# north, south, west, east



## jana.bo99

Slovenian:  sever, jug, zahod, vzhod

Croatian:   sjever, jug, zapad, istok

German:    Norden, Osten, Sueden, Westen


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## germandelsur

Spanish: norte, este, sur, oeste.


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## irene.acler

*Italian*: nord, sud, ovest, est.


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## DrWatson

Finnish: *pohjoinen*, *etelä*, *länsi*, *itä*

We also have separate names (i.e. not compounds of the ones above) of ordinal directions, like northeast etc:

northeast = *koillinen*
southeast = *kaakko*
southwest = *lounas*
northwest = *luode*


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## Outsider

*Portuguese*: norte, sul, oeste, este/leste.


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## OldAvatar

*Romanian*: nord (miazănoapte), sud (miazăzi), vest (apus), est (răsărit).


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## tie-break

Français : nord, sud, est, ouest.


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## kiyama

Catalan: nord, sud, est i oest


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## Cosol

*Chinese:*
North: 北 
Pinyin: běi;
Yale (Cantonese): baak1

South: 南
Pinyin: nán
Yale: naam4

West: 西/酉
Pinyin: xī
Yale: sai1

East: 东/東
Pinyin: dōng
Yale: dung1

By the way the _standard_ way to teach them is 东南西北.


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## Frank06

Hi,

In *Dutch*
noord, zuid, oost, west

In *Russian*
норд, зюйд, ост, вест
(at least, if I understood well, only/mainly in the maritime jargon)

Groetjes,

Frank


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## mimi2

Vietnamese:
bắc, nam, tây, đông.


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## Walden

In Latvian:
north - ziemeļi
south - dienvidi
west - rietumi
east - austrumi


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## MarX

DrWatson said:


> Finnish: *pohjoinen*, *etelä*, *länsi*, *itä*
> 
> We also have separate names (i.e. not compounds of the ones above) of ordinal directions, like northeast etc:
> 
> northeast = *koillinen*
> southeast = *kaakko*
> southwest = *lounas*
> northwest = *luode*


Indonesian, too:

southeast = *tenggara*
east = *timur*
northeast = *timur laut*
north = *utara*
northwest = *barat laut*
west = *barat*
southwest = *barat daya*
south = *selatan*

Grüsse,


MarK


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## panjabigator

Panjabi:  /uttar/ /dakkhan/ /pachhim/ /purab/

Hindi: /uttar/ /dakshin/ /pashchim/ /purab/

Urdu: /shimaal/ /januub/ /magrib/ /mashriq/


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## Flaminius

Cosol said:


> *Chinese:*
> West: 西/酉
> Pinyin: xī
> Yale: sai1
> ...
> By the way the _standard_ way to teach them is 东南西北.



No, 酉 is not a character for "west."  It's a different character with its own meanings and a pronunciation.   You may want to check a Chinese dictionary, for example, here.


*Japanese* in the order of the character, the Japanese word and the Sino-Japanese
North: 北 kita (hoku, boku)
South: 南 minami (nan)
West: 西 nishi (sai, zai, sē)
East: 東 higashi (tō)

The standard way to enumerate directions is; 東西南北 (tōzainamboku).


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## Dr. Quizá

germandelsur said:


> Spanish: *N*orte, *S*ur, *O*este, *E*ste.



Capitals are mandatory.


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## larosa

Hungarian:

North: észak
South: dél
East: kelet
West: nyugat


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## Q-cumber

Frank06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> In *Russian*
> норд, зюйд, ост, вест
> (at least, if I understood well, only/mainly in the maritime jargon)
> 
> Groetjes,
> 
> Frank



Hi Frank!
You are right, these words are used in the nautical jargon only.
The common words (nouns) are: север (north), юг (south), запад (west), восток (east)


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## deine

Lithuanian:

šiaurė, pietūs, vakarai, rytai.


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## Q-cumber

deine said:


> Lithuanian:
> 
> šiaurė, pietūs, vakarai, rytai.



