# Urdu: Names of countries



## teaboy

What names for countries are NOT English cognates?  I'm thinking on the order of _Yunaan_ for Greece, _Misr _for Egypt, etc.  What others are there?​


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## Koozagar

Shaam= Syria comes to mind. India of course is also knows as Bharat.


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## panjabigator

China = چین
UK = برطانیہ عظمی


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## BP.

People of The Netherlands are called _wallandezii _(I can spot a connection with Fr: _hollandais_), maybe this means that their country might have been called _walandez_.

Morocco is called _Marraakesh_, however that is simply the name of a Moroccan city.


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## BP.

Just remembered _almaaniya_-المانیہ-Germany.


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## panjabigator

BelligerentPacifist said:


> Just remembered _almaaniya_-المانیہ-Germany.



Really?  Urdu speakers would say _almaaniya_ over _Germany_?  Does this word come to Urdu via Persian/French?


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## BP.

@6 _Current_ Urdu-speakers usually don't know what countries names are in Urdu, and they'd called Germany _Germany_. I however happen to be 80 years old in the head!

The word came maybe through Arabs or through earlier Greco-Latin contact. Some of the others might know.


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## Velayati

panjabigator said:


> UK = برطانیہ عظمی


There is also انگلستان _inglistān _for England...



Koozagar said:


> India of course is also knows as Bharat.


... and ہندوستان _hindustān_ for India. 

روس _r_ū_s_ - Russia
حبش _ḥabash - _Ethiopia


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## flyinfishjoe

BelligerentPacifist said:


> People of The Netherlands are called _wallandezii _(I can spot a connection with Fr: _hollandais_), maybe this means that their country might have been called _walandez_.
> 
> Morocco is called _Marraakesh_, however that is simply the name of a Moroccan city.


That's interesting. In Hindi, Dutch is sometimes called _olandez_ and in Bengali, _olandaj _(unfortunately, these days pretty much everyone just uses the English word!). My dictionary says that these words do indeed come from French _hollandais._ However, the Netherlands are always called _niidarlainD  _or _haalaND_.


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## panjabigator

Velayati said:


> There is also انگلستان _inglistān _for England...
> 
> 
> ... and ہندوستان _hindustān_ for India.
> 
> روس _r_ū_s_ - Russia
> حبش _ḥabash - _Ethiopia


Are there any sukoons in Ethiopia?


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## Velayati

panjabigator said:


> Velayati said:
> 
> 
> 
> There is also انگلستان _inglistān _for England...
> 
> 
> ... and ہندوستان _hindustān_ for India.
> 
> روس _rū__s_ - Russia
> حبش _ḥabash - _Ethiopia
> 
> 
> 
> Are there any sukoons in Ethiopia?
Click to expand...

I think the only sukoon is on the _sh__ī__n_.

 ہسپانیہ _hisp__ānia_ - Spain


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## BP.

Velayati said:


> ...
> حبش _ḥabash - _Ethiopia



I think it is called _Habashah_-حبشہ.


PS: Welcome to the forum Velayati.


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## Velayati

BelligerentPacifist said:


> I think it is called _Habashah_-حبشہ.



I misread the entry in Platts, so you're probably right.



> A حبش _ḥabash_ (fr. حبش 'to collect or congregate'),  s.m. The Abyssinians or Ethiopians;—(for A. _ḥabashat_), the country of the Abyssinians, Abyssinia, Ethiopia





BelligerentPacifist said:


> PS: Welcome to the forum Velayati.


Thanks!


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## Au101

BelligerentPacifist said:


> @6 _Current_ Urdu-speakers usually don't know what countries names are in Urdu, and they'd called Germany _Germany_. I however happen to be 80 years old in the head!
> 
> The word came maybe through Arabs or through earlier Greco-Latin contact. Some of the others might know.



Well, I have very limited knowledge of Urdu pronunciation, but it seems very similar to the French name for the country 'Allemagne'. I'm not sure about the etymology of this though, perhaps someone with a better knowledge of French would know?


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## flyinfishjoe

Do _hispaaniyaa_, _bartaaniyaa_, _almaaniyaa_, etc. come from Persian?


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## panjabigator

flyinfishjoe said:


> Do _hispaaniyaa_, _bartaaniyaa_, _almaaniyaa_, etc. come from Persian?



I checked their names in Arabic and, for the most part, the names all correspond (save Spain - Arabic didn't have an initial 'H' or 'P' sound).


