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Re: CHAT: geographical nomenclature [was Re: Language of Tetril]

From:Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...>
Date:Wednesday, December 12, 2001, 16:51
Interesting! Thanks.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 3:35 AM
Subject: CHAT: geographical nomenclature [was Re: Language of Tetril]


> Quoting Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...>: > > > Your mention of "Venice, Italy" prompts me to ask a question I > > have been wondering about for a while. Does anyone know the > > origin of this practice (i.e., naming the Country as well as the > > City)? I've never heard it used on this side of the pond (UK) but > > it seems to be standard in the US. "Paris, France" for instance, > > sounds highly weird to me - what other Paris is there? > > Because wherever Anglophone settlers moved in the US, and > in most of the rest of the former British Empire, they very > often gave the name of their settlement the same name as one > from their homecountry, or one they happened to admire. In Texas, > alone, for example, there is a Paris, an Athens, a Moscow, a > Vienna, a Dublin, a Stockholm, a Florence, a Lisbon, a Nottingham, > a Manchester, a Stratford, an Aberdeen, a Newcastle, and an Oxford. > Sometimes these cities become more prosperous than their etymons; > Philadelphia, PA, and Memphis, TN, are certainly greater than > the Egyptian cities after which they're named. Perhaps most famously > in American geographical nomenclature, the current town of > Bismarck, South Dakota, changed its name to its current status > back in the 19th century in the hopes that the Iron Chancellor, > who was then still in power, would encourage German investment > there. (Apparently, name changes have been very, very frequent > in Texas, and are sometimes entirely frivolous. My favorite > story is that of Bug Tussle, Texas: > > <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/BB/hnb97.html> > > A search at that same sight gives lots of "town name changes": > <http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/dataware/cgi-bin/web_evaluate?dataset= > TSHA&dbs=TSHA&shs_action=&multi=1&num_docs=50&query=town+name+change > &searchButton=Search>) > > It's funny that you should mention this. During the dead time > when the list wasn't sending out posts, I had time to waste so > I was browsing through the online records of debates in the new > Scottish Parliament. One was discussing one of the latest > American holidays, Tartan Day, on which Americans of Scottish > descent (like myself) celebrate their Scottish heritage. Naturally, > a great deal of self-congratulation and navel-gazing ensued. (It > was almost surreal to hear one member of the SNP speak so approvingly > of Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich for getting that bill passed, > considering how antithetical the Republicans and the SNP are on > most issues.) It apparently came as quite a shock to them all > when one Parliamentarian mentioned that there are no less than > eight (8) Aberdeens in the United States alone. > > What with so many small towns named after great towns, it's not > surprising that people would feel the need to differentiate. > > ===================================================================== > Thomas Wier <trwier@...> <http://home.uchicago.edu/~trwier> > > "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n / > Dept. of Linguistics mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..." > University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought / > 1010 E. 59th Street and not complete one road that has no turn" > Chicago, IL 60637 Empedocles, _On Nature_, on speculative thinkers