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.

Tanzania 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 Tanzanian cities.

Dar es Salaam is the capital city and means 'place of peace'.

Dodoma is fron the Bantu Gogo language meaning 'it has sunk'.

Sumbawanga translates as a warning to those bringing in superstition and spiritual healing as it translates as 'throw away your witchcraft'.

Musoma is a shortened form of the word omusoma or 'spit' and a reference to this standing on a spit of land extending into Lake Victoria.

Iringa represents the Hehe word lilinga or 'fort'.

Babati's name is traditionally said to be a misunderstanding. When a German asked a boy what the name of the place was, the boy thought he'd asked a very different question and responded with baba ti or 'he is my father'.

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

Saint Lucia 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 St Lucian cities.

Anse La Raye is simply the French for 'Bay of Rays', the rays being the flat fish found here.

Bocage can be traced to the Old Norman boscage. itself a combination of Old French bosc and a later suffix -age and describes 'the place of the wood'.

Castries has been known as such since 1785, when it was renamed after the French Minister of the Navy and Colonies, the splendidly named Charles Eugene Gabriel de la Croix, marquis de Castries. (1727 - 1801).

Canaries is also known locally as Kanawe, this coming from the Amerindian to describe 'cooking pots'.

Choiseul had earlier been known as Anse Citron, literally 'lemon handle'. The present name has never been understood.

Gros Islet translates from the French as 'large island'.

Laborie is named after Baron de Laborie, French governor of Saint Lucia from 1784 to 1789. Earlier it had been known as L'islet a Caret, said to refer to the Loggerhead turtles in the area, itself known to science as Carretta caretta.

Micoud is another named after a former French governor of Saint Lucia, Baron de Micoud held the role in the 18th century.

Mon Repos is, as anyone with a mastery of schoolboy (or schoolgirl) French knows, a phrase meaning 'my rest' and thus simply describing someone's home.

Ravine Poissin, like the previous name, is easily translated as 'the valley of the fish'.

Rodney Bay is named from the British era, specifically after Admiral George Brydges Rodney, who built a fort at Pigeon Island.

Roseau is named for the local flora, for it simply means 'reeds'.

Soicis is another named during the era of French control and is an unusual name as it means 'troubles'. Just why this was chosen is unclear.

Vieux Fort is another of French origin, this simply translates as 'old fort'.

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

Romania 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 Romanian cities.

Bucharest is traditionally associated with Bucur, said to be a prince, fisherman, shepherd or a hunter - depending upon who you listen to. His name is more likely from bucurie, a Dacian word telling of 'the city of joy'.

Cluj-Napoca is thought to combine the Greek napos 'timbered valley' with Slavic kluc 'mountain pass'.

Timisoara is a Romanian version of the earlier Hungarian name of Temesvar, itself from var or 'castle on the River Timis', the river name possibly meaning 'winding'.

Iasi has several theories as to the origin of the name, including the Sarmatian tribe Iazyges, or the Alanic Jassi tribe, or even jassic market.

Constanta is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania, it is named to honour the Constantia, half-sister of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (274-337).

Craiova has two equally plausible origins, either Old Slavonic kral 'king' or krajina 'border, edge'.

Brasov is said to come from the Latin corona or 'crown' in a 13th century work, supposedly a reference to St Catherine's Monastery. Other sources point to the city's coat of arms and the German name for the place Kronstadt meaning 'crown city'.

Galati comes from the Cuman word galat and ultimately from Persian kalat, both meaning 'fortress'.

Bacau, appearing earlier as Bako, Bakova and Bakovia, is likely derived from a personal name. Just which individual named Bako the place refers to is a mystery, it being a very common name. However we can speculate as to the origin of the personal name which may also be an alternative origin for the place name. Proto-Slavic byk meant 'ox' or 'bull' and could refer to this being an area known for rearing cattle.

Targu Mures translates as 'the market on the river Maros'.

Botosani is likely named after a family named Botas, they first recorded in the 15th century along with Prince Stephen the Great.

Satu Mare is another from a personal name and speaks of 'Zotmar's fort'.

Drobeta-Turnu Severin takes the last two elements from Old Church Slavonic severno turnu 'the north tower and added to the Roman name of the city, itself of uncertain origin.

Suceava is a Romania rendering of the Hungarian Szucsvar, where szucs and var 'castle of the furrier'.

Piatra Neamt takes its first element from the Romanian for 'rock' and adds the name of the county in which it is found. The place has also been known as Patria lui Craciun or 'Christmas rock', and Targu Piatra 'market rock'.

Targoviste is from the Old Bulgarian and refers to itself as 'the marketplace'.

Bistrita is from the name of the river, itself from the Slavic bystrica 'fast-moving water'.

Resita probably comes from the Latin recitia or 'cold spring'.

Slatina is of Slavic origin and refers to 'the marsh, swamp'.

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.