Sunday 31 July 2016

Ghana 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 Ghana's cities.

Accra comes from the Akan language where nkran originally meant 'ants'. The numerous ant hills in this region being the outstanding feature, of course these are the obvious towers built by the African varieties and not the small mounds seen in Europe.

Ashaiman was founded by one Nil Ashai in the 17th century, his name taken for the place and thus meaning 'Ashai's town'.

Sunyani grew from a minor outpost used by elephant hunters during the 19th century. Indeed its name reflects this as it comes from the Akan word osono meaning 'elephant'.

Cape Coast is a simple enough name needing no explanation.

Koforidua traditionally takes its name from the Akan man Kofi Ofori after he built a home under a magnificent mahogany tree. As this became a place of shelter for those returning from the fields, they spoke of going to rest under "Kofi Ofori's tree" with the Akan word for 'tree' being dua.

Nkawkaw means 'red, red', a reference to the red soils here.

Navrongo is an Anglicised version of the local name of navoringo, itself from navoro. Here naga voro describes the crunching sound made when stepping onto dry, crumbly soil. A most unusual origin for a place name, indeed I can think of no other named for a sound.

Salaga is from the Dagomba language where salgi refers to 'get used to a place of abode'.

Banda Ahenkro has historically provided shelter from any number of peoples seeking shelter during the era of the slave trade. At this time the place was known as Serminakuu referring to 'the grasses' growing in this area. The name was changed to Banda, a corruption of woanda meaning 'they did not sleep'. The people of the Asante kingdom here were known for their strength in times of war, the warlike people refusing to sleep during times of war.

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

Sunday 24 July 2016

Georgia 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 Georgia's cities.

Tblisi is said to have been dounded when, while hunting with his falcon, King Vakhtang I Gorgasali spotted a pheasant and unleashed his bird. Both falcon and pheasant fell into one of the hot springs found here, both birds dying from extensive burns. The king decided to cut down the trees and found Tblisi in 458 AD. Archaeologists have shown this region has been in continual occupation since at least 800 years earlier than this, thus this tale is unlikely to be true. However the name certainly refers to the hot springs, for in the Old Georgian tongue T'pilisi literally translates as 'warm location'.

Batumi can trace its name back to the times when this was a Greek colony and the Greek bathus limen or 'deep harbour'.

Rustavi is a Persian word meaning 'rural district'.

Zugdidi is unknown before the 17th century but is certainly from the Mingrelian tongue and simply means 'big hill'.

Gori shares a similar meaning to the previous example, albeit from athe different Georgian language where gora just means 'heap' or 'hill'.

Poti has several suggested origins, hence the actual answer is nobody really knows. The problem here is down to the original language, for if this is Greek then it comes from phasis and a river name. Yet this does seem more likely to be of Georgian origin, where the names Zan-Poti and Svan-Pasid have been put forward, as has a Semitic origin meaning 'gold river'.

Zestaponi can trace its name back to its original settlement on the river Kvirila, for Georgian zeda phoni describes its location on 'the upper bank'.

Akhalsikhe describes itself in the Georgian tongue as 'the new castle'.

Sagarejo was known as Tvali meaning 'an eye' in the 11th century and later took on its present name meaning 'of Gareja'. This shows the area was held by the David Gareja monastery, a complex of cells, churches, chapels, refectories and homes hollowed out of the rock.

Tsalenjikha is from the Mingrelian tongue and either means 'the fortress if Chan' or 'the lower fortress'.

Dedoplistsqaro is traditionally held to be after the 11th/12th century Queen Tamar, the name does literally mean 'the queen's spring' although there is no reason to believe others may not have similar claims.

Ninotsminda translates as St Nino, a Georgian from the 4th century BC who is held to have performed several miraculous feats of healing and held to be a relative of St George.

Jvari is a Georgian word meaning 'cross'.

Baghdati sgares its name with the capitalk of Iraq, both meaning 'God-given' or perhaps 'God's gift'.

Tetritsqaro means 'white spring' in Georgian, exactly as its earlier Azerbaijani name of Agbulakhi did.

Tskhaltsitela is a river named for an 8th-century Arab massacre, this derived rather ominously from 'red water'.

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

Sunday 17 July 2016

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.

Sunday 10 July 2016

Gabon 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 Gabon cities.

Libreville was founded on land long inhabited by the Mpongwe tribe in 1849. Those settling here were fifty-two slaves rescued by the French navy from the slave ship Elizia, hence the name meaning 'free town'.

Port Gentil was named in 1900 to remember French colonial administrator Emile Gentil (4 April 1866 to 30 March 1914).

Franceville grew from a village named Masuku, settled by former slaves it was originally known as Francheville meaning 'city of the freed' and, with this being a French colony, almost inevitably this became Franceville.

Gamba is the Vili word for 'fog', this perfectly describing the weather during the dry season.

Lastoursville was named after Francois Rigall de Lastours in 1886, the year after the death of the civil engineer turned explorer.

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

Monday 4 July 2016

Distinguishing Males from Females

During my formative years I recall being instructed and/or quizzed on the names given to different genders in animals. When hearing a question on a television quiz show recently, I wondered when and why swans were classified as cobs and pens. Before long I was looking into the origins of boar and sow, bull and cow, buck and doe and all the rest.

