Mozambique 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 Mozambique settlements.

Maputo, the capital and largest city of Mozambique, was known as Lourenco Marques until 1976, this the name of the Portuguese navigator who explored this area in 1544. Maputo shares its name with the Maputo River, itself formerly known as the Suthu River, itself from suthu and either refers to the Basotho people or the colour of the muddy waters of the river. The present names of both were derived from the link to the Mozambique Liberation Front or FRELIMO and, from the etymologist's point of view, of little interest.

Angoche, like the capital, had been known by a different name prior to independence in 1976. Earlier the name of Antonio Enes referred to the 19th century Portuguese journalist and colonial administrator Antion Jose Enes.

Beira was named to honour the Portuguese Crown Prince Dom Luis Filipe, prior to that it was known as Chiveve after the local river. Beira is also the name of a rare antelope, it is not clear if this is why the name was chosen and the origin of the river name is unknown.

Catandica took its name from the son of a local chief who served in the army.

Chimoio is taken from one of the sons of Ganda, a chief of the Moyo clan. Chimoio was a great hunter, he once killed an elephant while on land held by a neighbouring tribe. This was considered a crime punishable by death. His father agreed to the execution but requested his family be allowed to settle close to the grave to watch over the remains. This gave the name of Chimoio or 'little heart' to the region.

Chinde shares a name with the Chinde River on which it stands, the meaning of the name is unknown.

Cuamba was originally named Nova Freixo, this taken from the name of Freixo de Espada a Cinta in Portugal, this the birthplace of Sarmento Rodrigues, the governor general of Mozambique. Cuamba is the original name of the place and of uncertain origin.

Gurue had earlier been named Vila Junqueiro, this taken from the name of a company producing tea Plantacoes Manuel Saraiva Junquiero. This is only slightly more unusual than the name Gurue, this a local tribal dialect either the name of a local tribal chief or their name for the peccary, a pig-like animal.

Inhambane had been known as Terra de Boa Gente by the Portuguese, this meaning 'the Land of the Good People'.

Lichinga was known as Villa Cabal to the Portuguese, this translates as 'full house' as it was designed to become a fast growth urban centre.

Manica takes its name from the Kingdom of Manica, its origins are unknown.

Matola is from the name of the kingdom here when colonists arrived, it continues to be a common surname locally.

Maxixe is named after an African chief.

Nampula is held to be from the word whampula, the name of a legendary tribal chief in this area.

Pemba was founded as Porto Amelia by the Niassa Company in 1904, named after the Queen of Portugal.

Ponto da Ouro translates as 'tip of gold', referring to the beach at the tip of the cape.

Quelimane has two explanations, neither of which are particularly convincing. Some suggest the Portuguese found an Arab here when they arrived, he acted as interpreter and the place named from the Swahili for 'interpreter'. An alternative explanation speaks of a visit from Vasco da Gama who, on reaching here in 1498, asked "Who are you?" and heard the reply kuliamani. Unfortunately the people misunderstood the question and thought he had asked "what are you doing?" to which they responded "we are cultivating", which is exactly what kuliamani means.

Tete comes from the local Nyungwe word mitete meaning 'reed'.

Vilankulo is named after tribal chief Gamela Vilankulo Mukoke, with some of the districts here named after his sons.

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

Morocco 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 Moroccan cities.

Casablanca was from the 15th century Portuguese Casa Branca or 'white house', previously the place had been known as Anfa in the Berber tongue since as least the seventh century BC and is still the name of a region of the city.

Fez is thought to have earlier been known as Fas and related to the region known as Faza, all ultimately from the Berber tribe that settled here, the Bany Fazaz.

Tangier, recorded during the classic Greek and Roman eras as Tinga, Tenga and Titga, was known to the earlier Berber people as Tingi, this from tingis or 'marsh'. Note the Greeks claimed this to have been named after Tingis, daughter of the titan Atlas, he who supported the heavens on his shoulders.

Marrakesh is perhaps the Berber amur n akush 'the land of God', although earlier it had been documented as Qarawiyyin 'country of the sons of Kush'.

Meknes is named after the Berber tribe, the Miknasa.

Rabat is recorded as Ribatu I-Fath in 1170, a name meaning 'stronghold of victory'.

Kenitra is derived from the Arabic al-Qonaytera 'the little bridge'.

Agadir is a Berber word, used in several contexts to mean 'wall, enclosure, fortified building, citadel', all of obvious oriins where a place name is concerned.

Tetouan is another of Berber origin, this with the literal meaning 'the eyes' but understood as 'the water springs'.

Safi is pronounced locally as Asfi, coming from the Berber root meaning 'to flood, spill, pour' and a reference to its watery location.

Nador has at least three suggested origins, with meanings as diverse as small village by a lagoo', 'lighthouse' or 'sight'.

Settat is derived from the term Ait Settat, the name of a Senhaja-Berber tribe.

Berkane is quite simply the Berber word for 'black'.

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

Montenegro 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 Montenegro cities.

Podgorica has a simple name describing the area. Here the 'region below Gorica', a hill name meaning 'little hill', refers to the small hills overlooking the city marked by cypress trees.

Herceg Novi is the Montenegrin version of the Italian Castelnuovo and the Greek Neokastron, all meaning 'the new castle'.

Bar is a shortened form of Antivari, itself owing to its location across the Adriatic from Bari in Italy, itself an Arabic personal name where Al-Bari means 'the creator'.

Cetinje takes its name from the River Cetina on which it stands. The river name is possibly from a Phrygian word zetna meaning 'carries' and a reference to the silt it moves.

Kotor can be traced back to its Greek beginnings when the city was known as Dekatera, from the Greek deka thira, meaning 'ten gates' and can only refer to the number of access points to the fortification.

Ulcinj has two possible origins. Some suggest this is from the Albanian ukas meaning 'wolf', however more likely is the Greek name of Colchinium or 'founded by settlers from Colchis'. This was the name given to an area of Georgia known to the inhabitants as Egris, Colchis coming from the Uratian Qulha and likely a proper noun.

Tivat is ultimately from the Greek Thiodhos or 'way of God'.

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

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.