Countries whose names you'd never guess from their native language?
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I had heard 'Eikoku' before but I recently had to stop learning Japanese due to time constraints and my kanji knowledge was always terrible so yeah, I was just going off 'Igirisujin' for how it was said. But hell, either way I've learned something today.NeutralDrow said:
It isn't that difficult really, Dutch stems from the (old)Dutch word "Diets" which means "(of the) people" and is essentially the same word as the german Deutsch. Though we don't use it anymore in Dutch (besides our national athem) it stuck in the English language.Powereaver said:
China (in mandarin) is called Zhongguo. Zhong is 'central' or 'in the middle'. Guo means 'nation'. Like any other civilization in the course of history they figured they were the most important thing to ever happen and named their country accordingly.
Lloegyr means Lost Lands? That's interesting, i'm remembering that. Plus how the Japanese call England the land of lost hero's, and France the land of buddha's, strange but interesting.Beltom1066 said:
Unfortunatly i havn't got anything to contribute "England" just means "Angle-Land" Or land of the Angles, a sub-tribe within the Anglo-Saxons. Whom took over what the Welsh today call the "Lost Land". The English for "Wales" or "Welsh" i think means foreginer or foregin land, or outsider. Scotland just means land of the Scotti, the Scotti being an Irish tribe whom migrated into Scotland i think sometime in around the 6th century.
There's records to suggest the original Angles fled to Wales at some point during history (probably when the Normans invaded, maybe before), so it's understandable the meaning of England in Welsh is "lost lands".
My interprtation was that the Anglo-Saxons kicked out the native-Britons in the 5th century and sent them into Wales, hence why the Welsh decendents of the native Britons refer to England as "the lost land". If you have any online sources relating to Angles fleeing to Wales then i'd be interested, dark age history interests me.Stasisesque said:
Nederland = The Netherlands(Offical name cause holland = 2 provincies together(south and north)).
Now you're asking. Information was suggested from exhibits at The British Museum yonks ago, I've no doubt there are online sources, but I've never thought to look for them. All I remember is that it has something to do with one of a number of theories on Stonehenge, but my knowledge is patchy at best and confused at worst.Nickolai77 said:
http://www.white-history.com/hwr28iii.htm Scroll down to Wales. This just confuses me more.
Wait what? America is the "Land of Rice" Can you eleborate that please.Binerexis said:
Well Sweden becomes Sverige in swedish though i dont really know if it has a backstory to it.
*Edit: And how France becomes Land of buddahs, shouldnt it be the land of alcohol (im joking about the alcohol thing)...Hmm..gotta check what sweden means.
Yeah! Try to guess that!Cyan. said:
Nation: Finland
Residents: Finnish
To us (Nation): Suomi
To us (Residents): Suomalainen
That china thing was actually familiar because I think it is said, or I have heard, it lots of times in chinese films.
It was 'Terra Australis'. Sounds cooler now right? No not really.The_Healer said:
The Aboriginals didn't even have a word for it. Not surprising considering that the Aboriginals didn't have any real sort of civilization or cartography.
Around here all our town names are silly too; Manjimup, Gidgegannup, Nannup, Coobellup etc
Can anyone tell me why Germany is Germany in english and not Deutchland?
I can make an educated guess for Ireland.
It sounds a bit like Sværd-Rige Sværd being sword and Rige being Nation/Country "Sword-Nation" Guess some viking thought the land was full of swords?Evilsanta said:
Yet. Danmark/Denmark is pretty close.
Danskere/Danes is a bit further away.
Dansk/Danish '^'
I guess the name comes from the flag Dannebrog(National Flag) that fell at some battle in one of the many raids.
New Zealand: Like the Dutch province of Zealand, but updated and improved!
Nah, it's because Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, discovered it first (I don't think he actually landed, though ? I'm pretty sure Captain Cook was the first to do that) and named it after a province of his homeland.
In Maori, the indigenous language here, it's Aotearoa, which translates to 'land of the long white cloud'. I've always liked that.
Nah, it's because Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, discovered it first (I don't think he actually landed, though ? I'm pretty sure Captain Cook was the first to do that) and named it after a province of his homeland.
In Maori, the indigenous language here, it's Aotearoa, which translates to 'land of the long white cloud'. I've always liked that.
China calls itself Zhongguo, or "Middle Country". Since when they named themselves they were under the impression they were the centre of the Universe. Nothing much has changed, then...
[sub]DISCLAIMER: I am not a racist. I was raised with Japanese and other Asian "sisters" and "brothers" (homestay students), and I love my extended inter-country family very much.[/sub]
[sub]DISCLAIMER: I am not a racist. I was raised with Japanese and other Asian "sisters" and "brothers" (homestay students), and I love my extended inter-country family very much.[/sub]
Yes, England is 英国, which is "brave land", America is 米国, "rice land", and "Buddha land", France, is written 仏国. China is "chuugoku", which is written 中国, meaning "middle country", for obvious reasons. Korea is "kankoku", which I honestly don't know what it means, but the kanji is 韓国.NeutralDrow said:
Most of the kanji names in Japanese have nothing to do with Japanese, or anyone else's, perception of the country itself. It derives from the old Chinese way of rendering foreign names in kanji by picking kanji with readings that sound like the name. In actuality, most of the time, country names are simply written in katakana, which is phonetic. So America (Amerika) is アメリカ, England (Igirisu) is イギリス, France (Furansu) is フランス, Italy (Itaria) is イタリア, Australia (O-sutoraria) is オーストラリア, and so on. The kanji representations are most often used in things such as newspapers, when they need to condense space on the page. Japan, China and Korea are always written in kanji, though.
Yeah, but i think whats causing the confusion is the websites use of the word"nordic".Stasisesque said:Now you're asking. Information was suggested from exhibits at The British Museum yonks ago, I've no doubt there are online sources, but I've never thought to look for them. All I remember is that it has something to do with one of a number of theories on Stonehenge, but my knowledge is patchy at best and confused at worst.
http://www.white-history.com/hwr28iii.htm Scroll down to Wales. This just confuses me more.
I wouldnt call the Celts "nordic". They pre-date nordic culture and orginate from central Europe, spreading all over the continent. I also think Wales only became a distinct entity after the Roman conquest and the constuction of Offa's Dyke. For instance the celtic Deceangli, Cornovii and Dobunni tribes all straddle the present day border between England and Wales.
