# Countries that have a different name in your language



## tFighterPilot

Are there a countries or nationalities that have a different name in your language than in other languages? (not including countries like "United states" which are different in every language) What is their origin? In Hebrew, for example:

France - צרפת Tsarfat. From the bible.
Spain - ספרד Sfarad. Same
Yemen - תימן Teiman. Same
Egypt - מצריים Mitsrayim. Obviously from the bible.
Greece - יון Yavan. Pretty similar to Arabic and Aramaic, but they pronounce it Yawan. Its origin is from the city Ionia.

As far as nationalities go, one I can think of is Italian איטלקי Ital*k*i. Not sure what's the origin of the added k, but it doesn't exist in any other nationality in Hebrew.


----------



## apmoy70

France --> «Γαλλία» (ɣa'lia, _f_) from the Latin _Gallia_ (the land of the Gauls). The French people, persistently remain Gauls for us--> «Γάλλος, -λλίς/-ίδα» ('ɣalos, _the male citizen of France_, ɣa'lis- and colloquially ɣa'liða - _the female one_).


----------



## Maroseika

I think Hungary is the most variously named country in Europe, for example:

English - Hungary, Spanish - Hungría (thru ME Greek Oungroi) - from Latin Ungari
German - Ungarn, Bulgarian - Унгария (Ungaria) - from Latin Ungari
Turkish - Macaristan (i.e. country of Magyars, from Hung. Magyarország)

All these words (except Turkish, of course) orginate from Turkic Ονόγουροι > Latin Hunuguri. Turkic word is from Ancient Turkic *оn ogur*, *on oguz* (ten ogus tribes).


In Russian language '*China*' has initial *k* instead of *ch* lor *s* ike in most other European languages: China - Китай (Kitai). The reason is that to Russian this name came thru Turkic languages, and to other European - thru Latin directly from China (Marco Polo and Qin dynasty =>sino...).


----------



## francisgranada

Some examples from Hungarian:

Magyar – Hungarian
Olasz – Italian
Lengyel – Polish
Német – German

The names of the states derive from these adjectives by adding the word ország ("country"): 

Magyarország – Hungary
Olaszország– Italy
Lengyelország – Poland
Németország– Germany

Some examples from other languages:

Włochy – Italy in Polish
Węgry – Hungary in Polish (the words Węgry and Hungary have the same origin)
Deutschland – Germany in German
Österreich – Austria in German
Nemecko - Germany in Slovak (and similar words in other Slavic laguages)
Maďarsko – Hungary in Slovak and Czech
Rakúsko – Austria in Slovak


----------



## Rallino

In Turkish:

Yunanistan = Greece _(Land of Ionians)
_Mısır = Egypt
Fas = Morocco
Cezayir = Algeria
Beyaz Rusya = Belarus

And Polish Language is called: _*Lehçe*_


----------



## Maroseika

Rallino said:


> Beyaz Rusya = Belarus


This is just a calque - White Russia.



> And Polish Language is called: _*Lehçe*_


How came this old Slavic ethnicon penetrated in Turkish? Maybe since the epoch of Polish-Turkish wars of the 17th century?
In fact, Pole and Lehçe mean exactly the same - inhabitants of waste plot or virgin soil.


----------



## LilianaB

In Lithuanian many countries are called differently than in other Indo-European languages. Poland is called Lenkija
Germany- Vokietija, Hungary Vengrija. Hungary is Wegry in Polish, too. Italia in Polish is Wlochy.


----------



## Rallino

Maroseika said:


> How came this old Slavic ethnicon penetrated in Turkish? Maybe since the epoch of Polish-Turkish wars of the 17th century?
> In fact, Pole and Lehçe mean exactly the same - inhabitants of waste plot or virgin soil.



I don't know how/when it entered Turkish, but your suggestion is possible. In the history books, the Polish territories are referred to as _Lehistan. _But we don't use this term today. The country is called _Polonya_.


----------



## LilianaB

More country names in Lithuanian: Prancuzija for France, Suomija for Finland, But Finland is called Suomi in Finnish, anyhow.
As per Lehistan there is a legend that the Polish nation originated form Lech, one of the three Slavic brothers, Lech, Czech and Rus.


----------



## snoopymanatee

Also in Turkish:

*1. Algeria: Cezayir*

"_Cezayir_" comes from the Arabic word "_cezîra_" which means "_peninsula_".

*2. Egypt: Mısır*

Before Islam, its name was "_Kemet_" which means "_black country_". After Islam, this country has been called: "*mısır*".

"*M*ı*s*ı*r*" consists of 3 letters; "*Mim*" (M), "*Sad*" (S), "*Ra*" (R)

Each letter represents a historical period of the country. Egyptian people had big difficulties. Arabic equivalent of _difficulty_ is _meşakkat_. So, first letter "*M*" comes from "*m*eşekkat". They had born with these difficulties. Arabic equivalent of _bearing with difficulty_ is _sabretmek_. So, second letter "*S*" comes from "*s*abretmek". As a result of having big difficulties and bearing with them, they prospered. Arabic equivalent of _prosper_ is _refaha kavuşmak_. So, the final letter "*R*" comes from "*r*efah". So, Mısır means "_*m*eşakkat - *s*abır - *r*efah_".


----------



## terredepomme

> France - צרפת Tsarfat. From the bible.
> Spain - ספרד Sfarad. Same


How could France and Spain be in the bible(Old Testament)?


----------



## Maroseika

terredepomme said:


> How could France and Spain be in the bible(Old Testament)?



You doubt that Pyrenees excisted in the Bible epoch? Sfarad, mentioned in the Old Testament, is supposed by some scholars to mean that peninsula.


----------



## Maroseika

Latvian:
Russia - *Krievija *(after the ancient East-Slavic tribe *Krivich * bordering with ancient Letts).


Finnish:
Russia - *Venäjä *(after Veneti, ancient name for tribes identified by some scholars as predecessors of Slavs)
Estonia - *Viro*


----------



## terredepomme

> Sfarad, mentioned in the Old Testament, is supposed by some scholars to mean that peninsula.


By that peninsula you mean the Iberian peninsula?
Then how do they call Portugal?