Bull and Cow
Not only cattle but camel, elephant, elk, giraffe, hippopotamus, walrus, whale, and even the termite, rat, crocodile are known as bulls and cows. The word 'bull' can be traced to a Proto-Indo-European word bhel meaning 'to inflate, swell', thereafter a Germanic root meaning 'to roar', and ultimately used for male cattle. Not until the early 17th century did the males of other creatures come to be known as 'bulls'. The female 'cow' comes from Proto-Indo-European gwou which referred to cattle in general, irrespective of gender. Indeed it is only in Celtic and Germanic languages that 'cow' has come to refer to the female, in every other Indo-European language it refers to the species and both genders.

Boar and Sow
Swine or pigs would doubtless first come to mind, these terms are also used for bear, guinea pig, hedgehog, jellyfish, and mole. Nothing is known of the origns of boar before the Proto-Germanic bairaz, although we can be fairly sure it was created by the Germanic speakers as it is unknown outside the West Germanic-speaking regions. Sow can be traced to Proto-Indo-European su which began referring to both genders and is thought to have been imitative of the noise made by pigs. Again the use for animals other than pigs is comparatively recent.

Buck and Doe
Deer or even rabbits come instantly to mind but these terms are also used when speaking of antelope, reindeer, gerbil, goat, hamster, kangaroo and mouse. It seems none of these were the original references, indeed both words seem likely to have once referred to different animals. In the case of 'buck' this undoubtedly came from Proto-Indo-European bhugo meaning 'goat', while 'doe' is an Old English loan word and related to Old Irish dam 'ox' and Old Welsh dafad 'sheep'.

Stallion and Mare
After horse we may think of zebra, but should also consider the seahorse where the male and female are known as the seastallion and seamare. Of the two the female version is by far the oldest and originally referred to simply 'horse'. Stallion is thought to be derived from Proto-Germanic stalla or 'stalls' and where the beast would be kept in order to service the mares.

Dog and Bitch
Both terms are comparatively recent and the origins unknown. Until the 15th century both sexes were simply known as hounds.

Cock and Hen
Not only birds but also fish such as the salmon. While 'cock' is something of a mystery, 'hen' is derived from Old English hana - although hana referred to the male bird and came from the Proto-Indo-European kan meaning 'to sing', still seen in the word 'chant'.

Ram and Ewe
The origins of the male 'ram' is not clear but could refer to 'strength', the word seen in Old Norse rammr 'strong'. As with earlier examples the female 'ewe' began as referring to the animal in general and is derived from Proto-Indo-European owi meaning 'sheep'.

Gander and Goose
From the Germanic gans meaning 'goose' also comes 'gander', the root gans imitative of the bird's honking cry.

Stag and Hind
The male 'stag' has not changed since the Proto-Germanic stag with the same meaning. This comes from the Proto-Indo-European root stegh 'to prick, sting' and used in the sense of an animal in its prime. The female 'hind' is derived from Proto-Indo-European kem meaning 'hornless'.

Cob and Pen
The male swan or 'cob' may share an origin with the surname 'Cobb', in which case it simply describes a large beast. The female 'pen' shares an origin with the French penne or 'feather' in simply meaning 'to fly'.

Sunday 3 July 2016

French Polynesia 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 French Polynesia islands and places.

Marquessas Islands are comprised of two main islands and a number of sea mounts, the name from the Spanish for 'marchioness'. These main islands are known locally as Te Henua Kenana and Te Fenua Enata both mean 'the land of men'. Local legend maintains the Marquessas were created by the gods as their home and thus all the island names relate to the building of a home.

Hiva Oa means 'the long ridgepole', a part of the home of the gods.

Motu One is the local name meaning 'Sand Island', an appropriate name as this is simply a sand bank on the edge of a coral reef.

Windward Islands, named for obvious reasons. Formerly known as the Georgian Islands, named for Hanoverian king George III.

Leeward Islands are simply the reverse of the previous name.

Papeete, when written correctly as Pape'ete, quite literally translates as 'water from a basket' - a topographical description rather than a literal one.

Tuamotus Islands were originally referred to as Paumotus meaning 'subservient islands' until changed to the modern Tuamatos meaning 'distant islands'.

Tokorua is a name meaning 'two' and should be understood as meaning 'companion, mate'.

Austral Islands take a name describing their location for these are 'the southern islands'.

Bass Islands are named after the British naval surgeon and explorer George Bass (1771-1803). He sailed on the Venus on 5 February 1803 bound for Tahiti then the coast of Chile before heading back to Sydney but neither he nor his crew were ever heard of again.

Tahiti is a Polynesian word meaning 'rising sun'.

Pitcairn is famous as where those who mutinied on HMS Bounty took up residence. Many of the surnames of this crew are still evident on the island, indeed the place is named after Robert Pitcairn who, then aged 15, was the first to sight the island.

Bora Bora was first known as Pora pora mai te pora meaning 'created by the gods' later abbreviated to Pora pora. and understaood to refer to 'the first born'. Not until Europeans arrived did the name change to Bora Bora, ostensibly this is an error.

Baie des Vierges (Bay of Virgins) is a spectacular sight at the foot of the village of Hanavave and originally named Baie des Verges (Bay of Penises) due to the phallic volcanic spires adorning the harbour. The Christian missionaries who came here were offended by the name and added an “i” to the word "verges" in order to change its meaning.

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