Do the last two have any relation to "evening" / "morning"?


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## kusurija

Q-cumber said:


> Do the last two have any relation to "evening" / "morning"?


Yes, (in Lithuanian) vakaras(sg.)=evening/vakarai(pl.)=west
rytas(sg.)=morning/rytai(pl.)=east
pietus(sg.)=dinner/pietūs(pl.)=south (šiaurė(sg.) is neutral in this point)
In Czech:
north=sever
south=jih
west=západ
east=východ
northwest=severozápad
jihozápad
jihovýchod
severovýchod


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## Q-cumber

kusurija said:


> Yes, vakaras(sg.)=evening/vakarai(pl.)=west
> rytas(sg.)=morning/rytai(pl.)=east



Roger that, ačiū


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## ukuca

*Turkish:* kuzey, güney, batı, doğu


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## Piotr_WRF

Polish: _północ_, _południe_, _zachód_, _wschód_.

_Północ_ means also _midnight_ and _południe_ _noon_.
_Zachód słońca_ is also _sunset_ and _wschód słońca_ is _sunrise_.


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## pickypuck

Norti.
Sur.
Esti / Ehti.
Oesti / Oehti.

Those are the Extremaduran words.


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## Abbassupreme

In Western Persian (the Tehrani dialect), transliterated into the Latin script:

north- shomaal
south-jonub, nimruz (even though "nimruz" also means "midday"/"noon", it also apparently has the meaning of "south")
east-sharq, khaavar
west-gharb, baakhtar


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## papillon

Frank06 said:


> Hi,
> 
> In *Dutch*
> noord, zuid, oost, west
> 
> In *Russian*
> норд, зюйд, ост, вест
> (at least, if I understood well, only/mainly in the maritime jargon)


Yes, you're right. Probably introduced by the tsar Peter the Great who himself studied shipbuilding and navigation in Amsterdam for 4 months.



Piotr_WRF said:


> Polish: _północ_, _południe_, _zachód_, _wschód_.
> 
> _Północ_ means also _midnight_ and _południe_ _noon_.
> _Zachód słońca_ is also _sunset_ and _wschód słońca_ is _sunrise_.


Ukrainian closely follows the Polish model
північ (_pivnich - north), _also means midnight
південь (_pivden' - south)_ -  also means noon
захід (zahid - west)
схід (s'hid - east)


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## yannalan

Hello
*breton* 
reter   east
kreisteiz, su   south
kornog     west
hanternoz, nord   north

In *french* you can hear "midi" instead of "south" sometimes


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## Mahaodeh

Arabic: Shamal, Janoob, Gharb (gh= French r), Sharq.


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## poul

Danish: Nord - Syd - Vest - Øst


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## Ulfus

*Estonian*:
Põhi, Lõuna, Ida, Lääs

northeast = *Kirre*
southeast = *Kagu*
southwest = *Edel*
northwest = *Loe*


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## Han86

Hebrew:

North - tsafon
South - darom 
East - mizrakh  
West - ma"arav ​ 
Syriac:

North - garpyo 
South - taymno 
East - madnHo 
West - maArpo

Arabic:

North - shamaal
South - janoob
East - sharq
West - gharb​


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## sean de lier

Tagalog:
North = *Hilaga*
South = *Timog*
East = *Silangan*
West = *Kanluran*


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## Mizhanah

Norwegian:

North-Nord
South-Sør
East-Øst
West-Vest


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## halfminded

Ulfus said:


> *Estonian*:
> Põhi, Lõuna, Ida, Lääs = north, south, east, west
> 
> northeast = *Kirre*
> southeast = *Kagu*
> southwest = *Edel*
> northwest = *Loe*



Just to avoid any misunderstandings... I just noticed that in the heading of this topic these words are in different order than Ulfus posted...


