputed but may come from Middle Persian varkana or ‘the place of wolves’.

India – in 1947 what had been the India under British rule split to form the new nations of Pakistan and what is now known as Bangladesh. This is ironic as India was named after the River Indus, now entirely in Pakistan. As with nearly all major rivers the name of Indus means ‘river’, this from the Sanskrit sindhu.

Indonesia – is an island which shows etymologically historical links to India, for this takes the name of India and adds the Greek nesos or ‘island’.

Iran – is another name ultimately traceable to Sanskrit. Here aria, which also gave the Iranian ariya, means ‘worthy’. This had been the name of the Indo-European people who settled this region many thousands of years ago. For such an ancient name this has only been the official name of the country since 1935. Prior to that it was Persia, also named from an indigenous group Farsi who share their name with the Pharisees and which comes from the Sanskrit parasah ‘steed’ and describes them as ‘horsemen’.

Iraq – is simply Arabic iraq ‘the well-rooted country’. Known as Mesopotamia for millennia, this came from Greek mesos potamos ‘between the rivers’ (Tigris and Euphrates).

Israel – is the name of the Hebrew tribe, the Israelites. In turn this came from Israel or ‘god Isra’ and the second name of Jacob interpreted as ‘God’s warrior’ from Hebrew sara ‘to fight’ and El ‘God’.

Japan – is the Chinese name for the islands where Ji-pen-kue describes ‘the land of the rising sun’.

Jordan – is named after the River Jordan, itself from the Hebrew and either jarden ‘to drain’ or jarda ‘to rush’, both apt descriptions of rivers.

Kazakhstan – is named after the native peoples. The Kazakhs, with the addition of Iranian stan ‘country’, were of Turkish origin whose name is thought to mean ‘freemen’.

Korea (North and South) – etymologically, if not politically, North and South Korea are identical. Until the 14th century this was Koryo ‘the high place’, itself a dynastic name and hence the modern name. To North Koreans their homeland is Chosen from the name of the next dynasty of Choson, meanwhile South Koreans refer to their land as Taehan, itself from Han the earlier name of the states here.

Kuwait – is an Arabic name where Al-Kuwayt refers to ‘the enclosed’ and probably points to the 16th century Portuguese fort.

Kyrgyzstan – another Iranian stan or ‘country’ following a Turkic word for ‘forty’. This would refer to the forty clans led by the legendary hero Manas who led the fight against the dominant Uyghurs.

Laos – named after the Thai Lao people, with the Portuguese adding the plural ‘s’.

Lebanon – takes the name of the mountains, itself from the Aramaic laban ’white’, which may refer to the snow-capped peaks or the limestone rocks.

Part two will follow next time and, in coming weeks, a look at the origins of the capital cities.

Walls

For the third week in a row the subject has been suggested by a reader, Munzly suggesting I have a look at some of the walls of the world and how the names developed. Two walls, historical boundaries between Roman-occupied Britain and the peoples to the north, were covered in a recent post. Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall were named after the Roman rulers at the time. Hadrian’s name means he was ‘from Hadria’, a town in northern Italy which also gave a name to the Adriatic Sea, while Antoninius is derived from the Greek for ‘flower’.

Having got this far it became clear I needed to understand just what a ‘wall’ is. This may sound a ludicrous idea but even the two examples above have little in common with a ‘wall’ as we would know it. In Hadrian’s Wall at least there is some evidence of ‘building’, albeit it follows a natural outcrop of rock to take reduce construction to a bare minimum. In the case of the Antonine Wall there is no recognizable ‘building’ but a large bank of stone and earth, which may explain why it took 12 years to complete but was abandoned just 20 years later. Hence as we are looking at ‘walls’ from an etymological viewpoint, for the purposes of identification a ‘wall’ is considered a ‘wall’ by virtue of its name only. This is also the reason for listing them alphabetically.

Anastasian Wall – found in Turkey and built to defend the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire and Constantinople from invading tribes coming from the east. Named after the Emperor Anastasius, ruler 491-518, it does show good evidence it was here in some form at least a hundred years before this. His name, the male version of the better-known Anastasia, means ‘resurrection’ and a reference to his religious background. Perhaps it is as well the wall did not adopt his nickname of Dicorus – (Biggus Dicorus?) – which, despite the reminder of the Monty Python character, comes from the Greek meaning ‘two-pupils’ and pointing to his differently-coloured eyes, one black and one blue.

Aurelian Walls – a third century AD construction around Rome, named after Emperor Aurelius whose name meant ‘golden’.

