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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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In times gone by countries and cities had different names to now. I sometimes but not always prefer them, even if they're 'less correct', because they evoke the age of romance and colonialism (not saying that was a good thing).
For instance, of these old/new names, which do you prefer (my choice bolded):
Burma/Myanmar
Formosa/Taiwan
Dutch East Indies/Indonesia
Siam/Thailand
Malaya/Malaysia
Ceylon/Sri Lanka
Annam/Vietnam
Some cities:
Peking/Beijing
Chungking/Chongqing
Bombay/Mumbai
Madras/Chennai
Rangoon/Yangon
Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
Of course, the English name for many countries around the world is different from the name in that language/the real name. Cities too, for that matter. Bangkok is known as Krung Thep (abbreviation) to the Thais. It's actual name is very long. Japan is Nippon, and China Zhongguo.
Gee... Thanks for the list! I must admit I didn't know most of the old names you listed. Some of them seem a bit weird to me, don't know how to pronounce them correctly.
I know in China they have a lot of our cities or states differently in their language too, for example, they call San Francisco the "old golden mountain" in Mandarin.
Personally, I don't mind either way, as long as people know where I am talking about... Have been talking to one guy before, took us 5 minutes to realize we are talking about different places! lol...
In times gone by countries and cities had different names to now. I sometimes but not always prefer them, even if they're 'less correct', because they evoke the age of romance and colonialism (not saying that was a good thing).
For instance, of these old/new names, which do you prefer (my choice bolded):
Burma/Myanmar
Formosa/Taiwan
Dutch East Indies/Indonesia
Siam/Thailand
Malaya/Malaysia
Ceylon/Sri Lanka
Annam/Vietnam
Peking/Beijing
Chungking/Chongqing
Bombay/Mumbai
Madras/Chennai
Rangoon/Yangon
Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
I like all the new names better except Myanmar and Ho Chi Minh City.
NEW --------- OLD (1900's) ------EVEN OLDER (as in 1800's)
Tokyo - ------ Tokio - --------------- Edo
Beijing - ----- Peking ---------------- Peiping
Harare - ------ Salisbury
Kinshasha - -- Leopoldville
Istanbul - --------------------------- Constantinople
St. Petersburg - Leningrad - Petrograd - St. Petersburg
Volgograd ------ Stalingrad - -- Volgograd
Salonika --------Thessaloniki (I think)
Ghana -------- Gold Coast
Burkina Faso ---Upper Volta
Namibia --------S.W. Africa
Iran ---------- Persia
Korea ----------------------------- Chosen
Benin --------- Dahomey
Somalia -------Somaliland
Tanzania ------ Tanganyika
Zimbabwe ------Southern Rhodesia
Zambia --------Northern Rhodesia
Taiwan --------Formosa
Thunder Bay (city), Canada - Fort Arthur/Port William
Gatineau, Canada - Hull, Canada
Mumbai -------- Bombay
Dalian China ----------------------- Port Arthur
Chennai -------- Madras
Jordan --------Trans-Jordan
Romania ---------------------------Rumania or Roumania
Wroclaw Poland ---------Breslau Germany
Strasbourg France -------Strasburg Germany
Kaliningrad Russia-------Koenigsburg Germany
Szeczin Poland---------Stettin Germany
Santo Domingo, Dom Rep-----Ciudad Trujillo
Ontario --------------------------Upper Canada (it looks lower on a map, but it's further "Up" the St. Lawrence River)
Quebec-------------------------- Lower Canada (higher on a map, but it's "down-river")
Toronto--------------------------York
Last edited by slowlane3; 06-19-2013 at 02:27 PM..
Mandarin had a palatalization process in recent history (a few hundred years ago).
velar consonants became palatal consonants before high vowels.
That is why peking -> Beijing
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