----------



## Arath

In Bulgarian, country names don't differ from the ones in English (unless they have to be translated - United States, United Kindom), the only possible exception is China, which is *Китай*.

As for nationalities, Albanias are sometimes called *арнаути* (arnauti), Hungarians -* маджари* (madzhari), Romanians - *власи* (vlasi)


----------



## apmoy70

Greeks call ourselves «Ἐλληνες» ('Elines) and our country «Ελλάς» (E'las, _f._) or colloquially, «Ελλάδα» (E'laða, _f._). The name - according to Hesychius and Aristotle - derives from the tribe of «Σελλοὶ» (Sĕl'lœ) who were also known as «Ἑλλοὶ» (Hĕl'lœ) and «Ἕλλοι» ('Hĕllœ) and lived around the oracle of Dodona in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. For the Classicist nerds (like myself), Hesychius writes: «Ἑλλοὶ, Ἔλληνες οἱ ἐν Δωδώνῃ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς» (_Hellœ are called the Greeks (Hellenes) of Dodona, and the priests_). Why this specific name spread and prevailed over e.g. the Homeric «Δαναοὶ» (Dănā'œ), and what is its etymology, remain obscure.
The rest of the world calls Greeks as: 
1/ Greeks, Grecques, Greci etc (with the exception of the Norwegians if I'm not mistaken) after the first encountering of the Latins with the Greeks of the Greek colony of Cumæ in southern Italy, near Naples. The Greeks of Cumæ called themselves «Γραικοὶ» (Græ'kœ) because their colony was established by the inhabitants of the city of «Γραῖα» ('Grǣă) in Bœotia; «Γραικοὶ» > "Græci"; 
2/ Yunanlar, Yawani, Yavanim, after the first encountering of the Persians with the Ionians who colonised western Asia Minor.


----------



## tFighterPilot

terredepomme said:


> How could France and Spain be in the bible(Old Testament)?


Most likely that these weren't their original meanings. Only in medieval times the connection was made. I should point out that in medieval Hebrew Germany was called Ashkenaz (who was Japeth's grandson), but that name didn't stick and in modern Hebrew it's called גרמניה Germanya. Another country with a special name in Hebrew is India - הודו Hodu. It was also mentioned in the bible in the book of Esther describing the borders of the Persian kingdom (from India to Cush)


----------



## ilocas2

Czech:

Germany - *Německo* (from němý - mute)
Austria - *Rakousko* (from castle Ratgoz, today's name is Raabs)
Hungary - *Maďarsko* (from magyar)
Latvia - *Lotyšsko
*Lithuania - *Litva
*Greece* - Řecko*


----------



## Gavril

Finnish:

Sweden – _Ruotsi _(from the Roslagen region of Sweden)
Germany – _Saksa _(< Sachsen)

Maroseika already mentioned _Venäjä _(related to the tribal name _​Wend_) and _Viro_, which comes from the Virumaa area of Estonia.

While the Soviet Union still existed, Finnish was one of the few European languages that translated the entire name, rather than just the “Union” part: they called the USSR _Neuvostoliitto _(< _neuvosto, _“council, soviet” + _liitto _“union”).


Welsh has unique names for all the British Isles nations:

Wales – _Cymru_
England – _Lloegr_
Scotland – _Yr Alban_
Ireland – _Iwerddon _(cognate with Irish _Ériu, _etc.)


----------



## terredepomme

> I should point out that in medieval Hebrew Germany was called Ashkenaz (who was Japeth's grandson)


So when they said "Ashkenazi" they literally meant "Germans?"
Now I see the link between "Sfarad" and "Sepharadim." Quite interesting.


----------



## jazyk

I don't think there are country nomes in Portuguese that are strikingly different from other languages.


----------



## bibax

ilocas2 said:


> Czech:
> ...
> Greece - *Řecko*


Etymologically not different from Greece/Graecia: graik- > grěk- > hřěk- > řek-


----------



## Istriano

India is *Bharat *is most official languages of India, except in English, Tamil and Malayalam which use the form India almost exclusively.


----------



## L'irlandais

In Irish there are only a small few countries which are strikingly different. Comparative list

Ireland = Éire  (perhaps from (5th century BC) Greek : Ierne)
Northern Ireland  = Tuaisceart na hÉireann* (*** dative of *Éire*)
England = Sasana (perhaps from the word "Saxon", those who invaded the Island after the Vikings.)

Norway = an Iorua  (‘Norway’from Old Norse Norðvegr, the N has been lost/merged with the definite article "an" in Irish)
(Scandinavia = Críoch Lochlann) I know it's not a country, but it is noticeably different.  (_Territory of fjords _; perhaps from Norse word for fjord)
Both of these two terms come from a close association with Norwegian invaders over many centuries.

Switzerland = an Eilbhéis (not sure of origin)


----------



## sakvaka

Ok, the *Finnish *list was already mentioned, though in three different posts.

Viro - Estonia
Suomi - Finland
Saksa - Germany
Venäjä - Russia
Ruotsi - Sweden

However, I went through the latest 'List of sovereign states' (Wikipedia) and discovered that this is the *complete *list of such 'special' country names. 

There is one nice piece of curiosity left, though:

Vatikaanivaltio - Vatican City (lit. 'Vatican State')


----------



## Rallino

L'irlandais said:


> [...]
> 
> Switzerland = an Eilbhéis (not sure of origin)



This reminds me that in Greek, Switzerland is η Ελβετία (_i Elve*ti*a_​). And in Turkish it is _İsviçre. _It comes from the root 'Swiss', but might be hard to recognise at first sight.


----------



## apmoy70

Rallino said:


> This reminds me that in Greek, Switzerland is η Ελβετία (_i Elve*ti*a_​). And in Turkish it is _İsviçre. _It comes from the root 'Swiss', but might be hard to recognise at first sight.



I think it's the Swiss themselves that name their country formally, _Confœderatio Helvetica-The Helvetic Confederation_ (hence the country code for Switzerland--> _CH_).


----------



## Gavril

L'irlandais said:


> In Irish there are only a small few countries which are strikingly different. Comparative list
> 
> Ireland = Éire  (perhaps from (5th century BC) Greek : Ierne)



You mean cognate with _Ierne_, right? (When you write "from Greek _Ierne_", it sounds as though it was loaned from the Greek word, which I doubt is the case.)

