Re: Codename "de" (was Re: Country names in national languages)

> Hungarian has a couple of strange names for European countries: 'nemet' for
> Germany and 'olasz' for Italy. Can Ferenc tell us where these names come
> from? BTW, I think the Russian word for Germany is also something like
> 'nemet'. Also, does anyone known the Finnish words for Italy and Germany?
Finnish:

Italy = Italia
Germany = Saksamaa

Hungarian odd names of European countries:

Russia = Oroszorsza'g [orosorsa:g]
Belarus = Fehe'roroszorsza'g [fehe'rorosorsa'g] (lit "white russian
country")

Poland = Lengyelorsza'g [lEnd_jElorsa:g] (from ???)

Slovakia = Szlova'kia [slova:kiA] or To'torsza'g [to:torsa:g]. To't is the
Hungarian name for Slovaks, origin ??

Croatia = Horva'torsza'g [horva:torsa:g] from "hrvat"

Serbia = Szerbia [sErbiA] or Ra'corsza'g [ra:tsorsa:g] from a Serbian
word, cf "Ras<ka Gora" (place in Bosnia)

Transylvania = Erde'ly [Erde:j]

Greece = Go"ro"gorsza'g [g2r2gorsa:g]

Italy = Olaszorsza'g . The only thing I've heard about the origin of the
name is that it's related to "Ola'h" [ola:h], one of the Roma
"nationalities" (Vlax Roma), but I'm not certain if this is the case
indeed).

Germany = Ne'metorsza'g, probably from Slavic

Switzerland = Sva'jc [Sva:jts] from German "Schweiz"

Georgia = Gru'zia [gru:ziA] from Russian?

Armenia = O"rme'nyorsza'g [2rme:n_jorsa:g] from Turkish?

Austrian (adj and A. person only) = osztra:k [ostra:k], from "Oesterreich"



Hungarian pejorative ethnonyms:

ruszki [ruski] = Russian, from Russian self-designation

nustyu [nuSt_ju] = Romanian, from ROmanian "nu s,tiu" [nu Stiu] "I don't
know"; also in use is "szo"ro"stalpu'" [s2:r2stAlpu], lit "hairy-soled".

tirpa'k [tirpa:k] = Slovak, from ???

bunyeva'c [bun_jeva:ts] = Croat, from Serbocroatian "bunjevac",
designation of Vojvodina Croats

la'lo' [la:lo:] = Vojvodina Serb, from a self-designation (? cf. Serbian
"lalos<" [laloS])

sva'b [Sva:b] = German, from "Schwab"


And finally. A polite way to tell someone "where to go" is "menjen a
francba" [mEnjEn a frAntsbA], literally "go to the France". This comes
from the time after ww1 when French soldiers were in Budapest as
occupation troops, and it was commonly held belief that they were
deliberately spreading syphylis (sp?) into the Hungarian population.

---ferko

Reply