Mongolia 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 Mongolian cities.

Ulaanbaatar translates as 'red hero' from the classical Mongolian Ulaganbagatur, although the majority wanted to call it Baatar Khot 'hero city', they folded to pressure from Turar Ryskulov, a Soviet activist of the Communist International. This name has only existed for under a century, prior to 1924 the name had been Niislei Khuree 'the capital camp' since 1911. Previously there had been several names, including Ikh Khuree 'great settlement', Bogdin Khuree 'great holy Khan's monastery', Da Khuree 'great settlement', and Urga 'palace'.

Erdenet may be the second most populous city in the country but still has less than 100,000 inhabitants in a place meaning 'with treasure' and a reference to this being home to one of the world's largest copper mines.

Darkhan was founded as a city as recently as 1961. Founded as a manufacturing site, it was given a most appropriate name meaning 'blacksmith'.

Choibalsan was named as such in 1941. It honours the communist leader Khorloogiin Choibalsan, who also commanded the Mongolian armed forces from the 1930s until his death in 1952. Perhaps something of his reputation can be seen when we see how he is sometimes referred to as 'the Stalin of Mongolia'.

Moron is the Mongolian word for 'river'. The settlement began as the Morongiin Khuree monastery on the banks of the Delgemoron River, literally 'wide river river'.

Bayankhongor has a name which translates as 'little darling'.

Olgii comes from the Mongolian for 'cradle'.

Arvaikheer is the Mongolian for 'barley steppe', as we learned at school the steppes are the temperate grasslands, notably lacking trees away from water sources, which dominate the easterly areas of the central Eurasian landmass.

Ulanngom is Mongolian for 'red valley'.

Baganuur means 'little lake' in Mongolian.

Tsetserleg translates as 'garden'.

Zuunmod is from the Mongolian for 'a hundred trees'.

Zamyn-Uud is from the Mongolian for 'road's gate', and is a transferred name from the former Dzamiin Uude settlement 63 miles northwest of here.

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

Macedonia 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 Macedonian places.

Skopje is not only the largest city but also the nation's capital. Its name comes from the Paeonian language (here around 2,400 years ago) and probably refers to these people as 'watchers, observers', a reference to this being at a high place and thus not saying they were observant but that they could be.

Bitola is from the Old Church Slavonic word meaning 'monastery, cloister', this city long associated with its monastery.

Kumanovo is from the Cumans, a branch of the Kipchaks, who invaded this region in the early 12th century. While the name of the Cumans is difficult to define, it may be a Turkic word describing these people as 'sallow, pale' as they had a lighter skin colour than most in this region. The Kipchaks report their name comes from 'hollow tree', for their original ancestor gave birth to her son inside a hollow tree. Other suggestions include origins such as 'angry, unfortunate, good fortune, and unlucky'.

Prilep is from a Macedonian word meaning 'sticky', said to be a reference to the method used to construct the first homes here - presumably something akin to wattle and daub.

Ohrid is thought to originate from the ancient Greek Lychnis or 'city of light'. Later Latin and Byzantine writers and Macedonian speakers changed this through Lychnidos, Lychnos, Lichnidion and eventually the modern form.

Strumica was originally known as Astraion or 'starry' by the Greeks, later as Tiberiopolis by the Romans, with its present name developing through Slavic settlers during the Middle Ages.

Kicevo is first recorded as Uskana, the name used by the Illyrian inhabitants, used until the Slavs arrived in the 7th century when the modern name appears. This Brsjaci tribe clearly named it but just what they were referring to is unknown.

Struga certainly originates from the Old Church Slavoinic tongue, but what it means is disputed. Three theories have thrown up such explanations as its location in the valley means it tends to be quite windy and thus the Macedonian meaning 'it blows wind'; or perhaps it from a word meaning 'cross'; or even something describing the area as 'water branch'.

Radovis is known, but again there are two quite different explanations. Traditionally it comes from a princess here around a millennium ago who was looking over the wall of the fortress when her fiancee cried out Rado vish 'Rada look', for the enemy were approaching from a different direction. Others point to a personal name Radu, a pet form of several names and therefore impossible to say who it may have been named after.

Kriva Palanka takes its name from the River Kriva, this referred to as 'the curved river'.

Sveti Nikole is the Macedonian term for Saint Nicholas.

Delcevo takes its name from more recent times. In 1950 the town was renamed after revolutionary hero Gotse Delchev.

Vinica is named for its vineyards.

Demir Kapija is from the Turkish Demir Kapi or 'iron gate'.

Demir Hisar is also Turkish and means 'iron town'.

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

Libya 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 Libya cities.

Tripoli is a Greek name meaning 'three cities'. It was founded by the Phoenicians some 2,700 years ago, they named it Oea.

Benghazi was founded around 525BC and named Euesperides, a name referring to the great fertility of this area and to the garden of Hesperides. Two hundred years later the place had become Berenice and not until the Genoese merchants began trading with the tribes of the hinterland do we first see the present name, then recorded as Marsa ibn Ghazi.

Misurata gets its name from the Mirata tribe, a Berber people who inhabited this area for many years.

Zliten takes its name from the Isliten tribe, another Berber people in residence here.

Bayda is the Arabic word for 'white', although originally this was az-Zawiyat al_Bayda 'the white monastery', this the white painted zawiyah on the hill top.

Al Khums translates as 'the quintile', the name not readily understood but possibly refers to some counting quirk used when dealing in olives and olive oil.

Kufra is from the Arabic kafir, an Arabic term for non-Muslims.

Tajura is named after a princess who lost her crown with taj 'crown' and Oura the name of the princess.

Tarhuna takes its name from the Berber tribe who inhabited this region prior to the Roman occupation.

Msallata may come from the Arabic word masalla because there is a core of tall buildings.

Tawergha is from the Berber language and means 'the green island'.

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