Probably cognate with _Ierne _are Latin _Iverio, Hibernia_.



> Switzerland = an Eilbhéis (not sure of origin)



Based on a Google search, this has been linked to Latin _Helvetia _(but I'm not sure if it's a loan or a cognate).


----------



## OneStroke

In Chinese, China is 中國 (Zhongguo), or the Central Country. In the past, the country/ies of China was just called by the name of the dynasty. For example, Emperor Wendi of Sui used to be the Duke of Sui, so when Wendi overthrew his grandson he called the empire 'Sui'. Then he unified China. Later, his son, Yangdi, was killed by Yuwen Huaji and Li Yuan unified China. He called the country Tang, as he used to be the Duke of Tang. 中國 used to mean the central plains, but then it changed to mean the whole China. Now Zhongguo is the only name.

In Chinese, Burma/Myanmar is 'Miandian'. I have no idea why it's called Miandian, but I my Chinese history textbook used 'Miandian' (hundreds of years before Burma changed to Myanmar), so I think Miandian is also 'special'.

In Chinese, North Korea is '北韓' (North Han) or '朝鮮' (Chaoxian). South Korea is '南韓' (South Han) or '韓國' (the country of Han). Chaoxian can also refer to the race or the peninsula. I don't know where these names come from, but none sound like the English or French names.

The UK is 英國 (the country of Ying). Since England is 英格蘭 (Yinggelan), I think the Qings were confused with words like 'Britain', 'the United Kingdom' and 'England', and thus came up with this weird translation.

In Chinese, Russia is '俄羅斯' (Eluosi) or '俄國' (the country of E). Eluosi does sound vaguely like Russia, but they don't sound very close. Portugal is '葡萄牙' (Putaoya), Spain is '西班牙' (Xipanya), Hungary is '匈牙利' (Xiongyali), France is 法國 (the country of Fa), Germany is 德國 (the country of De), etc. These are curious translations, but do sound vaguely like the English, and in some cases especially in Cantonese.


----------



## djara

In Arabic, Greece is _Yunan_; Hungary is _Majar_; Austria is _Nimsa_; China is _AS-Seen_; Egypt is _Misr_; India is_ al-Hind_; Germany is _Almanya_; Morocco is al-Maghrib...


----------



## Moro12

OK,
Georgia is

in Georgian (original): საქართველო [sakartvelo]
in Armenian: Վրաստան [vrastan]
in English: Georgia
in Russian: Грузия [gruziya]

Armenia is

in Armenian (original): Հայաստան [hayastan]
in Georgian: სომხეთი [somkheti]
in English: Armenia
in Russian: Армения [armyeniya]


----------



## OneStroke

I meant Xibanya.


----------



## Explorer41

1) немец; (some centuries ago this word meant "a foreigner" in Russian; "one who can't speak properly")
2) a German;
3) ein Deutcsh;
4) un tedesco;
5) un allemand;
----
There have been other variants in this thread.


----------



## Frank78

apmoy70 said:


> I think it's the Swiss themselves that name their country formally, _Confœderatio Helvetica-The Helvetic Confederation_ (hence the country code for Switzerland--> _CH_).



The offical name of "Switzerland" is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft".

Schweizerisch - Swiss
Eid - oath (this is meant)
Genossenschaft - association, cooperative


----------



## tFighterPilot

Moro12 said:


> OK,
> Georgia is
> 
> in Georgian (original): საქართველო [sakartvelo]
> in Armenian: Վրաստան [vrastan]
> in English: Georgia
> in Russian: Грузия [gruziya]


It's usually called Gruzya in Hebrew as well (its people Gruzinim) due to influence of the recent Russian immigration. It's considered somewhat derogatory though.


----------



## rusita preciosa

tFighterPilot said:


> It's usually called Gruzya in Hebrew as well (its people Gruzinim) due to influence of the recent Russian immigration. It's considered somewhat derogatory though.


What is the normal term (non-derogatory)?


----------



## LilianaB

How do you say Lithuania, the United States and Poland in Chinese, Mandarin, or Cantonese.


----------



## tFighterPilot

rusita preciosa said:


> What is the normal term (non-derogatory)?


The country's usual name, pronounced Ge'orgya (גאורגיה). The people are called Ge'orgim.


----------



## AutumnOwl

djara said:


> Hungary is _Majar_


 perhaps from the Hungarian name of their country _Magyarország
_


djara said:


> Germany is _Almanya_


 possibly from the French name, Allemagne


----------



## AutumnOwl

Frank78 said:


> The offical name of "Switzerland" is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft".


Isn't the Latin translation of that name _Confœderatio Helvetica?_


----------



## LilianaB

Tyskland is not that close to Germany either, or Deutchsland, I think. In Swedish.


----------



## L'irlandais

Gavril said:


> You mean cognate with _Ierne_, right? (When you write "from Greek _Ierne_", it sounds as though it was loaned from the Greek word, which I doubt is the case.)
> 
> Probably cognate with _Ierne _are Latin _Iverio, Hibernia_.
> 
> 
> 
> Based on a Google search, this has been linked to Latin _Helvetia _(but I'm not sure if it's a loan or a cognate).


Appearantly the Greek word was based on the Celtic name for the Island at the time the explorers made their map.  





> During his exploration of northwest Europe (c. 320 BC), Pytheas of Massilia called the island *Ierne* (written Ἰέρνη).  Source wiki(Etymology)


----------



## AutumnOwl

The only country I can recall that has a name that differentiates (but not that much) from other languages are Latvia as it's called _Lettland_ in Swedish.


----------



## AutumnOwl

LilianaB said:


> Tyskland is not that close to Germany either, or Deutchsland, I think. In Swedish.


Yes, Tyskland is Germany in Swedish, but it's from the German name of their country, not borrowed from English, as Sweden is closer to Germany both geographically and in language than to England.


----------



## Frank78

AutumnOwl said:


> Isn't the Latin translation of that name _Confœderatio Helvetica?_



Yes (confoedertatio) and no (Helvetica), the "Latin" name seems to be much younger. Helvetia as personification of the Swiss first appeared in the 17th century. She is named after the celtic tribe of the Helvetii which lived in that area in Roman times.



