# Iran, Iraq



## Miguelillo 87

In the few languages I know, I notice that these two countrys inly change on its last word.

English.- Ira*n* and Ira*q*

Español.- Irá*n *e Ira*k*

Français.- Ira*n* et Ira*k*

Do they have a similar meaning.

Ira is it an arabic word?

Thank you and sorry for mi big ignorance


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## abusaf

Iran = إيران
Iraq = العراق

So its different letters and pronounced differently in Arabic.


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## Miguelillo 87

So how do you pronounce it?

Sorry but I can't read Arabic.


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## cherine

Hola Miguelillo 
Abusaf tiene razon. And to add to what he said :


Miguelillo 87 said:


> Ira*n* and Ira*q*
> ...Do they have a similar meaning.
> ...Ira is it an arabic word?


Iran and Iraq , in Arabic differ not only in the last letter but also in the first.
So :
1- They don't have a similar meaning
2- "Ira" is not a word in Arabic.
I don't know the meaning of the word Iraq, but Iran, to my knowledge, has to do with the Arians, the people who first lived in the land of Iran.



Miguelillo 87 said:


> So how do you pronounce it?
> 
> Sorry but I can't read Arabic.


We pronounce them both with a long a. And Iraq is al-3iraq (the "3" refers to a letter in Arabic that doesn't have equivalent in English nor Spanish)


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## Miguelillo 87

¡Muchísimas gracias cherine! you have solved my doubt.

Wow! Everyday I learn more and mor. Thank you again


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## cherine

De nada Miguelillo  You're always welcome


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## MarcB

Cherine ,I know you are right about Iran's name, changed in 1934, I believe.
The name Iraq has several possibilities. Aramaic/Syriac  land between the rivers i.e. Greek Mesopotamia or the Sumerian city Erek and possibly another origin.


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## Whodunit

cherine said:


> We pronounce them both with a long a. And Iraq is al-3iraq (the "3" refers to a letter in Arabic that doesn't have equivalent in English nor Spanish)


 
Let me add my 2 cents:

al-3iraaq (العراق) maybe has something to do with 3ariqa (عرق), which means "to sweat." The second stem to 3ariqa is 3araqa, which means "to make (someone) sweat," "to take root," and "to Iraqize." Are these translations a plausible origin of the country's name?

2iiraan (إيران) seems to be akin to raana 3alaa 2a7ad (ران على أحد) = to overpower someone.



Miguelillo 87 said:


> In the few languages I know, I notice that these two countrys inly change on its last word.


 
It's the same in German:

*der* Iran = 2iiraan
*der* Irak = *al*-3iraaq

The reason why we don't have a 'q' at the end of 'Irak' is because there's no German word that contains a 'single q;' a 'u' has to follow.


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## Outsider

I'm pretty sure that "Iran" is derived from Persian "Arya(n)".


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## elroy

إيران ("Iran") is definitely not of Arabic origin. It's simply the name of the country, which we took from another language. It's as Arabic as بوليفيا ("Bolivia").

العراق ("Iraq") is a different story. As Whodunit said, the root ع-ر-ق exists in Arabic, so an Arabic origin is plausible; nevertheless, "sweating" (the noun) would be عرق and not عراق.


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## elroy

The discussion of the glottal stop in Arabic has been moved here.


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## Lugubert

As indirectly mentioned by Cherine, Iran has an Indo-European name. In Sanskrit, _ārya_ means respectable, honourable, noble etc. Cognate words are modern German _Ehre_ 'honour' and the anglicised Gaelic name for Ireland, _Erin_.

I like MarcB's suggestion that Iraq may have its name from the Sumerian city _Erek_ (or _Uruk_), as an indication of the old history of these areas.


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## Miguelillo 87

Thank you very much to all, my mind has increased a lot and now things are a really bit more clarly


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## roh3x2n

iraq= Eraaq.
Iran= H'eeraan


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## Tariq_Ibn_zyad

elroy said:


> إيران ("Iran") is definitely not of Arabic origin. It's simply the name of the country, which we took from another language. It's as Arabic as بوليفيا ("Bolivia").
> 
> العراق ("Iraq") is a different story. As Whodunit said, the root ع-ر-ق exists in Arabic, so an Arabic origin is plausible; nevertheless, "sweating" (the noun) would be عرق and not عراق.


Al 3irâq is of Arabic origin indeed.
One of my university teachers(specialist in Arabic language) told me that names of countries beginning with the article "Al" were Arabic,and all others were integrated in arabic from another language. so countries like "loubnan","suriya","tunis","misr" take their names from ancient languages...i just know that "tunis" comme from Berber,and "misr" comes from ancient Egyptian meaning "the country"...


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## maxl

That's strange. What about, e.g. al-wilayyat al-muttaHidah = USA?


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## elroy

maxl said:


> That's strange. What about, e.g. al-wilayyat al-muttaHidah = USA?


 Those are Arabic words, of course. 

But I think Tariq was just talking about Arab countries. After all, there are numerous exceptions in the non-Arab world (Al-Burtughaal, Ad-danimark, An-namsa, etc.).


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## maxl

Is there a rule (phonological, morphological, semantic, historical, whatever) that could explain these exceptions?


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## elroy

I don't think so.  As far as I know, which country names get an article and which ones don't is pretty random.

"Exceptions" was a misleading word to use.  These names can't properly be termed exceptions to Tariq's rule because it doesn't encompass them.  I meant that _if_ his rule applied to all the countries in the world you would find plenty of exceptions (reading between the lines of your question about the USA ).


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## Tariq_Ibn_zyad

elroy said:


> Those are Arabic words, of course.
> 
> But I think Tariq was just talking about Arab countries. After all, there are numerous exceptions in the non-Arab world (Al-Burtughaal, Ad-danimark, An-namsa, etc.).


yes I was talking about Arab countries...but I made a mistake,what I meant is that when there is an article the name of the country means something in arabic or exists in the language.


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