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The Atlas of True Names
Some folks have glossed a good number of the place names of the world in plain English and created The Atlas of True Names. Spiegel Online has a photo gallery featuring various pieces of the map. (via kottke) According to Language Log, however, many of the names come from folk etymologies that aren't necessarily accurate. Some of the etymological glosses given in The Atlas of True Names are misleading in other ways. "New York" is given as "New Wild Boar Village." That's based on the idea that York in England derives from Old English eofor "wild boar" + Latin vicus village. But the Anglo-Saxon name Eoferwic was evidently a folk etymology of sorts, reinterpreting the earlier toponym Eboracum, a Latinization of Celtic Eborakon, said to mean "place of yew trees." So should the "true" name of (New) York relate to boars or yews?(SUZANNE) Tags: maps, translation
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