Submitted by bentobam t3_10ohrv7 in explainlikeimfive
justlookingforajob1 t1_j6euz82 wrote
It's basically one of two (or two and a half) ways.
1 - The name the country calls itself in its language is spread around and changes in spelling and pronunciation occur as it shifts between languages, but there is still the "root" of that name in that "home" language. Remember, a lot of place names came about before modern communications.
2 - The name is attributed because of some real or perceived characteristic of the country and some term is coined in another country to refer to the people and place of the other country.
2.5 - A name from 2 is then spread around to other countries and languages, kinda like in 1.
TheVicSageQuestion t1_j6fyu5r wrote
e.g. “Germany” is so named because of all the germs. Maybe. Idk.
justlookingforajob1 t1_j6g089o wrote
From the Latin Germania which is what the Romans called the Germanic tribes who lived beyond the borders of the empire in that direction. I don't know where that term came from.
But an example is Bahamas is from the Spanish words "Baja mar" for "shallow sea"
TheVicSageQuestion t1_j6g3325 wrote
See, I thought the Bahamas were named after Baja Blast.
herrbdog t1_j6gliwt wrote
it's from the name of a local tribe near the rhine with whom the romans had contact: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Germany#:~:text=Etymology,in%20the%201st%20century%20B.C.E.
aharryh t1_j6gvwyv wrote
We got New Zealand because it looked like the Old Zealand
BonelessB0nes t1_j6gzqeg wrote
And we have Newfoundland because, at the time, they had only just recently discovered it.
logicalmaniak t1_j6i2jao wrote
In Welsh, Germany is Yr Almaen, which is from the Alemanni, an ancient Germanic tribal confederation.
Megalocerus t1_j6gn5xl wrote
Florence, which is Firenze in Italian, is called Florence and variants in other countries because when Julius Caesar settled men there it was called "Florentia". "Germany" comes from the Latin as well. Switzerland in some contexts is "Confoederatio Helvetica", again from the Latin, but then there are 4 languages used there. Switzerland comes from the name of one of the original provinces, Schwyz.
US states like Kansas and Arkansas are named for rivers named for native tribes, much modified. Arkansas got passed through French. Canada was a misunderstanding; it seems to have been named for the Huron word for "settlement" (Kanata) based on directions Cartier was given to Stadacona (later Quebec.)
Japan may have been given its name based on the name the Chinese (Riben) or the Malaysians (Japung) called it, both referring to the land to the East (Land of the Rising Sun.) The Japanese changed from calling it Yamato to calling it Nippon.
StudioDroid t1_j6hpfoe wrote
Even weirder is that the common pronunciation of Kansas is "can sass" and Arkansas is "Ark an saw"
fairmountvewe t1_j6i0iqj wrote
What? Well colour me embarrassed. I been saying saying “Can Saw” and “R Can Sass” ever since that one guy in a bar got all pi$$y at me…..
Megalocerus t1_j6lians wrote
I believe it's because Arkansas came through the French and Kansas did not.
cookerg t1_j6gxh5o wrote
OP is asking why the names are different in different languages.
BitScout t1_j6h4srw wrote
For Germany it's because of the different tribes. The Allemans next to France (Allemagne), the Saxons in the northeast (Saksa in Finnish), etc.
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