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Languages have different names for countries and cities

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Rumpel

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Languages have different names for countries and cities.

This is a kind of a linguistic topic.
What examples come to your mind?

Germany has a different name nearly in all existing languages in Europe.
 
And Florence is Firenze in Italian and Florenz in German.

And Cologne is Köln in German.
 
Danube/Donau

Luzern/Lucerne

København/Copenhagen

Schweiz/Switzerland

Prague/Praha
 
Baltimore was called Bawlmer by 'white' residents when there were any. A village near mine is called Fjuckby; foreigners don't call it anything different because they have never heard of it - nor have many Swedes. I was born in Paris; if les Anglos call it Paree the French get very annoyed - almost as much as the Jocks do if you call them Scotch.
 
And Hungary is Ungarn in German and Magyarország in Hungarian.
 
Finnish has pretty unique names too such as:
Tanska (Denmark)
Ranska (France)
Suomi (Finland)
Saksa (Germany)
Ruotsi (Sweden)
Venäjä (Russia)
 
In French:

Angleterre (England)
Londres (London)
Pays de Galle (Wales)
Écosse (Scotland)
 
Rumpel said:
Languages have different names for countries and cities.

This is a kind of a linguistic topic.
What examples come to your mind?

Germany has a different name nearly in all existing languages in Europe.
Click to expand...

Persia/Iran
Japan/Nippon
Greece/Hellenic Republic
Austria/Osterreich
Switzerland/Suisse/Confoederatio Helvetica
 
Last edited:
Lettland/Latvia
Estland/Estonia
 
Straßburg/Strasbourg
 
"Seattle" is a bastardization of the name of a Duwamish chief: Si'ahl.

Many American cities are phonetic spellings of poorly pronounced Native American words.
 
Ethiopia/Habesha
Egypt/Mesr
 
Rumpel said:
Straßburg/Strasbourg
Click to expand...

Here is a not a well known fact. The two islands that make up new zealand were never officially given a name. The british simply gave them and left them with the designation north island and south island. And that has remained as is.

However there has been a change.

Original Maori names for North and South Island approved | RNZ News

The original Maori names for the North and South Islands have been approved by the Government to be officially used on maps.

On Thursday, Land Information Minister, Maurice Williamson, made a decision that Te Ika ā Māui for the North Island, and Te Wai Pounamu for the South Island can be used alternatively to their English equivalents.

Te Ika ā Māui, which means the Fish of Maui, refers to the story of the early Polynesian ancestor Maui who is said to have fished up the North Island.

And Te Wai Pounamu, or the waters of greenstone, makes reference to the South Island as being the source where greenstone is found.

The New Zealand Geographic Board is also welcoming the decision and is happy people will have a choice about whether to use the English or Maori names for the country's two main islands.
Click to expand...
 
Morocco/Marakesh
 
The ancient fabled city of Troy, from Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, is now called Truva.
 
lwf said:
Many American cities are phonetic spellings of poorly pronounced Native American words.
Click to expand...

Or entirely made up ones.

California is an entirely made up name, supposedly from a group of Black Amazons.

Idaho is an entirely made up name, said to be an Indian word for "Gem of the Mountains".
 
Rumpel said:
Languages have different names for countries and cities.

This is a kind of a linguistic topic.
What examples come to your mind?

Germany has a different name nearly in all existing languages in Europe.
Click to expand...

German is one of the most disgusting sounds you will ever have to suffer through. Just plead that they never take over the world and force us to listen to that crap while eating blood sausage and sauerkraut.
 
Japan/Nippon/Nihon/something like “The Suns Origin” or “Land of the Rising Sun”

Tokyo/actually simply means “Eastern Capital”.
 
I think it was Charles the Fifth who said:

I speak French to women,
Italian to men,
Spanish to god,
and German to my horse.

Example:
The beautiful French name for the Swiss city of Geneva: "Geneve." (Pronounced kind of like jshyen'-ev).
The German word for it: "Genf." With a hard "G." :)

p.s. I love Germany. Spent a week in Berlin last summer. Awesome.
 
Bark said:
German is one of the most disgusting sounds you will ever have to suffer through. Just plead that they never take over the world and force us to listen to that crap while eating blood sausage and sauerkraut.
Click to expand...

That why there aren’t a lot of German restaurants around! I went to one in Las Vegas. Totally not my thing.
 
chuckiechan said:
That why there aren’t a lot of German restaurants around! I went to one in Las Vegas. Totally not my thing.
Click to expand...

Arrogance comes from ignorance. :)
You have no idea about real German food - you just repeat old clichés taken over from other ignorant people. :)

---------------

Anyway - that is not the topic of this thread. :)
 
Rumpel said:
Arrogance comes from ignorance. :)
You have no idea about real German food - you just repeat old clichés taken over from other ignorant people. :)

---------------

Anyway - that is not the topic of this thread. :)
Click to expand...

And ignorance come from not reading my post. I actually ate in the restaurant. I said it was not my thing.

Go clean your glasses.
 
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