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## J.F. de TROYES

Burmese (transliteration)

North   :  myaw?
South  :  taoN
East    :  ëshe? 
West   : ?ë  naw ?    ( ?= Glottal stop; -N = nazalised vowel )

Swahili

North   : kaskazini
South  :  kusini
East    :  mashariki
West   :  magharibi


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## Maja

In Serbian:

east - *istok*
west - *zapad*
north - *sever*
south - *jug*.


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## Mac_Linguist

In Macedonian:

North — *Север*
South — *Југ*
East — *Исток*
West — *Запад*


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## Revontuli

In Turkish:
north=*kuzey*
south=*güney*
west=*doğu*
east=*batı*

and as in Finnish(my favourite language=):

northeast = *kuzeydoğu*
southeast = *güneydoğu*
southwest = *güneybatı*
northwest = *kuzeybatı*


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## axakin

Basque (euskera) : Iparralde, hegoalde, mendebalde, ekialde


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## Spectre scolaire

I think it is idiomatic _in English_ to say north-south-east-west. I will therefore disregard the headline and use N-S-E-W in the following.

*Modern Greek*​adjectives
N: βόρειος [vórios]
S: νότιος [nótios]
E: ανατολικός [anatolikós]
W: δυτικός [ðitikós]

nouns (with def. art. – masc. ο [o], fem. η _)__
N: ο βορράς [vorás]
S: ο νότος [nótos]
E: η ανατολή [anatolí]
W: η δύση [ðísi]

*Ottoman Turkish*​N: şimal 
S: cenup
E: şark
W: garp

The latter are all adaptations of Arabic (cf. #29) whereas those given in #23 are of Turkish origin. These Arabıc words are practically never used in today’s Turkey.

*Uyghur*​*-*written in Latin letters, standard being in Arabic letters)
N: ximal (the x reflects the same letter as the one used in pinyin)
S: jenub
E: xerikh 
W: gherib 

I never tried out how an Uyghur would react to the Modern Turkish words. I’ll do it one day. Most of them he would probably not recognize at all because they are neologisms in Turkish. Only kuzey, “north”, seems to have an existence in other Turkic languages.

*Latin*​adjectives and nouns
N: septentrionalis - septentrion
S: meridianus - meridies
E: orientalis – oriens 
W: occidentalis –occidens 
 ​_


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## Outsider

Spectre scolaire said:


> *Latin*​adjectives and nouns
> N: septentrionalis - septentrion
> S: meridianus - meridies
> E: orientalis – oriens
> W: occidentalis –occidens
> ​


Not _meridionalis_...?


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## Spectre scolaire

Well, Latin is not my mother tongue, and I am a bit short of adequate dictionaries where I am for the moment. It does look a bit strange with _meridianus_, I admit, but I am pretty sure I have come across the word in this acceptation. According to the etymology in Le Petit Robert (s.v. méridional), _meridionalis_ is supposed to be _Late_ Latin.

I think I’ll have to leave the question open. 
 ​


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## kusurija

Spectre scolaire said:


> *Latin*
> adjectives and nouns
> N: septentrionalis - septentrion
> S: meridianus - meridies
> E: orientalis – oriens
> W: occidentalis –occidens
> 
> ​


So what means 
(N.) borealis and 
(S.) australis?? then?


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## Spectre scolaire

There is another question which needs to be addressed in connection with this thread: Which are the specific reasons for knowing the directions? 

I thought of this when looking at the Greek forms – they are all neologisms in Modern Greek _except one_: *east*. Wouldn’t there be a religious reason for knowing where _east_ is? That would trigger the conservation of the word through the centuries. The other directions are less important, and so, they are left to “dry up” as words. Those people who did need them, especially seamen, would use words belonging to their “trade”. In Greek tradition – from the Middle Age until modern times – the language of their “trade” would be Italian. No wonder that a word like πουνέντες [punéndes], “west” – from Italian ponente, of course – has entered the Modern Greek lexicon. In fact, we are talking about winds, , and according to Ancient Greek tradition there were eight of them, see http://www.chem.uoa.gr/Location/AthensMap/AM_Aerides.htm The so-called “Wind Tower” in Athens actually contained a water clock.




kusurija said:


> So what means
> (N.) borealis and
> (S.) australis?? then?


