Oikonyms in Western and South Asia
Oikonyms in Western, Central, South, and Southeast Asia can be grouped according to various components, reflecting common linguistic and cultural histories.[1] Toponymic study is not as extensive as it is for placenames in Europe and Anglophone parts of the world, but the origins of many placenames can be determined with a fair degree of certainty.[2][3] One complexity to the study when discussing it in English is that the Romanization of names, during British rule and otherwise, from other languages has not been consistent.[2]
Common affixes
Common affixes used in South Asian oikonyms can be grouped based on their linguistic origin: (with examples from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and elsewhere such as in Sanskrit-influenced Indonesia):
- Dravidian:
- wal, wali, wala, vli, and vali
- hamlet[4] — e.g. Dombivli; Kasan Wala; Sandhilianwali
- Indo-Aryan:
- Desh
- an Indo-Aryan word for "country".[5][6] In Indonesia it becomes Desa which is another Indonesian word for "village".
- Nagar
- city,[7] from Sanskrit नगर (nagara) e.g. Ahmednagar. In Indonesian, the word Negara means "country" and the word Nagari is a term used in West Sumatra referring to "village".
- Pur (पुर)
- town[7] — e.g. Jamalpur; Kanpur; Khanpur; Janakpur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur. In Southeast Asian countries, it is known as pura, e.g. Singapura, and Indonesian cities such as Jayapura, Siak Sri Indrapura, Amlapura, Sangkapura, Semarapura, etc. In Indonesia, pura also refers to a Hindu temple.[8]
- Pind
- literally "lump" or a small altar of sand[7]
- Ganj, gunj, gunge
- market[7] — e.g. Nepalgunj; Robertsganj
- Garh
- fortress[9] — Chandigarh
- Kot
- fort[7][4] — Pathankot; Sialkot
- Patnam, patham, pattana
- city, or "city of"[10] — e.g. Visakhapatnam
- Persian or Arabic:
- Abad (آباد)
- "dwelling of" or "town of", combined with a person's or group's name (usually the founder or primary inhabitant(s))[7][11] — e.g. Ahmedabad; Ordubad; Shirabad; Islamabad; Khorramabad; Mirza Abad. See also abadi (settlement).
- Mazar
- (in various languages) shrine, grave, tomb, etc. (from wikt:مزار), cf. "Mazar (mausoleum)". The placename usually refers to a grave of a saint, ruler, etc.: Mazar-i-Sharif; see All pages with titles containing Mazar
- Mazra or Majra
- hamlet,[12] also "farm" (wikt:مزرعة, /maz.ra.ʕa/), "field" (wikt:مزرع, /maz.raʕ/)
- Shahr, shehr
- city[7] — e.g. Bulandshahr
- Kale, Kaleh, Qala, Qalat, Qila
- fort, fortres, castle;[7] see also "Qalat (fortress)"
- Basti
- a granted habitat, also sanctuary from the Persian suffix, bastī[13] — e.g. Basti Babbar, Azam Basti
- Nahri
- (irrigation) canal[7]
- Nahr
- wikt:نهر, river, e.g., Nahr-e Mian; see All pages with titles containing Nahr-e
- Dera
- tent[14] — e.g. Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan
- -stan, -estan
- "a place abounding in...", "place of..."[15] — e.g. Afghanistan; Pakistan
References
- Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 65.
- Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 67.
- Mohd Siddiqi 1982, p. 332.
- Southworth 1995, p. 271.
- Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999) [First published 1988]. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. p. 281. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0.
- Prantik, Maharashtra (1963). Samagra Savarkar Wangmaya. Hindusabha. p. 436. Retrieved 21 July 2017 – via Google Books.
- Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 74.
- "Things you should know before visiting temples in Bali". The Jakarta Post.
- Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, pp. 74–75.
- Christie 1887, p. 153, PATAM.
- Christie 1887, p. 2, ABAD.
- Mohd Siddiqi 1982, p. 335.
- "BASTI English Definition and Meaning | Lexico.com". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
- Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 75.
- Hayyim, Sulayman, "ستان", New Persian-English Dictionary, vol. 2, Tehran: Librairie imprimerie Béroukhim, p. 30 Quote= ستان (p. V2-0030) ستان (۲) Suffix meaning 'a place abounding in'. Ex. گلستان a flower or rose-garden. Syn. زار See گازار Note. This suffix is pronounced stan or setan after a vowel, as in بوستان boostan, a garden, and هندوستان hendoostan, India; and estan after a consonant. Ex. گلستان golestan, and ترکستان torkestan. However, for poetic license, after a consonant also, it may be pronounced setan. Ex. گلستان golsetan
Sources
- Husain Siddiqi, Akhtar; Bastian, Robert W. (1985). "Urban Place Names in Pakistan: A Reflection of Cultural Characteristics". Names. 29 (1): 65–84. OCLC 500207327.
- Mohd Siddiqi, Jamal (1982). Significance of technical terms in place names—a case-study of Aligarh District. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 43. pp. 332–341. JSTOR 44141245.
- Southworth, Franklin C. (1995). "Reconstructing social context from language: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian pre-history". In Erdosy, George (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Indian philology and South Asian studies. Vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110144475. ISSN 0948-1923.
- Blackie, Christina (1887). Geographical Etymology: A Dictionary of Place-names Giving Their Derivations (3rd ed.). John Murray.
Further reading
- Southworth, Franklin C. (2004). Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781134317776.
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