AutumnOwl said:


> The only country I can recall that has a name that differentiates (but not that much) from other languages are Latvia as it's called _Lettland_ in Swedish.



In German it is also "Lettland"


----------



## AutumnOwl

Frank78 said:


> Yes (confoedertatio) and no (Helvetica), the "Latin" name seems to be much younger.


I should perhaps have written Latinized name rather than Latin (of the Romans), as the names of many countries, provinces and cities have been Latinized that didn't exist when Latin was the language in use.


----------



## Frank78

LilianaB said:


> Tyskland is not that close to Germany either, or Deutchsland, I think. In Swedish.



Tyskland and Deutschland have an etymologic connection. The Germanic "theoda" means people.

Germany is obviously from Latin.


----------



## AutumnOwl

Frank78 said:


> Tyskland and Deutschland have an etymologic connection. The Germanic "theoda" means people.


An old Swedish spelling of Tyskland was Tytzskaland, you can see the connection with Deutchland better there.


----------



## elirlandes

Gavril said:


> Welsh has unique names for all the British Isles nations:
> 
> Wales – _Cymru_
> England – _Lloegr_
> Scotland – _Yr Alban_
> Ireland – _Iwerddon _(cognate with Irish _Ériu, _etc.)



As does Irish:
Ireland – _Éire
_Wales – An Bhreatain Bheag [Little Britain - remember the island is Great Britain (an Bhreatain) and the welsh are the last of the Britons on the Island]
England – _Sasana_ [Saxony - land of the Saxons]
Scotland – _Albain
_
Pretty much everything else I can think of in Irish is an irish version of the English/Latin/Local language, _*except*_...
Newfoundland (Canada) - Talamh an Éisc [the Land of the Fish]


----------



## Gavril

elirlandes said:


> Wales – An Bhreatain Bheag [Little Britain - remember the island is Great Britain (an Bhreatain) and the welsh are the last of the Britons on the Island]



Interesting -- "Little Britain" is the meaning of the word for Brittany in many languages, including Scots Gaelic (according to Wikipedia, they call Brittany_ a’ Bhreatainn Bhig_ and Wales _a' Chuimrigh_).

What's the Irish Gaelic term for Brittany?


----------



## apmoy70

In Greek:

Latvia --> «Λεττονία» /leto'ni.a/ (fem.)
Switzerland --> «Ελβετία» /elve'ti.a/ (fem.)
England --> «Αγγλία» /aŋg'li.a/ (fem.)
Belarus --> «Λευκορωσία» /lefkoro'si.a/ (fem.) although it's a calque of the original name
France --> «Γαλλία» /ɣa'li.a/ (fem.)


----------



## ahmedcowon

djara said:


> In Arabic, Greece is _Yunan_; Hungary is _Majar_; Austria is _Nimsa_; China is _AS-Seen_; Egypt is _Misr_; India is_ al-Hind_; Germany is _Almanya_; Morocco is al-Maghrib...



Also in Arabic, Netherlands is _Holanda_; "Cape Verde" is _"Al-Ra's Al-Akhdar"_


----------



## se16teddy

Gavril said:


> What's the Irish Gaelic term for Brittany?


According to Wikipedia, An Bhriotáin - Vicipéid
_An _is the definite article. In Irish, most countries (but not all) use the definite article. In a regular phonological transformation, after _An_, _B_ is here "lenited" to _Bh_.


----------



## Circunflejo

In Spanish, I think that the most different one is Letonia for Latvia. Other names that may seem different are just translations into Spanish like Reino Unido (UK), Países Bajos (The Netherlands), San Cristóbal y Nieves (St. Kitts and Nevis), Costa de Marfil (Ivory Coast/Côte d'Ivoire)...



apmoy70 said:


> The rest of the world calls Greeks as:
> 1/ Greeks, Grecques, Greci etc (with the exception of the Norwegians if I'm not mistaken) after the first encountering of the Latins with the Greeks of the Greek colony of Cumæ in southern Italy, near Naples. The Greeks of Cumæ called themselves «Γραικοὶ» (Græ'kœ) because their colony was established by the inhabitants of the city of «Γραῖα» ('Grǣă) in Bœotia; «Γραικοὶ» > "Græci";
> 2/ Yunanlar, Yawani, Yavanim, after the first encountering of the Persians with the Ionians who colonised western Asia Minor.


 In Spanish, the usual term is griego/a but heleno/a has some use too.


apmoy70 said:


> I think it's the Swiss themselves that name their country formally, _Confœderatio Helvetica-The Helvetic Confederation_ (hence the country code for Switzerland--> _CH_).


As other users have stated, not really. However, Confederación Helvética has some use in Spanish as sort of formal name for what otherwise we call Suiza.


----------



## Penyafort

In Catalan, aside from those variations shared with other Romance languages (*Alemanya *for Germany and *Letònia *for Latvia) or the logical translations (*Estats Units* _or _*EUA *for the US, *Països Baixos *for the Netherlands,* Regne Unit* for the UK, etc), nothing really differs much from the English or French forms, only the spelling revealing that it's a Catalan form: * Iemen*, *Moçambic*, *Txèquia*...

If anything, obviously the _Pyrénées-Orientales department_ in France, in the recently renamed _Occitanie _region, is always called *Catalunya Nord* ('North Catalonia').


----------



## Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny

In Polish:
Niemcy - Germany ("the non-speakers")
Włochy - Italy (apparently from an ancient word meaning "latin-" or "romance-speaker", related to terms for Vlah/Wallach in Balkans and Romania; I'm not sure but I think names for "Welsh" in Germanic languages may have the same origin)
Węgry - Hungary (probably from an ancient term _onogur_, from ProtoBulgarian, or Turkish?)
Holandia - Either Holland or the Netherlands (there has never been a distinction in common use of the language)

Less unusual:
Indie - India (in Polish it's plural)
Litwa - Lithuania
Łotwa - Latvia
Chorwacja - Croatia

I'm curious to find this sentence in a Wikipedia article: " The Slovenian term _Lahi_ has also been used to designate Italians.". To me it was always an Ukrainian term for Poles.

