Legend

It is quite unusual to find a word with two quite different meanings when it is not a mono-syllabic or simplistic word. Legend is one such word and, in order to discover why, we will look at the etymologies.

Most often we see ‘legend’ used as a synonym for myth or folklore; but it is also used to describe a title or banner.

First coming to English in the early 14th century it referred to ‘a narrative dealing with an event.’ This came from Old French legend, itself from Medieval Latin legenda, most often these stories would have been those related to saints and would have been read in religious places.

These religious readings saw the use tweaked a little and the meaning seen as ‘things to be read’. Such reflects the root of Proto-Indo-European leg ‘to collect, gather’ and later ‘to pick out words’.

This then leads to the other meaning of ‘writing or inscription’, which has been seen since the 1610s when referring to the wording on maps – such as those produced by John Speed.

No change or developments for centuries until, around 1958, the phrase ‘legend in one’s own time’ (and variations on same) appears.

Sao Tome and Principe 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 Sao Tome and Principe cities.

Sao Tome is simply the Portuguese for 'Saint Thomas'.

Ilheu Gabago translates from Portuguese as 'the bragging islander'.

Trindade is Portuguese for 'trinity'.

Santa Cruz is Portuguese for 'saint of the cross'.

Pantufo is simply the Portuguese word for 'slipper'.

Santo Antonio translates, somewhat predictably, as 'Saint Anthony'.

Santa Catarina is the portuguese for Saint Catherine.

Porto Alegre is Portuguese for 'happy port', although we have no idea why.

Sao Joao dos Angolares translates as 'Saint John' with Angolar a Portuguese-based creole language.

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

Panama 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 Panama's cities.

Panama City gave its name to the country and, as explained in detail in my post Countries of the Americas, means 'many butterflies' or 'abundance of fish'.

David is named after the biblical King David.

La Chorrera has always been thought to refer to the large number of waterfalls, although the name does not mean waterfall and does not translate at all.

Santiago de Veraguas has a Spanish prefix, meaning Saint James, and the name of the province, itself from an indigenous language where Veracua or Viragua was probably a proper name, although there are many (unproven) theories.

Penonome comes from peno Nome, where Nome was the local chieftain put to death by Spanish conquistadores when he dared to resist their rule. Peno Nome literally means 'Nome was punished'. Legend speaks of his love for a local woman named Zarati. However, the tribe didn't approve of their love and told him she had drowned. He is said to have thrown himself into the same river and perished, thus giving names to the Zarati River and a slightly different meaning for the place name of 'Nome mourned'.

Puerto Armuelles was named to honour Colonel Tomas Armuelles, a hero of the Coto War between Panama and Costa Rica and fought over a period of thirteen days in February and March 1921. Port Armuelles was named shortly after his death in a train accident on 18 March 1921, it had previously been known as Rabo de Puerco or 'pigtail'.

Chitre takes its name from the local tribe, the Chitra.

Almirante is the Spanish word for 'admiral'.

Last Tablas takes its name, according to folklore, from planks of wood salvaged from a Spanish ship which ran aground after fleeing from the pirate Sir Henry Morgan. The only evidence to support this is the literal translation of las tablas as 'the boards'.

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

Honduras 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 Honduras cities.

Tegucigalpa comes from the native Nahuatl tongue, but the interpretation is unclear and has been defined any number of ways. Most often said to be from taguz galpa meaning 'hills of silver', yet doubters point out the locals had no notion there were deposits of this precious metal hereabouts. A second explanation suggests a meaning of 'painted rocks' from a different local tongue; or Topogalpa the name of a small gree parrot found locally; or a similar Mexican name of Tecuztilcallipan 'place of the residence of the noble'; or Tecuhtzincalpan 'place of the home of the beloved master'; or Nahuatl for 'in the homes of the sharp stones'. From my experience with place name derivations, perhaps the first two have similar meanings in referring to light-colouring of the rocks and thus not referring to the precious metal.

San Pedro Sula is Spanish and literally translates as 'his/her Saint Peter'.

La Ceiba is named after the a ceiba tree near the old dock, this dock crumbled into the sea in 2007. These trees play an important role in the mythologies of Mesoamerican cultures.

Choluteca first mentioned by the Spanish in 1541, when known as Villa de Xerez de la Frontera de Choluteca, and officially named simply Choluteca on October 1st 1845 under the presidency of Coronado Chavez. This is from the Chorotega, the name of the indigenous peoples here when the Spanish arrived, and means either 'path of the warriors' or 'vorn on either side', depending upon who you ask.

El Progreso is Spanish for 'progress' and telling of modern development. It stands in the shadow of the mountain range known as Mico Quemado or 'blue monkey'.

La Lima means, assuming it shares an origin with the Peruvian capital, 'talker, speaker' in the Quechua language.

Puerto Cortes this 'port of Cortes' takes the name of Hernan Cortes, the 1st Governor of New Spain. Quite appropriate as cortes is Spanish for 'parliament'.

Atlantida Department is named for the ocean, the Atlantic named after Atlas, the titan in Greek mythology who held up the world and may be from the adjective durus 'hard, enduring'.

Santa Rosa is Spanish for 'holy rose'.

Tela is a contraction of the Nahua word Tetela 'land of the hills and craggy mountains'.

