Current Events > Anyone find it weird how we rename countries in our own languages?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like we may mispronounce something like maybe not rolling an r or something while saying a name...but to go from "I am from Deutschland" and to change that to "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh imma call that Germany, THANX!"

"Germania" was the term for that region before "Deutschland" even existed.
---

r4X0r posted...

"Germania" was the term for that region before "Deutschland" even existed.

And? The name of the country is Deutschland. Doesn't Japan call themselves Nippon?

That's great, but when we've been calling a place "Germania" for a couple of thousand years, the term sticks. Japanese call themselves that, sure, and the term still exists, but it has a very derogatory nature here and now.
---

CruelBuffalo posted...

And? The name of the country is Deutschland. Doesn't Japan call themselves Nippon?

You could always read up a little on word etymology. Who knows, you might learn something.
---

Yeah it's kinda weird
---

UnholyMudcrab posted...

CruelBuffalo posted...

And? The name of the country is Deutschland. Doesn't Japan call themselves Nippon?

You could always read up a little on word etymology. Who knows, you might learn something.

And? Words have backgrounds and history. Pretty sure we all know this. Not what I discussed.

CruelBuffalo posted...

UnholyMudcrab posted...

CruelBuffalo posted...

And? The name of the country is Deutschland. Doesn't Japan call themselves Nippon?

You could always read up a little on word etymology. Who knows, you might learn something.

And? Words have backgrounds and history. Pretty sure we all know this. Not what I discussed.

That is what we're discussing, because the English derive their word for Germany from a different place than do the Germans. It's not just a haphazard "renaming."
---

Not really. And we dont just rename countries for shits and giggles.
---

Some of them are really annoying, like why do we have different names for Munich and Turin?
---

Sativa_Rose posted...

Some of them are really annoying, like why do we have different names for Munich and Turin?

Because the names are ancient and have changed independently in different areas. It's not like somebody one day said "Screw it, "Muenchen" is now "Munich." It took a long time for those changes to come about.
---

I always hated in high school Spanish, they gave us all Spanish names.

Yo, if I move to Mexico, my name isn't suddenly Diego or Jaime.
---

Not to mention that the French call Germany 'Allemagne'.

So many different names for one country :o
---

I think a lot of people are failing to understand that culture and civilization in Europe far predates current national boundaries. Different languages have different words for different areas because they're ancient names. Nothing was "renamed," the names existed before the countries.
---

CruelBuffalo posted...

Doesn't Japan call themselves Nippon?

Japan is called that because the Western Hemisphere learnt of Japan's existence via China.

The Chinese letters which spell 'origin of the sun' are pronounced Nippon in Japan, Ilbon in Korea, and Riben in China. Due to the way the Chinese language is pronounced, the latter is heard more like a 'Jippen' to the untrained ear. Now, when European traders first reached China and met with its people, the Chinese people would say "hey, do you know that there's an island country far to the east, off our shores and beyond Korea? It's called 'Jippen'." The rest is history.

Now, take the fact that probably every country/town/etc. had its name known to the outside world via similar methods. That's why they all have different names in different languages.

And even after that, the names are subject to alterations.

Some languages even simply translate the names of other countries. Take the Netherlands. It's called that because large portions of it are under sea level, hence, nether-lands. The pronunciation and meanings have been well preserved from the original Dutch Nederland, and the German Niederlande is such as well. However, the French call the same country Pays-Bas, which is a translation of the original meanings that comprise the country's name: pays-country/land, bas-under/nether, which has resulted in a wholly alien pronunciation compared to its origin.

And then some languages alter the pronunciation simply for convenience. Take the Korean language's treatment of Germany. The word Deutschland was originally spread to the country, and the Koreans found the word complicated and difficult to their palate. So, they transcribed it into Chinese letters of similar pronunciation, which altered it to Dogil. This treatment was done to many, many European and American countries and towns, and while many of them have since been restored to the pronunciation used in their origins, Dogil is one of the few altered names that have survived to this day.
---

---

We all have different words for other countries. In Hindi, British/English people are called "Angrez". I don't know how that originated. Probably from Anglo? Russia is called Rus. Greece is called Yunan. America is Amreeka. Egypt is Misr, and so on...

JlM posted...

I always hated in high school Spanish, they gave us all Spanish names.

Yo, if I move to Mexico, my name isn't suddenly Diego or Jaime.

Hola, Juan
---

AssultTank posted...

So wait... @Distant_Rainbow that would mean that the Netherlands are the land down under?

Why, yes. Yes, you could say that, heh. XD
---

---

Fission-Mailed posted...

We all have different words for other countries. In Hindi, British/English people are called "Angrez". I don't know how that originated.

I'm completely guessing here, but the Italians call English 'Inglese' (pronounced "eenglezzeh") which is like saying English with.an Italian tongue, Angrez sounds quite similar so maybe it came from that?
---

Nope. It's completely normal.
---

I don't see what's weird about that.
---

As an aside, Saksa makes more sense than a lot of the other ones to me considering that it's referencing Saxony.
---

Kineth posted...

As an aside, Saksa makes more sense than a lot of the other ones to me considering that it's referencing Saxony.

they all make sense in their own way

- anything germany/germania based is from latin, because the romans called the region past the rhine germania.
- finns and estonians call germany after the saxons as you said
- similarly, allemagne/allemania/etc is named after the german tribes living in the area. so same origin as saksa except from the other side and referring to different german tribes
- the nemecko/niemcy/etc is from slavic and was a term used to call someone a foreigner. germans kinda did the same thing and is where you get vlachs (in the balkans), wales (in britain) and walloons (from belgium) which all come from the germanic word for foreigner. so this sort of idea for naming countries isn't uncommon either
- deutschland and anything else similar to it like tyskland just means people, referring to themselves. basically the opposite of the above

tho the baltic one (vacija/vokietija) has unknown origin but is only used to refer to germans
---