A side note: In the 1990s, Roma people (or 'gypsies') were often given a derogatory name "Rumuni" no matter where they were from - I guess because of a migration trend from Romania. This created confusion as it is also just a name for Romanians.


----------



## Welsh_Sion

@Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny,

Włochy - Italy (apparently from an ancient word meaning "latin-" or "romance-speaker", related to terms for Vlah/Wallach in Balkans and Romania; I'm not sure but I think names for "Welsh" in Germanic languages may have the same origin) 

___________________

You're right, although the etymology is rather unclear. The name of my country in English, Wales, and the national adjective, Welsh, are related to these terms in Old English._ Wealh_ can be construed as 'the Romanised ones' or 'foreigners/strangers' and is also represented by the _Walloons_ of the Low Countries and the _walnut_ (i.e. 'foreign nut'.)

You may have seen on other threads that we call our country _Cymru_ and the people, _Cymry_. This goes back to the idea of something like, *_Comrbogi_, 'the co-people/compatriots' in older Celtic. (This would be Latinised to _Cambria_ and _Cumbria_ at a later stage.)


----------



## Terio

In French, also related to the family of _welsh_, I think : Gaule (ancient France), Galice (northwestern Spain), Galicie (Poland / Ukraine), Pays de Gales (French for Wales), Valais (Switzerland), etc.


----------



## Welsh_Sion

Terio said:


> In French, also related to the family of _welsh_, I think : Gaule (ancient France) ...



... which is rather unfortunate when Francophones expect me to speak like Asterix and Obelix!


----------



## Perseas

Frank78 said:


> The offical name of "Switzerland" is "Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft".


In German, yes.


----------



## Circunflejo

Penyafort said:


> *Alemanya *for Germany


That reminds me that I forgot to quote in 54 that in Spanish Germany is said Alemania.


----------



## L'irlandais

Welsh_Sion said:


> @Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny,
> 
> Włochy - Italy (apparently from an ancient word meaning "latin-" or "romance-speaker", related to terms for Vlah/Wallach in Balkans and Romania; I'm not sure but I think names for "Welsh" in Germanic languages may have the same origin)
> 
> ___________________
> 
> You're right, although the etymology is rather unclear. The name of my country in English, Wales, and the national adjective, Welsh, are related to these terms in Old English._ Wealh_ can be construed as 'the Romanised ones' or 'foreigners/strangers' and is also represented by the _Walloons_ of the Low Countries and the _walnut_ (i.e. 'foreign nut'.)


During the middles ages in Alsace the* Welches *were_ a french-speaking communit_y living in one of the valleys surrounded by Alsacians ; similar origin to the Welsh in the UK(Wales/Cymru) - the word simply means "_foreigner_". (Goggle : Le Pays Welche en Alsace) For the German speaking Alsacians it meant the French speakers.  The inhabitants were forbidden to speak French, refused to speak German and so communicated which each other in their dialect; Welche a distant cousin of the Swiss dialect, Rheto-Romansch.  There are still some speakers of the dialect alive today.


----------



## AndrasBP

The Welsh word for Brittany is *Llydaw *(just as surprising as Lloegr for England).

The Latvian name for Estonia is *Igaunija*.

A Greek person is 'berdzeni' in Georgian, the country is '*Saberdzneti*' (sa- is a prefix). 
The name apparently derives from Byzantium, with an extra Georgian 'r'.


----------



## symposium

Funny fact: in Italian "Deutschland" is "Germania" but "Allemagna/Alemagna/ Alamagna" were definitely more common in the past. "Alamagna" was often interpreted as "La Magna" (The Great), so one the many names of Germany in old Italian was "The Great" (the Great Land, I suppose). In Mozart's "Don Giovanni" Leporello calls Germany "Lamagna", for example.


----------



## Terio

Il French, _Germany_ is _Allemagne_ and _German_ is _allemand_. As far as I know, it all comes from a Germanic root that means « all the men ».


----------



## Welsh_Sion

Continuing the theme, Welsh for 'Germany' - *yr Almaen *(with preceding definite article). The people are* Almaenwyr* (or in older Welsh,* Ellmyn*.)


----------



## Circunflejo

Not a big diference, but Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that say A*r*ge*l*ia (Argélia in Portuguese) instead of A*l*ge*r*ia (or something similar to the later). And Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that place the i of Ukraine after the /n/ instead of before it: Ucran*i*a (Ucrânia in Portuguese).


----------



## Welsh_Sion

Strangely, we persist in having the definite article in *yr Wcráin.*


----------



## Stoggler

Terio said:


> Il French, _Germany_ is _Allemagne_ and _German_ is _allemand_. As far as I know, it all comes from a Germanic root that means « all the men ».



There are a number of languages where the name for Germany is derived from the Latin Alemanni, so the French name for Germany  is not an example of “countries that have a different name in your language” (cf numerous posts in this topic).


----------



## apmoy70

Circunflejo said:


> Not a big diference, but Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that say A*r*ge*l*ia (Argélia in Portuguese) instead of A*l*ge*r*ia (or something similar to the later). And Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that place the i of Ukraine after the /n/ instead of before it: Ucran*i*a (Ucrânia in Portuguese).


Greek does the same: *«Ουκρανία»* [u.kraˈni.a] (fem.)


----------



## jekoh

L'irlandais said:


> Welche a distant cousin of the Swiss dialect, Rheto-Romansch.


According to Wikipedia,


> Le welche, ou welsche, est le nom donné par ses propres locuteurs au dialecte lorrain roman parlé en Alsace dans le pays welche


so it is not related to Romansch, at least not any more so than French.


----------



## Olaszinhok

Circunflejo said:


> Ucran*i*a


Ucrania and Ucraniano sound so awful to me, I don't know why, sorry, sorry


----------



## Circunflejo

Olaszinhok said:


> Ucrania and Ucraniano sound so awful to me, I don't know why, sorry, sorry


An ucraniano can also be called ucranio and an ucraniana can also be called ucrania although ucranio/a for ucraniano/a is not that frequent. Anyway, it'll keep sounding awful to your ears and what it's worse some natives won't be familiar with the use of ucranio/a for ucraniano/a what may astonish them.


