The book I’m reading at the moment is called Eastward to Tartary. But where the heck is Tartary? It’s certainly not located on any modern map.
According to Wikipedia, “Tartary” was the name used for an area in northern and central Asia. It was inhabited by Turkic and Mongol people who were referrred to as “Tatars” by the West. Tartary incorporated land that is now part of of Siberia, Turkestan, Mongolia, Manchuria, and Tibet. As the Russian empire expanded to include more and more of Tartary, and the area became more familiar to the West, the name fell into disuse (presumably as the Westerners started using more precise/accurate names). The term Tartary probably stopped being used all together by the early 20th century.
There are other countries that Westerners, or at least English speakers, call by a name that has nothing to do with what the people who live there call their country. For example, Chinese people refer to China as “Zhong Guo.” Doesn’t exactly sound anything like “China,” does it? We probably started using the name “China” from the Sanskrit transliteration of ”Qin,” as in the Qing Dynasty that unified China (The phonetic pronunciation of “Qin” is similar to “cheen”).
by Orhan Pamuk
7 responses so far ↓
1 Roberta // Jan 13, 2009 at 10:08 am
Why can’t we say Espana or Italia? They aren’t tongue twisters or anything.
2 Fern // Jan 13, 2009 at 10:44 am
Roberta — At least those are obviously derived from what the people in those countries call their country! What about Germany? Germans call it Deutschland. Or Finland? Fins call it Suomi. Hungary is called Magyarorszag by Hungarians.
???
3 Roberta // Jan 13, 2009 at 11:34 am
Yes, they are so obvious that I can’t understand why we don’t use them.
The name for Hungary is difficult to say and spell, but that doesn’t quite explain how Hungary came to be, or maybe it does.
4 Fern // Jan 13, 2009 at 11:45 am
I’m just guessing here. But we (Californians) are much more familiar with Spanish that the first English speakers were who heard the word “Espana,” so maybe they heard something closer to “Spain.” Or maybe it’s like telephone, and the word got relayed and relayed and the correct pronunciation was lost?
According to Wikipedia, “Hungary” comes from the 7th century, when Magyar tribes were part of a Bulgar alliance called “On-Ogour” which is pronounced similarly to “Hungary.”
5 Roberta // Jan 13, 2009 at 3:01 pm
fasciating
6 Lorin // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Came here from LT. Interesting topic. When I moved to Copenhagen for college, I was surprised at how different the native name for the city was from the English: København. Yeah, they’re close, but where’d the g come from?
7 Fern // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Lorin — Who knows?! Maybe they heard it wrong?
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