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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Topic: Meaning of city names Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 03:41 |
Capitals of some countries:
Ashgabat (Ashk Abad) = Built by Ashk (Arsaces)
Astana (Istana) = Land/City
Baghdad (Baga Dad) = God Given
Baku (Baga) = God
Dushanbe (Du Shanbeh) = Monday
Islamabad (Islam [Arabic] Abad) = Built by Islam
Kabul (Kuh Pul) = Mountain Bridge
Tashkent (Tasht Kand) = Stone Digging
Tehran (Tab Ran) = Warm Slop
Tbilisi (Tab Lis) = Warm Spring
Edited by Cyrus Shahmiri
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Capt. Lubber
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 04:28 |
Oslo - Disputed, but believed to be "plain of the gods" or "plain under the hill"
Copenhagen - Anglified version of the danish "Kbenhavn", meaning "merchant's harbour"
Reykjavik - "smoky bay"
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Loke, Attila, the grete conqueror,
Deyde in his sleep, with shame and dishonour,
Bleedinge ay at the nose in dronkenesse,
A captayin shoulde live in sobrenesse
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Degredado
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 05:47 |
Lisbon - from the Roman Olisipo, which supposedly comes from the Phoenician Allis Ubbo, which probably means good harbour
Porto - short form of Portucale, which comes from Portus Cale, which simply means Port Cale. (what Cale means is up to debate)
Alccer do Sal (mommy's home town) Alccer arabic Al-Kasr, 'castle'; Sal 'salt'; thus, the Castle of Salt.
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Vou votar nas putas. Estou farto de votar nos filhos delas
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Guests
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 10:01 |
Ankara, in Hitit language, Angora, means city of mohair goats...
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Yiannis
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 10:19 |
Originally posted by Degredado
Porto - short form of Portucale, which comes from Portus Cale, which simply means Port Cale. (what Cale means is up to debate) |
I was reading a Greek theory of the name but I don't remember it by now
In any case, "Calo" in Greek means "good"...
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The basis of a democratic state is liberty. Aristotle, Politics
Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin
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Styrbiorn
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 11:50 |
Stockholm - "stock" isle (stock being a Viking age underwater palisade to stop incoming fleets).
Gteborg/Gothenburg - fort of the Geats/Goths.
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eaglecap
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 17:55 |
Spokane, Washington-(Spo-can)
The name was taken from the Spokan-e Indians who were part of the Salish tribal group. The name means Children of the sun. I have always thought it very ironic because the winters can be long, cold, snowy and dreary.
www.dictionary.com
) Pronunciation Key (sp-kn)
A city of eastern Washington near the Idaho border on the falls of the Spokane River, about 193 km (120 mi) long. Settled on the site of a trading fort established in 1810, Spokane is a trade and processing center in an agricultural, lumbering, and mining region. Population: 177,196.
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Quetzalcoatl
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 18:04 |
Post ended in the wrong thread
Edited by Quetzalcoatl
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Quetzalcoatl
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 18:09 |
Something wrong with the forum programming. My post ended in the wrong thread.
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Miller
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Posted: 24-Feb-2005 at 19:31 |
[QUOTE=Cyrus Shahmiri] Tehran (Tab Ran) = Warm Slop /QUOTE]
Tirana (capital of Albania)=Tehran
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Kuu-ukko
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 05:42 |
Some Finnish cities and towns:
Helsinki (Swedish Helsingfors), probably meaning a foaming river.
Turku, from ancient Russian meaning a marketsquare.
Tampere (Swedish Tammerfors), meaning the river Tammer.
Kotka, meaning eagle.
Pori (Swedish Bjrneborg), meaning Bearcastle.
Vaasa, named after the Vasa royal family in Sweden.
Jyvskyl, meaning seed village.
Jrvenp, meaning the end of a lake.
Joensuu, meaning a rivermouth.
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Exarchus
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 07:34 |
Toulouse is a good question. It's old name was Tolosa and was the
capital of the Visigoths. Then it was moved to Toledo, both city
having Tol in their first name.
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Vae victis!