----------



## Red Arrow

Terio said:


> Il French, _Germany_ is _Allemagne_ and _German_ is _allemand_. As far as I know, it all comes from a Germanic root that means « all the men ».


When my mother says "alleman", she means "everyone". Standard Dutch would be "allen" or "iedereen".


----------



## Awwal12

Maroseika said:


> In Russian language '*China*' has initial *k* instead of *ch* lor *s* ike in most other European languages: China - Китай (Kitai). The reason is that to Russian this name came thru Turkic languages, and to other European - thru Latin directly from China (Marco Polo and Qin dynasty =>sino...).


It should be noted that Kitay has an entirely different etymon, 契丹 "Khitans" (Mongolic tribes which ruled North China as the Liao dynasty). Similarly it was called "Tabğač" in Old Turkic, basing on the former conquerors from the 拓跋 tribe (mostly known as Tuoba).


----------



## Olaszinhok

As for *Switzerland*, Italian does not have a completely different word, the etymology of the word is the same as in the other Romance languages. Nevertheless, it sounds rather different from its sister languages.
Italian: *Svizzera*  - *z'vit͡st͡sera*
Spanish: Suiza
Portuguese: Suíça
French: Suisse
Catalan: Suïssa


----------



## Red Arrow

Maroseika said:


> In Russian language '*China*' has initial *k* instead of *ch* lor *s* ike in most other European languages: China - Китай (Kitai). The reason is that to Russian this name came thru Turkic languages, and to other European - thru Latin directly from China (Marco Polo and Qin dynasty =>sino...).


The Nordic languages also use Kina, Kína or Kiina. The k sounds like [ç ~ ɕ] in Norwegian and Swedish and [k] in the others.


----------



## francisgranada

Red Arrow said:


> The Nordic languages also use Kina, Kína or Kiina. The k sounds like [ç ~ ɕ] in Norwegian and Swedish and [k] in the others.


For curiosity, in Hungarian China is _Kína _and in Czech and Slovak _Čína _(pronounced approximately as "cheenah")


----------



## AndrasBP

'*Montenegro*', a name adopted by most western languages, is derived from Venetian and means 'black mountain', just like the country's native name, *Crna Gora*. 
Slavic languages use their own Slavic version, e.g.  *Černá Hora* (Czech), *Czarnogóra *(Polish),  *Черногория *[Chernogoriya] (Russian).

However, some non-Slavic languages have also opted for a translation of Montenegro, resulting in names that are not recognizable to either 'Montenegro users' or Slavic speakers:

*Karadağ *(Turkish)
*Mali i Zi* (Albanian)
*Μαυροβούνιο *[Mavrovúnio] (Greek)
*Melnkalne *(Latvian)
*Juodkalnija *(Lithuanian)
*Svartfjallaland *(Icelandic)


----------



## ahvalj

The Finnish _Ruotsi_ “Sweden” has already been mentioned (there is also the Estonian _Rootsi_ and related words in other Baltic-Finnic languages), but it's interesting that this is etymologically the same word as _Russia _(except the Greek _-a_), so it turns out that the same term is used in different languages for two separate countries (the Finnish/Estonian meaning is most probably original). In a dialect of Karelian it may also stand for “Finland”, so we get a third variant… In particular, compare the originally identical Vepsian _Ročinma_ “Sweden” and Komian _Рочму/Ročmu_ “Russia” (literally “Swedish/Russian land”).

P. S. The same case as with _walx-,_ of course.

P. P. S. And, going deeper in history, since Veneti of Veneto and Vistula Veneti had the same Indo-European ethnonym, the Baltic-Finnic words for “Russia” (_Venäjä, Venemaa_ etc.) go back to the same prototype as _Venice_.


----------



## Awwal12

ahvalj said:


> In a dialect of Karelian it may also stand for “Finland”


For all I know, in most Karelian dialects it's a colloquial term for "Finn/Swede" and/or "Finland/Sweden", with no distinction between the two (of course, there are formal official terms as well, basically calqued from Finnish).
E.g.:  Murginaigu on rauhuaigu, daže ruočči ei piädy leikata - "The dinner time is a time of peace, even a Finn/Swede doesn't cut heads off (while it lasts)."


----------



## rarabara

Rallino said:


> Beyaz Rusya = Belarus


belarus ,I think same.
because belarus means "white russia" in russian language as I know (I know a bit russian and I think this can be confirmed by a russian member )
but it is being read a bit differently (oblique a in bela and a bit oblique e in bela word ,that word means white (bealea+rus we write it "bela"+"rus")

the same applies other words as in this example:

belea gorky: means white train.


----------



## ahvalj

rarabara said:


> belarus ,I think same.
> because belarus means "white russia" in russian language as I know (I know a bit russian and I think this can be confirmed by a russian )
> but it is being read a bit differently (oblique a in bela and a bit oblique e in bela word ,that word means white (bealea we write it "bela")


Actually, _Belarus_ is an English rendition of the Belarusian name of that country. It literally means “Whiterus” (in one word; for the generic name see Wikipedia).


----------



## rarabara

ahvalj said:


> Actually, _Belarus_ is an English rendition of the Belarusian name of that country. It literally means “Whiterus” (in one word; for the generic name see Wikipedia).


a correction: I should have meant "white russian" rather than "white russia" but with this,I think the allegation still stands because  sometimes or in general nationalities can be used on behalf of countries.
as a response,I may request some other russian members too. because that reference does not prove that that words was not russian.

(addition: this of course also does not prove that belea was a russian word ,but I had spoken with many russian people and they used that word as in  its stated form,I can clearly say that russians use that word for white colour)

or could you provide more reference?I


----------



## AndrasBP

rarabara said:


> belea gorky: means white train.


In what language?


----------



## elroy

tFighterPilot said:


> Greece - יון Yavan. Pretty similar to Arabic and Aramaic, but they pronounce it Yawan.


 It’s pronounced “al-Yūnān” in Arabic. 


snoopymanatee said:


> "_Cezayir_" comes from the Arabic word "_cezîra_" which means "_peninsula_".