 That’s a good question! The directions of the sky are so mixed up with the winds that I wonder if there is a clear-cut distinction between them. One should probably consult a large Latin dictionary like Lewis & Short. Latin _borealis_ seems to me primarily to be a wind. But I may be wrong.

It is highly interesting that Finnish, cf. #4, can fill out _with specific names_ all the octogon constituting the “WindTower”.

In islamic tradition, the directions of the sky are somewhat more important than in the Eastern Orthodox Church. For the “compulsory” prayers you have to find out where Mecca is. For this you’d probably need all directions depending on where you live in the world. Symptomatically, languages spoken primarily by Muslims have taken over the Arabic terminology. In #26, however, I see double forms, obviously due to the fact that Persian enjoyed a long literary existence previous to Islam. 

A conclusion from these remarks would be that the etymology of N-S-E-W in various languages can give quite a few cultural indications. As it stands, lists of words being used in various languages – most of which will remain unknown to most of us – don’t tell us anything but a sequence of letters.

Language is also cultural history!
 ​


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## kusurija

So, it seems, that in most Slavic languages most similar are: North - sever and South - jih/юг(...,...). Moreover, these has not clear meaning (other, than that one). Whereas East and West has names showing idea of rising *Sun* or *sun*set in one or other way. Polish is slight exception, but I have to say, that in Czech in archaic speech we also used simillary: to the North - na _půlnoc_ (means to the _midnight_) or in South direction: směrem poledním (means direction to the _midday_). 
Maybe someone knows, how is North and South in Sanskrit?


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## MarX

sean de lier said:


> Tagalog:
> North = *Hilaga*
> South = *Timog*
> East = *Silangan*
> West = *Kanluran*


Are you sure you didn't get *Timog* and *Silangan* the other way around?
I mean* Timog* = East and *Silangan* = South?


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## dinji

Han86 said:


> Hebrew:
> 
> North - tsafon
> South - darom
> East - mizrakh
> West - ma"arav ​


 

North - _tsafon_ / in the Bible also _s'mol_ 'left'
South - _darom_ / in the Bible also _yamin_ 'right'
East - _mizrakh_ from a root z.r.k 'shine' // in the Bible also _qedem_ 'forward'​​West - _ma"arav_ from a root ' ".r.b 'sunset, evening' / in the Bible also also _yam_ 'sea'​


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## sakvaka

And in Swedish:

nord (or norr)
söder (syd)
öster (öst)
väster (väst)


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## dinji

For the sake of symmetry of the forms norr and nord should switch places:


sakvaka said:


> And in Swedish:
> 
> nor*r* (or nor*d*)
> söder (syd)
> öster (öst/ost)
> väster (väst)


 
(_norr_ originates from < _nordr_)

Note also other remnants of the case system:

nordan 'from/beyond north'
sunnan 'from/beyond south'
östan 'from/beyond east'
västan 'from/beyond west'


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## sakvaka

dinji said:


> nordan 'from/beyond north'
> sunnan 'from/beyond south'
> östan 'from/beyond east'
> västan 'from/beyond west'



...for example "nordanvinden" (the north wind).

In Finnish these are pohjois-, etelä-, itä-, länsi- (NSEW); koillis-, kaakkois-, lounais- (or louna-) and luoteis-  (NE,  SE,  SW,  NW).

For example  "pohjoistuuli" (north wind).


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## mohamed264

in arabic
north=شمال (shamal)
south=جنوب(ganoop)
west=غرب (garb)
east=شرق (shaark)


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## almufadado

Outsider said:


> *Portuguese*: norte, sul, oeste, este/leste.



Also common denominations of direction in Portuguese :

East = Este/leste = nascente

West = Oeste = Poente


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