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Renaming the cities of other countries...

  Tags: Names
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
192 messages over 24 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 5 ... 23 24 Next >>
Gusutafu
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Sweden
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 Message 33 of 192
16 November 2009 at 4:28pm | IP Logged 
DaraghM wrote:
I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread but Vienna is Bécs in Hungarian.

In Ireland we've confused matters with our capital city, Dublin. Dublin originates from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning black pool. However, the official translation for the city's name is Baile Átha Cliath (The Fort of the Hurdles).


Perhaps the name Dublin is seen as an imposition by its Viking founders? The Fort of the Hurdles also sounds rather more heroic than Blackpool...
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Gusutafu
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Sweden
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 Message 34 of 192
16 November 2009 at 5:46pm | IP Logged 
cordelia0507 wrote:
Have you noticed how the British pronounciation of "Los Angeles" is always "Los Angeleeees" on the (UK) news? That's puzzling, and I don't know why Brits don't pronounce it the same way as Americans do. Does anyone know?


I have noticed this, but unfortunately I don't have an explanation, nor even my usual angry ramblings. It would be interesting to know, though.
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Lizzern
Diglot
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Norway
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 Message 35 of 192
16 November 2009 at 5:49pm | IP Logged 
Anyone know why different people (that is, native speakers) pronounce New Orleans differently? New Orleans vs New Orleens? I'm sure there's a perfectly sensible explanation, and I'm curious. I asked an American about it once and he said both are fine... But why is there a difference in the first place?
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mick33
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United States
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 Message 36 of 192
16 November 2009 at 7:23pm | IP Logged 
Lizzern wrote:
Anyone know why different people (that is, native speakers) pronounce New Orleans differently? New Orleans vs New Orleens? I'm sure there's a perfectly sensible explanation, and I'm curious. I asked an American about it once and he said both are fine... But why is there a difference in the first place?
The difference is because of the local dialect/accent in New Orleans, the different pronunciation is just their way of setting themselves apart form the rest of the country. Two more come to mind; Louisville, Kentucky which is pronounced as LOO uhvil by those who live there but everywhere else in North America it's Looeeville. San Antonio, Texas is called San Antone in Texas but everywhere else is just San Antonio.

I forgot another interesting one in Finnish, London becomes Lontoo.



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mick33
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United States
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 Message 37 of 192
16 November 2009 at 7:37pm | IP Logged 
cordelia0507 wrote:
Have you noticed how the British pronounciation of "Los Angeles" is always "Los Angeleeees" on the (UK) news? That's puzzling, and I don't know why Brits don't pronounce it the same way as Americans do. Does anyone know?
I don't really know why, but maybe they wanted to avoid sounding American (The British tend to like North American people but they don't always like our accents/dialects of English) or that's just the way they hear it.

Another thing about Los Angeles is that the original Spanish name was said to be ridiculously long and was something like El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula or The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the river of Porziuncola, which might explain why Los Angeles is sometimes called "The city of angels".

Edited by mick33 on 16 November 2009 at 7:38pm
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oz-hestekræfte
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Australia
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 Message 38 of 192
17 November 2009 at 12:03am | IP Logged 
I think it's funny that Danish has it's own word for the state of California "Californien". As far as I can tell this is the only American state they have their own word for. Why?
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cordelia0507
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 Message 39 of 192
17 November 2009 at 1:24am | IP Logged 
oz-hestekræfte wrote:
I think it's funny that Danish has it's own word for the state of California "Californien". As far as I can tell this is the only American state they have their own word for. Why?


I have a theory for this (that I just thought of):

Regional names that ends with "-ia" normally end with "-ien" in the Germanic languages. Of course, there is no need to "rename" areas that nobody is likely to discuss. For example there is no Scandinavian name for the US state of "Georgia". Since it is practically never discussed among normal Scandinavians; simply too obscure from our perspective. On the other hand, the Caucasian country "Georgia" is always called "Georgien" - it is a bit closer and was well-known even during its' days as a USSR republic.

However - Californa is an exception: It gained world fame when there was a gold-rush there sometime in the 19th century. Lots of people from Scandinavia actually went there to try their luck. Plus it's a very large state, much larger then the state of Georgia. I think it was back in those days that California got its' own name in the Scandinavian languages.

I also think that the official Danish name for California is in fact "Kalifornien"



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oz-hestekræfte
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Australia
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 Message 40 of 192
17 November 2009 at 3:12am | IP Logged 
I'm pretty sure it's Californien, I've seen it this way in film and it's spelt with a C in my dictionaries.
Good theory though, makes sence.


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