 It means “island” not “peninsula.” 


snoopymanatee said:


> Each letter represents a historical period of the country. Egyptian people had big difficulties. Arabic equivalent of _difficulty_ is _meşakkat_. So, first letter "*M*" comes from "*m*eşekkat". They had born with these difficulties. Arabic equivalent of _bearing with difficulty_ is _sabretmek_. So, second letter "*S*" comes from "*s*abretmek". As a result of having big difficulties and bearing with them, they prospered. Arabic equivalent of _prosper_ is _refaha kavuşmak_. So, the final letter "*R*" comes from "*r*efah". So, Mısır means "_*m*eşakkat - *s*abır - *r*efah_".


 Are you sure of this??  It sounds very far-fetched. 


djara said:


> In Arabic, Greece is _Yunan_; Hungary is _Majar_; Austria is _Nimsa_; China is _AS-Seen_; Egypt is _Misr_; India is_ al-Hind_; Germany is _Almanya_; Morocco is al-Maghrib...


 Greece, Hungary, and Austria have a definite article.  Also, I thought it was “an-N*a*msa”? “Hanġārya” is also used for Hungary (that’s what I say).

al-Yūnān
al-Majar / Hanġārya
an-Namsa
aṣ-Ṣīn
Miṣr
al-Hind
Almānya
al-Maġrib

There’s also “al-Jazāʾir” for Algeria.


ahmedcowon said:


> Also in Arabic, [...] "Cape Verde" is _"Al-Ra's Al-Akhdar"_


 I don’t think literal translations count?


----------



## AndrasBP

elroy said:


> Are you sure of this?? It sounds very far-fetched.


Snoopymanatee hasn't posted since 2013, so I don't think we'll get an answer from him.
The acronym in his post is of course a prime example of folk-etymological nonsense. 

According to Wikipedia,
" The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew "מִצְרַיִם‎" ("_Mitzráyim_"). The oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian "mi-iṣ-ru" ("miṣru")[17][18] related to _miṣru/miṣirru/miṣaru_, meaning "border" or "frontier".[19] The Neo-Assyrian Empire used the derived term 

, _Mu-ṣur_. "


----------



## Red Arrow

ahvalj said:


> Actually, _Belarus_ is an English rendition of the Belarusian name of that country. It literally means “Whiterus” (in one word; for the generic name see Wikipedia).


Dutch Wit-Rusland, Wit-Russisch (silent ch)
Also a calque.


----------



## rarabara

AndrasBP said:


> In what language?


Russian


----------



## AndrasBP

rarabara said:


> Russian


Where did you get this from? "Train" is "поезд" (poyezd) in Russian.

Edit: you probably mean something like "amerikanskie gorki" = literally "American mountains" (= roller coaster)


----------



## Awwal12

"American little mountains" (meaning "American slides"), to be precise.


----------



## rarabara

@AndrasBP
Hi, yes   
but what does mountain have to do with roller coaster? And yes, i used belea gorky for white roller coaster, but i learnt this from russians


----------



## Awwal12

rarabara said:


> but what does mountain have to do with roller coaster?


As I mentioned, there's the semantic development "a little mountain" > "a slide" (where children can slide down for entertainment; first occuring naturally in winter, then as a piece of equipment).
The Russian urheimat lacks any noteworthy mountains or rocky formations, so "a little mountain" must be really little.  Cf. also expressions like "под горку" - "down the slope" (literally ~~"to beneath of the little mountain").


----------



## AutumnOwl

ahvalj said:


> The Finnish _Ruotsi_ “Sweden” has already been mentioned (there is also the Estonian _Rootsi_ and related words in other Baltic-Finnic languages), but it's interesting that this is etymologically the same word as _Russia _(except the Greek _-a_), so it turns out that the same term is used in different languages for two separate countries (the Finnish/Estonian meaning is most probably original). In a dialect of Karelian it may also stand for “Finland”, so we get a third variant… In particular, compare the originally identical Vepsian _Ročinma_ “Sweden” and Komian _Рочму/Ročmu_ “Russia” (literally “Swedish/Russian land”).
> 
> P. S. The same case as with _walx-,_ of course.
> 
> P. P. S. And, going deeper in history, since Veneti of Veneto and Vistula Veneti had the same Indo-European ethnonym, the Baltic-Finnic words for “Russia” (_Venäjä, Venemaa_ etc.) go back to the same prototype as _Venice_.


There is a (possible) connection between the names Ruotsi/Rootsi and Russia. The name Ruotsi for Sweden comes from Roslagen, the islands and coastal area in Uppland, north of Stockholm (the word ros- have the meaning of rowing (boats), and the people traded with what today is parts of Russia. Some of these traders settled in Novgorod and along the river-routes to the Black Sea. So the people from Roslagen is connected with the Rus people, and thus also the names of the countries. 
Rus' people - Wikipedia

As for Ruotsi in Karelian for Finland, well, Finland was a part of Sweden from late 12th, early/mid 13th century until 1809.


----------



## Awwal12

AutumnOwl said:


> As for Ruotsi in Karelian for Finland, well, Finland was a part of Sweden from late 12th, early/mid 13th century until 1809.


And, importantly, Finns were Lutheran, just like Swedes. Ethnic Finns of the late 19th century used to call Karelians "Russians" ("Ryssä", generally derogatory) for basically the same reason.


----------



## AutumnOwl

Awwal12 said:


> And, importantly, Finns were Lutheran, just like Swedes. Ethnic Finns of the late 19th century used to call Karelians "Russians" ("Ryssä", generally derogatory) for basically the same reason.


Well, even if Finland was Lutheran since the 16th century, some of the belief of old pre-Christian traditions (and gods) remained in Finnish Karelia, when Elias Lönnroth compiled Kalevala. 
(With Karelia, what parts of the area are you talking about? For example, most of the people living on the Karelian isthmus was ethnic Finns until 1944.)


----------



## Awwal12

AutumnOwl said:


> Well, even if Finland was Lutheran since the 16th century, some of the belief of old pre-Christian traditions (and gods) remained in Finnish Karelia, when Elias Lönnroth compiled Kalevala.
> (With Karelia, what parts of the area are you talking about? For example, most of the people living on the Karelian isthmus was ethnic Finns until 1944.)


