Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Country names

From:Jeffrey Henning <jeffrey@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 7, 2003, 12:19
My language Novvocu has a strict phonology which ends up butchering
words that it borrows:  for instance, "Mexico" would be 'Mesicon',
"Belgium" would be 'Belijem', "England" would be 'Eneland', "France"
would be 'Ferans'.  This is okay, since the language is resistant to
borrowing anyway, prefering to coin new compounds from its roots
instead.

As a result, I decided for country names it would be fun to name each
country after an animal commonly associated with it.  In other words,
rather than borrow "Mexico" as 'Mesicon' it might takes its name from
the chihuahua.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Andes Mountain countries = Andean condor
Belgian Congo = gorilla
Brasil = parrot
Canada = beaver
Caribbean islands = parrot
China (mainland) = panda
Commonwealth of Australia = kangaroo, koala
Cuba = pig (because of Bay of Pigs)
Dominica = frog
England = lion
Finland = reindeer
France = maybe auroch, given the Lascaux cave
Germany = white stork
Guatemala = quetzal
India = peacock, tiger
Jamaica = crab (okay, I probably shouldn't let _The Little Mermaid_
inspire these choices)
Lesotho = crocodile
Malagasy Republic = lemur
Mauritius = dodo
Mexico = chihuahua, monarch butterfly, scorpion
New Zealand = kiwi
Nippon = crane
Norway = moose
Panama = tree frog (OK, taking names from a Beanie baby is probably a
bad idea as well)
Papua New Guinea = bird of paradise
Russia = bear (symbol of Soviet Union)
Saudi Arabia = camel
Scotland = Scottish terrier
Seychelles = giant tortoise
Solomon Islands = sea turtle
South Africa = springbok
South American country = llama
Switzerland = St. Bernard
Thailand = Siamese cat
Wales = dragon
Yugoslavia = Dalmatian (named for Dalmatia, a region divided by Croatia
and Serbia in the 10th century)
Zimbabwe = hippo

Since there are 200+ countries, I have a way to go still!  Please
suggest some additional ideas for me to use.  You can browse a list of
countries here:
http://www.bcpl.net/~jspath/isocodes-table.html


Thanks!

Jeffrey

Replies

Isaac Penzev <isaacp@...>
P. M. Arktayg <pmva@...>
Herman Miller <hmiller@...>
Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...>