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tzar
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 15:33 |
Sofia - wisdom- from legend Sofia was a mother of Hope, Belive and Love
Pazardjik - little market
Brezovo - birch
Dimitrovgrad, Simeonovgrad.Svilengrad.... City/town of Dimitar, Simeon, Svilen
Belgrade - white city
Edited by tzar
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Teup
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 16:06 |
wow - this really helps me with my game, which generates city names from random particles
Amersfoort means something like marsh pass, I wonder what Utrecht means; one teacher told me it is a Roman name meaning it's the final (ultimate) place to pass the Vecht (a river), but I also heard it was originally a Celtic name, Wttrecht (like many other Dutch town names).
Some town names refer to the god Tyr, Dius, Ziu, whatever you call him, like Doetinchem (the word Dutch contains it as well by the way).
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Temujin
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 16:53 |
Stuttgart - Steed(mare)-garden(stable)
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Artaxiad
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Posted: 25-Feb-2005 at 20:55 |
So according to Cyrus:
Vagharshabad - Built by Vagharsh
Dikranagerd (Tigranocerta) - Built by Dikran (Tigranes) the Great
Stepanakert (Capital of Karabagh) - Built by Stepan
Erzurum or Arz ar-Rum - In Arabic, it means 'land of the Romans'
Istanbul or Is tin Poli (Greek) - 'to the City'
Abadan - Forever (in Arabic)
'Paris' probably has to do with one of characters from Greek mythology also called 'Paris'.
Canada - It means 'village' in one of the Native languages.
Doesn't 'Abad', which might come from 'Abadan', mean 'forever' in Arabic, or other Semitic languages? From where does 'Abad' originate?
Porto - short form of Portucale, which comes from Portus Cale, which simply means Port Cale. (what Cale means is up to debate) |
Bortoqal means orange - the fruit - in Arabic.
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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Posted: 26-Feb-2005 at 09:02 |
Doesn't 'Abad', which might come from 'Abadan', mean 'forever' in Arabic, or other Semitic languages? From where does 'Abad' originate? |
Where is Abadan, do you mean ancient Persian town of Abadan in Iran? I don't think that Abadan means "forever" in Arabic, I think you mean 'ab'ad.
As you mentioned it is in fact the suffix "-Gard" which means "Built by" and there are many cities in Iran and neighboring countries which have this suffix, such as Darabgard (Built by Darius), Khosrowgerd (Built by Khosrow), Borujerd or Orogard (Built by Orodes) or Dastgerd (Built by hand) but "Abad", old Persian Apat (with water), means "Abode".
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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Posted: 26-Feb-2005 at 10:17 |
Istanbul or Is tin Poli (Greek) - 'to the City' |
Why do Ottomans who have built Nevsehir (New city in Persian), change Constantinople (City of Constantine) to another Greek name?
If Afghanistan means "Land of Afghans" and Kabul means "Mountain Bridge" then Istanbul means "Land Bridge".
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Artaxiad
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Posted: 27-Feb-2005 at 00:38 |
Where is Abadan, do you mean ancient Persian town of Abadan in Iran? I don't think that Abadan means "forever" in Arabic, I think you mean 'ab'ad. |
Yes, that was what I meant. I'm not sure about ''Abadan'' either. I forgot a lot of my Arabic after I left Lebanon many many years ago. I never really use it either.
I checked in an Islamic site. ''Abadan'' effectively means ''forever'' http://www.jannah.org/articles/quranicwordaday.html
Why do Ottomans who have built Nevsehir (New city in Persian), change Constantinople (City of Constantine) to another Greek name?
If Afghanistan means "Land of Afghans" and Kabul means "Mountain Bridge" then Istanbul means "Land Bridge". |
I think it's because when Turks were going to Constantinople, they saw a sign written ''Is Tin Poli''. So they thought that it was the name of the city. That is probably why the city is called Istanbul. I think Arabs or other Muslims used to called it ''Islambol'' and also ''Konstantiniyye''.
What you said was very logical too.
Edited by Artaxiad
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Alparslan
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Posted: 27-Feb-2005 at 09:18 |
Originally posted by Artaxiad
I think it's because when Turks were going to Constantinople, they saw a sign written ''Is Tin Poli''. So they thought that it was the name of the city. That is probably why the city is called Istanbul. |
No..... This is ridiculous. Do you think that Turks get the information about Istanbul while theye were hanging around.
I was thinking that the Greek version was right. But I think Cyrus explanation is more reasonable. There are historical and geographical explanations to Persian version. Just look at the map.
I wonder about the oldest documents on Istanbul in Persian. How were they calling the city?
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