Cheolli Jangseong – historically is the 11th century construction in North Korea, although there is another of the 7th century in what is now China referred to by this name. The Korean wall is the origin of the name, it meaning ‘Thousand Li Wall’, the Li a unit of measurement roughly equal to 500 metres and itself coming from the average diameter of a village.

Great Wall of China - is not only the longest but the best known of them all. It was not built as one wall but joined together several others built over many years. As with Hadrians Wall it takes a natural defensive line. It seems the wall was never referred to by any name other than the Great Wall when it was joined up, the various smaller parts simply referred to as ‘the wall’ by those who built them. We often hear how this is last man-made object we can see as spacecraft retreat further from the planet. This was never true as it is a long line (or long lines before joined together) and would easily become invisible among the pyramids or temples. It is certainly not visible from the Moon, this particular gem of myth first appearing in writing in a letter by William Stukeley in 1754!

Danevirke – 20 miles of defensive earthwork across the Cimbrian Peninsular constructed duing the Viking age and last used for military purposes in 1864. Constructed in several phases which, with the aid of dendrochronolgy, shows it was completed around AD950 and started at least five centuries earlier. The name is easy to see as referring to ‘the earthwork of the Danes’ although, as with nearly all place names, this will have been named by the Germanic tribes and then taken by the Danes themselves. Had the Danes named this feature it would be known as ‘our earthwork’.

Fossatum Africae – is Latin for ‘the African Ditch’. Built by the Romans in North Africa, it is said to measure some 450 miles, although modern evidence is somewhat fragmented, and protected the Roman Empire’s interests having defeated the Carthagians. The defensive feature is an earthwork, the embankment created by using the earth moved in creating the ditch on the far side (from the point of view of the defenders) thus effectively doubling its height. The eagle-eyed will have spotted this is not a ‘wall’ but a ‘ditch’. However it has been included as from an etymological viewpoint they are the same thing. Here in Britain the Old English dic has given us both ‘ditch’ and ‘dyke’, the southern pronunciation as ‘ditch’ pointing to where the soil had been removed, the northern pronunciation of ‘dyke’ and where the spoil had been heaped up.

Kremlin Wall – strictly speaking I am not going back on my earlier statement that I would not define walls taking the name of the place it was meant to defend. For while we associate the name with one place, it should correctly be known as the Moscow Kremlin as the term is Russian for ‘fortress’ and this is not the only example. Note today’s Kremlin Wall can be traced back to at least 1169 when it was little more than a wooden palisade or fence. Somehow the ‘Fence in Moscow’ does not sound as daunting as ‘Kremlin’.

Long Walls – I included this name, despite its obvious meaning, because of its significance in history. In the fifth century BC these walls – the North Long Wall and the South Long Wall – formed a corridor between Athens and its port of Piraeus and Faliro during the Peloponnesian Wars between the city states of Athens and Sparta. Ignoring those portions of the walls which were really the defensive walls around the city of Athens and the ports, the Long Walls were, at most, just five miles in length.

Offa’s Dyke – the defensive earthwork between England and Wales was constructed in the eighth century between the Saxon kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys. Named after the Merican king Offa, it is known to the Welsh as Clawdd Offa – interestingly the name Offa means ‘king’.

Red Snake – is the name archaeologists give to the Great Wall of Gorgan in Iran, a reference to its shape and the colour of the bricks. At 120 miles in length it is known by several other names including its Persian name of Sadd-i-Iskandar meaning ‘the barrier of Alexander’ as Alexander the Great is said to have ridden through here when marching east. Other than the Great Wall of China it is the longest defensive wall known.

Serpent’s Wall – a 2nd century construction running across the Ukraine and built to keep out the Huns, Goths, and Visigoths. It is not a modern description of its course but derived from the enemy tribes’ association with the winged dragon or wyvern.

Wat’s Dyke - for a short distance the route mirrors that of Offa’s Dyke. This name has never been understood although as a personal name is certainly common.

Western Wall – the accepted international name for that part of Jerusalem most often known as the Wailing Wall but probably based on a misunderstanding. The term ‘Western Wall’ is found in an ancient document referring to the Old City Walls of Jerusalem, yet there is nothing to suggest this particular wall is the one being referred to. Its popular name of Wailing Wall is, of course, from the mourning of the destruction of the temple by those followers of the Hebrew faith. The Arabic name of el-Mabka similarly translates as ‘place of weeping’, while the alternative Arabic name of al-Buraq comes from the name of Muhammad’s winged steed Buraq who was tethered here.

There are many others named after the cities which they were designed to protect. Many of these I have covered in earlier posts on the origins of those place names and, in the case of those in Britain, try my books such as Cheshire Place Names in the case of Chester.

At the risk of being inundated with requests, as usual I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.