Olanchito takes its name from the Olancho Valley and similarly named river near where it is situated, sadly its origin in unknown.

Nacaome is named from the new town here, for naca ome does mean 'union of two races' and describes the new town this union produced.

La Esperanza is Spanish for 'the hope'.

Puerto Lempira or 'port Lempira' shares its origin with the currency of Honduras in coming from the 16thcentury ruler of the Lenca people. He is a national hero, leading the resistance against the Spanish conquistadors, albeit ultimately unsuccessfully.

Cofradia is the Spanish for 'brotherhood'.

La Entrada is Spanish for 'the entrance'.

Yuscaran has a very uncertain origin but, if related to a dialect found nearer Mexico, may well mean 'the place of the house of flowers'.

La Paz is Spanish for 'the peace'.

Coxen Hole named after the deep water bay or 'hole' and its association with John Coxen. Coxen, or Coxon, was a late 17th-century buccaneer who terrorised the Spanish main and one of five thousand pirates who lived here.

Gracias does indeed mean 'thanks' in Spanish, and perhaps the story that it was after a long and arduous trek through mountainous terrain that Spanish explorers were grateful to find flat land at last is true.

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

Gambia 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 Gambia cities.

Banjul is a mispronunciation of bang julo meaning 'rope fibre'. Here the name describes how the inhabitants, the Mandinka, collected fibres from the local plant life to produce rope.

Basse Santu Su also has a district known as Basse Duma Su, the suffixes meaning 'lower home' and 'higher home' respectively. These show how, during the rainy season, the lower area had been subject to flooding - it is but four metres above sea level. Both share the common element basse meaning 'mat', traditionally held to be where the founder, one General Tiramakan Traore, laid a mat to show where he intended to put down roots. An unlikely explanation may, taking into consideration the previous definition, be where locals had earlier gathered leaves or plant material to weave into mats.

Brikama had been settled by the Kontes and the Bojangs, but was largely destroyed during the decades-long Soninke-Marabout wars in the latter half of the 19th century. The name comes from the Bainunka and means 'women's town.

Janjanbureh has never been understood, other than the town and the island on which it stands share this name. Earlier the town, when a British colony, had ben named Georgetown from 1832, to honour the regining king, and prior to this, in 1822, the island had been known as MacCarthy Island after Sir Charles MacCarthy, former Governor General of the British West African Territories.

Mansa Konko is Mandinka for 'hill of the kings', this once being home to an important chief.

Serekunda is derived from 'home of the Sayer family' and named after its founder, Sayerr Jobe.

Cape Point gains its English name, and obvious meaning, from British colonial days. Earlier it had been named by Portuguese explorers Cabo de Santa Maria or 'Cape of Saint Mary'.

Makasutu is from the Mandinka language where Maka refers to Islam's holy city of Mecca and sutu means 'forest' and thus understood as 'holy forest'. The name is first known in the 12th century when Islamic followers swept through this region.

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

Ethiopia 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 to cast my net a little wider. This time Ethiopia and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Addis Ababa is easily translated from the Amharic addis abeba or 'new flower'. This is not a place where some striking fauna once grew, here the reference is to natural springs.

Dire Dawa is another translation from Amharic and means 'the place of remedy'.

Bahir Dar translates from the Amharic for 'sea shore'.

Arba Minch comes from the Amharic for 'forty springs'.

Debre Marqos is named after its principal church, dedicated to St Mark.

Debre Tabor takes its name from Mount Tabor, the hemispherical hill in an otherwise flat area having a name describing its shape.

Kibre Mengist takes its name from the Amharic for 'glory of the state'.

Tepi is traditionally held to be named after a Majangr man who managed a hive of bees found in a large tree in the marketplace.

Addis Zemen takes us back to the Amharic tongue and a meaning of 'new era'.

Gelemso at last provides us with a little more to say other than the simplest translation. It is thought this comes from the Oromo tongue, where galma Usso means 'the hall of Usso'. This referred to the mosque named after Usso, who came here to preach Islam to the indigenous people who called him ima gossa or 'the adopted son'.

Adis Alem is from Amharic meaning 'new world'.

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

El Salvador 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 to cast my net a little wider. This time El Salvador and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

San Salvador has no surprises, this translating as the 'Holy Saviour'.

Apopa is a delicious description of this area and describes 'a place with mist'.

Antiguo Cuscatlan, known locally as simply Antiguo, derives its first element from the Spanish for 'old' and the latter from the indigenous Nahuat for 'jewelled city'.

Metapan is a Nahuatl name meaning 'river of the maguey',

San Miguel is another of Spanish origin, here the name originally being San Miguel de la Frontera and translating as 'Saint Michael of the Frontier'.

Santa Tecla was founded by the Spanish as Nueva San Salvador or 'new Holy Saviour' after the capital had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1854. In 2003 the name returned to Santa Tecla, the latter the original name of this region when settled by the Spanish, Saint Thecla an early Christian saint said to have been a follower of Saint Paul two thousand years ago.

Berlin is, somewhat predictably, a name transferred from the more famous example in Germany - and if you want to know the toponomy of the German city look back at this earlier post.

Ataco is an indigenous Nahuatl word meaning 'high place of springs', obviously a sensible place to found a settlement as it has a source of fresh water, would be above the flood plain, and easy to defend.

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