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## Cilquiestsuens

Au101 said:


> Well, I have very limited knowledge of Urdu pronunciation, but it seems very similar to the French name for the country 'Allemagne'. I'm not sure about the etymology of this though, perhaps someone with a better knowledge of French would know?



It's not really on topic, but since you ask.... All romance (latin-derived) languages use a word related to the same root. The _Alamanni_ were simply an alliance of Germanic tribes that settled a long time ago the country nowadays known as Germany in English. The Germans call themselves _*Deutsche*_.


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## BP.

Danke schön Cilqui.


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## Faylasoof

Ethiopia in Urdu is ایتھوپیا

 Neitherالحبش   or الحبشة are used in Urdu. They are not even used in Modern Standard Arabic, where it is إثيوبيا , while الحبشة is _known in old Arabic literature_ (_عرفت في الأدبيات العربية القديمة "بالحبشة_), as the link says.

 Netherlands -and it should be this and not Holland, as latter is a part of the former in the same way England is a part of Great Britain / U.K. – is simply نیدرلینڈ in Urdu.

 However, all too often people Urduphones (and others) use نیدرلینڈ (Netherlands) andہالینڈ (Holland) interchangeably. 

 The names ہالستان and ہولندیز for the same I have seen in some dictionaries but we don’t use them.

 Germany = جرمنی _jarmanii_ , while ألمانيا almaaniyaa /  آلمان   almaan are used  respectively in Arabic and Persian _not_ in Urdu. 

 Apart from یونان ( = Greece, discussed in WRF), مصر (= Egypt, discussed in WRF), شام ( = Syria, discussed in WRF), we have all the Middle Eastern and Asian (South Asian and Central Asian) countries that have given their names to both Urdu and English directly from their own languages, e.g. ايران ,عراق etc. etc.

 فلسطین and اُردن ultimately have Hebrew origins though I haven’t explored the full Arabic route yet. Strictly speaking neither is an exact cognate of English. 

 The same forزنگبار  / زنجیبار, originally from Persian. Again, in English it is Zanzibar and not Zangibar or Zanjibar. 

But one can always argue that the above are almost the same.


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## ali itrat

tarablas      for libya urdun for jordan  atalia for italy


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## flyinfishjoe

I thought "tarabulus" (or something like that) meant Tripoli! 

On a side note, I think it's interesting that Italy is almost always called iTalii (i.e. the English word) in Hindi, but Italian is often called itaalvii, which seems to be from itaaliyaa.


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## Qureshpor

flyinfishjoe said:


> I thought "tarabulus" (or something like that) meant Tripoli!
> 
> On a side note, I think it's interesting that Italy is almost always called iTalii (i.e. the English word) in Hindi, but Italian is often called itaalvii, which seems to be from itaaliyaa.




You are right, "taraabulas" is Tripoli. In Urdu too, we use "iTlii" but the Italian language is "itaalavii"اطالوی  .


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## marrish

What about Saudi Arabia in Urdu: سعودی عرب sa3uudi 3arab with Punjabi like [saodi arab]? I think it's a great example of creative, unique to these languages country names. It's neither Arabic, nor Persian I suspect it might be the same in Hindi, too. Any hints?


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## marrish

And, khawateen-o hazaraat, the last but not least: پاکستان Pakistan!


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## marrish

Cilquiestsuens said:


> It's not really on topic, but since you ask.... All romance (latin-derived) languages use a word related to the same root. The _Alamanni_ were simply an alliance of Germanic tribes that settled a long time ago the country nowadays known as Germany in English. The Germans call themselves _*Deutsche*_.


And Italians call a German tedesco, so not all romance languages...


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## flyinfishjoe

marrish said:


> What about Saudi Arabia in Urdu: سعودی عرب sa3uudi 3arab with Punjabi like [saodi arab]? I think it's a great example of creative, unique to these languages country names. It's neither Arabic, nor Persian I suspect it might be the same in Hindi, too. Any hints?


The same word is used in Hindi as well: सऊदी अरब _sauudii arab_​.


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## flyinfishjoe

Also, पुर्तगाल _purtagaal_ and पुर्तगाली _purtagaalii_ are used for "Portugal" and "Portuguese" respectively. I'm not sure of the origin of these words; perhaps they are corruptions of the English terms?


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## john welch

Hullo from a new member,
Three men named Mamoon, Ya Birrein and Birrung sailed a ship from Negarinbeil, meaning "your beloved countrymen". It seems that this place was Bali, in Indonesia.
(The language of the country where the ship landed is Bundjalung).


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