FOUND IN TRANSLATION
The Unexpected Origins of Place Names
When I moved back to Devon, it was to an unfamiliar part of the county. Place names intrigued me – names such as Nymet Rowland and Zeal Monochorum. I dug into these names and found them tied to stories, people, the land. The names shaped my understanding of my new home.
In the past, however, to Duncan Madden and to me, place names were things ‘simply used rather than paid particular attention to’. But travel sparked both intrigue and Madden’s book – a global journey that explores the places we live in and travel to; not in sights, food and culture, but in the story and language of place names, which developed as we shifted from isolated communities to a more connected world.
Some stories speak of invasion and rebellion. The influence of the Germanic tribes on some European place names becomes clear – France from the empire of the Franks and England from the Angles. African names often involve stories of ancient kingdoms, European colonisation and the fight for independence, as well as landscapes and nature. Kenya, for example, was likely named after the Kikuyu and Embu words for ‘white mountain’ – the snow-dusted Mount Kenya.
There are often many stories behind place names and Madden selects a couple for each – one more likely, one more fantastical. Was Scotland named from Scoti, the Roman word for the Gaelic raiders descending from Ireland, or does it take its name from Scota, the pharaoh’s daughter who was banished from Egypt and ended up in the British Isles? As we learn, much is lost to ‘history’s ability to distort’. Language evolves and names are born in a different time: ‘New names will come and old names will fade from common use, but their significance as a representation of humanity at the time will forever remain in their origins and meanings.’
Found in Translation is a captivating and surprising account of the world told through story and language. There’s something here for travellers, language-lovers, curious historians and anyone interested in where we’ve come from and where we’re headed.