Do all countries have the same name for other countries or even their own countries. What is the greatest desparities of country names? How do you say Germany in greek etc?
As far as I can tell germany seems to have the most varying name in other languages (probably because the nation was made up of many germanic tribes) the ones I am familiar with. germany (english) Allemange ?sp (french, and most latin languages I know of) Tysk (pro. tisk) (norweigan, I belive it is similar in danish and swedish too) Neemansky (russian) All I know, maybe others can add more languages to the list for us.
The sound of the y in "Tysk" is different in Danish, still same spelling I think all countries have there own spelling of the names of other countries.
True but what I meant was that the sound of the words for germany are very different almost unrelated as opposed to say the word for france in those languages I listed which are very similar phonetically.
Well, the tribes may have played a role in the names of Germany. I suppose Allemange (french) was derived from a prominent germanic tribe called "Allemannen" which resembles the words "Alle Mannen", roughly translated it would equal "Everyone". Since that tribe was widespread and bordered on what is France today, the name might have indeed been used to describe everyone from around here. Tysk? Well, I really don´t know, there were many dialects spoken in the early German times. Perhaps it was the name of a tribe in the north? The Germans themself were only a tribe, but one that also became very prominent. Until the "Holy roman reich of german nation" (or something like that, I never tried to translate Heiliges römisches Reich deutscher Nation). It then became commonly known as Germany. This would be Germania in the german tongue (also the name of an ancient local goddess) but every German calls it "Deutschland".... Well, but considering other countries names, they seem to be pretty consistent. There don´t seem to be so many discrepancies. Except the far eastern countries like China or Japan, which are called Zhonggou and Nippon by local inhabitants (But I don´t know how they are written in the native script)
Canada is Canada. In Canada, we will mostly call the United States "The States". We don't tend to call them "America" because America ( North America and South America) consists of many countries.
tracker: Does the 2 have the same sound as the 2 in english ? I see, fiddling a little using bablefish, my browser does not support cyrolic chars but anyway France(UK) Frankrijk(NL) Frankreich(D) Francia(ES) Frankrig(DK)
from what I know Latvia in Latvian -> Latvija in English -> Latvia in French -> Lettonie in German -> Letland I know russian and "germany" in it sounds nothing like it it sounds more like-> Gjermanjia Njemec is a German person (a german)
From around 1850 to - 187x Prussian annexed or in other ways manage to unify the german people into the German empire under the prussian king, Wilhelm I. Ofcause the entire storie is a bit longer but perhaps the "Deutschland" comes from this unification?... then again...
in Estonia: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! america = ameerika england = inglismaa france = prantsusmaa japan = jaapan canada = kanada germany = saksamaa china = hiina russia = venemaa finland = soome swedland = rootsi denmark = taani
In Latvia: -- below Estonia -- America = Amerika England = Anglija (United Kingdom = Apvienotaa Karaliste) France = Francija Japan = Japaana Canada = Kanaada Germany = Vaacija China = Kjiina Russia = Krievija Finland = Somija Sweden = Zviedrija Denmark = Daanija Estonia = Igaunija Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Lithuania = Lietuva Portugal = Portugaale
Japanese call japan [nihon] the language [nihongo] they call english (im guessing that includes american) language eago. i have yet to learn america thou.. =(
From a dutch street perspective: AMERICA --> Amerika From a dutch government perspective: USA ---> Verenigde Staten - the netherlands (uk & usa government speak) or - holland (uk & usa street speak, refferes to "hollow land, below sealevel" - niederlande or holland (german) - pays bas (france) BTW: pretty remarkable that estonions call sweden "rootsi", do estonions have their roots in sweden?
In Danish: Norway = Norge Sweden = Sverige Denmark = Danmark Finland = Finland Estonia = Estland Lithuania = Letland Russia = Rusland China = Kina Japan = Japan Germany = Tyskland Dutchland = Holland, Nederlandene France = Frankrig Portugal = Portugal England = England Canada = Kanada America = Amerika heh taani, rootsi wonder where that comes from Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
in japanese: japan - nihon or nippon china - chuugoku america - amerika germany - doitsu france - furansu australia - oosutoreeria new zealand - njuujiirando england - igurishi canada - kanada the only ones that are different for reasons other thna lack of characters are: china, because they have intertwined histories and chuugoku means king land or something and germany, which is doitsu from the german word for geramny: deutsch(pronounced doitch)