Re: Maltese Phonology
From: | John Cowan <jcowan@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, March 25, 2003, 21:55 |
Andreas Johansson scripsit:
> Reminds me. I saw "Ferengistan" as a name of France somewhere, in a Middle
> East context I believe. Looks vaguely Turkish to me. Does anybody recognize it?
Sure. "fereng" ~ "farang" is from "Frank", although it has extended meanings:
Crusader, European, trader, white person. The Arabs carried it to lots of
languages, including to places like Thailand where Islam didn't catch on.
Because "-istan" is such a common country ending, it would be hard to pin
down the exact source language.
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