I mean ethnic Karelians, of course. The Karelian isthmus was pretty much re-populated soon after the Treaty of Stolbovo, which formalized its conquest by Sweden; most Karelian peasants simply fled into the Russian Tsardom, which accepted them, allowing to settle near the city of Tver and in some other northern areas (that's how Tver Karelians originated). The Swedish crown made up for it by settling Lutherans on the isthmus, chiefly Äyrämöiset and Savonians. White Karelia and Olonets Karelia have never belonged to Sweden, though, so the local Orthodox Karelian population remained there.

P.S.: As far as I'm aware,  Lönnroth had to travel beyond the borders of the Grand Duchy of Finland, although he visited Ladoga Karelia extensively (which was a part of Finland back then).


----------



## clamor

Rallino said:


> In Turkish:
> 
> Yunanistan = Greece _(Land of Ionians)_
> Mısır = Egypt
> Fas = Morocco
> Cezayir = Algeria
> Beyaz Rusya = Belarus
> 
> And Polish Language is called: _*Lehçe*_



In Armenian there are some in common:
**Լեհաստան *(Lehasdan, Lehastan) means Poland
**Յունաստան *(Hunasdan, Hunastan < Yunastan in Old Armenian) means Greece

There are other atypical names, such as
**Վրաստան *(Vërasdan, Vërastan), Georgia
**Հայաստան *(Hayasdan, Hayastan), Armenia

And several country names stem from the same origin as their English equivalents, but they are hardly recognizable.
**Ղրղզստան *(Ghërghëzsdan, -stan, written Ghrghzstan), Kyrgyzstan
**Հնդկաստան* (Hëntgasdan, Hëndkastan, from <Hndik> "Indian"), India
**Պարսկաստան *(Barsgasdan, Parskastan), Persia/Iran (but *Իրան*, Iran exists)
**Յորդանան *(Hortanan, from Old Armenian Yordanan), Jordan
**Ադրբեջան* in Eastern Armenian (Adërbejan), Azerbaijan (Azërbeyjan in Western Armenian)
**Խորվաթիա *(Khorvat'ia), Croatia

And it's not a country, but *Ղրիմ* (Ghërim), *Խրիմ *(Khërim), for Crimea.


----------



## apmoy70

Not completeley related to the OP's request, but I found an interesting story I have kept in my computer files. 
Spain in Greek is *«Ισπανία»* [is.paˈni.a] (fem.) which comes for the Latin Hispania (in Koine Greek and in Katharevousa Greek, the initial -I- takes the rough breathing mark (spiritus asper): «*Ἱ*σπανία»), but there's an alternative (pseudo-)etymology for the origin of the name of Spain.

The pseudepigraphic "Plutarchs' About Rivers, Mountains and things found in them" (book 16: Nile), reads about the origin of the name of Spain:

«Ζεὺς δι' ἐρωτικὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐκ Λύκτου πόλεως Κρητικῆς, Ἄργην νύμφην ἁρπάσας ἀπήνεγκεν εἰς ὄρος τῆς Αἰγύπτου, Ἄργιλλον καλούμενον· καὶ ἐγέννησεν ἐξ αὐτῆς υἱὸν, καλούμενον Διόνυσον· ὃς ἀκμάσας εἰς τιμὴν τῆς μητρὸς τὸν λόφον Ἄργιλλον μετωνόμασεν· στρατολογήσας δὲ Πᾶνας καὶ Σατύρους, [τοῖς] ἰδίοις σκήπτροις Ἰνδοὺς ὑπέταξεν· νικήσας δὲ καὶ Ἰβηρίαν, Πᾶνα κατέλιπεν ἐπιμελητὴν τῶν τόπων, ὃς τὴν χώραν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ Πανίαν μετωνόμασεν· ἣν οἱ μεταγενέστεροι παραγώγως, Σπανίαν προσηγόρευσαν».

English translation: "Zeus, through an erotic yearning, having abducted the nymph Arge from Lyctus, a Cretan city, carried her off to a mountain of Egypt called Argillus. He produced from her a son called Dionysus, who, when he had grown, in honour of his mother renamed the crest Argillus. When he had mustered pans and satyrs, he subjugated India, and, having conquered Iberia too, he left Pan behind as overseer of the regions. From him, he renamed the territory Pania, which the later generations by a slight change, named Spania."

So, when someone wanted to visit the land of the god Pan, Pania, s/he travelled *«Ἐς Πανία»* (to Pania) > *Ἐσπανία > Ηispania/España.
A nice fairy tale to put the kids to bed


----------



## I.K.S.

Some archaic appellations from official Moroccan Arabic: 
England or the UK in general >  landreez 
Germany > bros
Netherlands or Belgium > falmank
Russia > el mosco
Portugal > bartqeez 
Georgia > el korj
Mexico > maïshiqo
USA > el marikan


----------



## Linnets

symposium said:


> Funny fact: in Italian "Deutschland" is "Germania" but "Allemagna/Alemagna/ Alamagna" were definitely more common in the past. "Alamagna" was often interpreted as "La Magna" (The Great), so one the many names of Germany in old Italian was "The Great" (the Great Land, I suppose). In Mozart's "Don Giovanni" Leporello calls Germany "Lamagna", for example.


_La Magna_, _della Magna_ can be found in Machiavelli, for example.



Circunflejo said:


> Not a big diference, but Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that say A*r*ge*l*ia (Argélia in Portuguese) instead of A*l*ge*r*ia (or something similar to the later). And Spanish and Portuguese are among the few languages that place the i of Ukraine after the /n/ instead of before it: Ucran*i*a (Ucrânia in Portuguese).


Also do not forget D*i*n*a*marca (_Danimarca_ in Italian).



Olaszinhok said:


> Ucrania and Ucraniano sound so awful to me, I don't know why, sorry, sorry


Maybe because they sound similar to _ucronia_?

Not surprising, some Italian traditional names of countries which belonged to the Soviet Union are the same that were used before World War II:
Belarus _Bielorussia_,_ Russia Bianca_
Latvia _Lettonia_
Moldova _Moldavia._

The Polish city of Gdańsk (once a city-state, so not completely off-topic) is commonly known in Italian as _Danzica_, but this is not accepted by Poles who find it too similar to German _Danzig_.


----------

