Madagascar 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 Madagascan settlements.

Antananarivo, the capital, was founded in the early 17th century when Merina King Andrianjaka defeated and expelled the Vazimba people of what was then known as Analamanga. Tradition has it that he depolyed a thousand soldiers to capture and then guard the place. Then, some fifty years later, it was during the reign of King Andriamasinavalona the place took its present name which refers to 'the city of a thousand' to honour those soldiers.

Toamasina means 'like salt' or perhaps 'salty'. Situated on the coast and protected by a coral reef, this produces increased salinity through evaporation and hence the name.

Antsirabe is a Malagasy name and, as with the previous name, means 'the plae of much salt'. However here the reference is to the brine springs in the area as Antsirabe is about as far from the coast as it is possible to get.

Fianarantsoa is a cultural and intellectual centre for the entire island nation and fully merits its meaning of 'good education'.

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

Haiti 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 Haitian cities.

Port-au-Prince - since at least 1680 the islets were known as Les Ilets du Prince 'the islands of the prince', then French colonial commissioner Etienne Polverel named the largest settlement Port-Republican on 23rd September 1793 so, as he told the assemblage "the inhabitants be kept continually in mind of the obligations which the French Revolution imposed on them". Jacques I, Emperor of Haiti, changed the name to its current meaning of 'port of the prince' as soon as he could. This is a much more interesting and accurate explanation than the idea the place was named by Captain Saint-Andre who named the place in 1706 when he landed here in his vessel Le Prince.

Carrefour - simply the French word for 'crossroads'.

Petion-Ville - named after Alexandre Sabes Petion (1770-1818), Haitian general and president and one of the nation's four founding fathers.

Cite Soleil - translates as 'Sun City'.

Port-de-Paix - means 'port of peace'.

Gros-Morne - means 'big mountain'.

Les Cayes - a cay is a small, low-lying, sandy island forming on a coral reef.

Limonade - wonderfully named and meaning 'lemonade', it can boast as being the first place in the Americas ever to celebrate Christmas, doing so in 1492 when none other than Christopher Columbus himself. According to Wikipedia nothing else happened until 1794, when the Haitian revolutionary hero Francois Capois died. This followed by 218 years of more nothing until the completion of of the Universite Roi Henri Christophe in 2012.

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