On the back of this, though, in many countries in the Middle East the Latin names are used for most countries in Europe, including Germany, which is referred to as Alemaan (from proto-Germanic Alemanniz[2]).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionians
Fun fact: "Iran" means "the land of the Aryans".
But it's worth noting that in German "Alman" has become the equivalent of "gammon" in the UK, especially among immigrants and in youth culture. I.e. a derogatory slur for a specific type of native-born person (usually men) holding naïvely reactionary views. Not necessarily intentionally racist but always ignorant.
> the name is baked into everything (modern and historical) from Hebrew to Persian to Arabic to Assyrian.
The term is also used in Han China for the Greek kingdom that came to exist near them. There would have been no real awareness of the original region of Ionia, though there was rudimentary awareness of the Roman Empire a bit later.
This suggests that the reason for the name isn't really known, but no one thinks it might refer to the Greeks.
But if we do think it's butchering, why don't we refer to Germans as Deutsche in English, call the country Deutschland instead of Germany?
Because the Germans aren’t throwing a fit about how other countries are addressing them in their languages, while the Turks currently are.
Given how Turkey currently has insane inflation and internal political turmoil with Erdogan’s opposition rising, there’s a line of thought that has war as the only way to maintain power for Erdogan, much like how a coup solidified his power in 2016.
Turkey’s neighbors probably should start feeling like Ukraine before February, or like Poland before September 1939.
Actually, the name is "Deutschland" (if you leave out the political decorations declaring it a federal republic).
One should think, knowing where the word comes from, that the english name would be "Dutchland". But it isn't, instead they call someone else "Dutch". Admittedly a neighbouring country with some shared history and origins waaay back then, but still. Tyskland is great, thanks to everyone using a variation of that.
Then there is "Germany". Way back then, when the romans tried and failed to establish a longterm presence on the other side of the rivers rhine and danube that might have been ok, but that was 2000 years ago. For at least the last 500 years, "deutsch" or some variation thereof was official. Germans are also only part of the historic inhabitants of what forms modern-day Germany, there are also a few Slavic tribes in there. Also, there are many German tribes that didn't settle in what is modern-day Germany, instead they now form the nordic states, the Netherlands, parts of Switzerland and Austria. So mostly wrong, no fish.
Alemania is even more wrong, because that actually only talks about the southwestern german tribes, in current southwest Germany and northeastern Switzerland. "Alemannisch" strictly only describes the traditions of that region in german. Nothing else.
Then there is Niemcy and stuff. I've been told it means something like "mutes" or "the ones you cannot comprehend". I'm not sure if that is supposed to be an insult or a compliment, but really, after you started talking to us you couldn't be arsed to ask what we call ourselves?
Talking about insults: Saksa might be considered a compliment or an insult in Germany, depending on where you are. Historically, saxon tribes settled in the northwest (later England, but that is not relevant here). This corresponds to a part of what currently is the German land Niedersachsen. There are two Länder that are called something with "sachsen", but they are faking it to get a grab at the former glory. Talking about "glory", it is quite the opposite in southern Germany, there nobody likes "Sachsen" and considers them the worst kind of "Preussen". Which are all considered insults there.
There are a few others, getting more and more weird until: Navajo: Béésh Bich’ahii Bikéyah ("Metal Cap-wearer Land"), in reference to Stahlhelm-wearing German soldiers.[1] I can get behind that. But the rest, please stop it, it is "Deutschland". Or I might have to wear my metal cap again ;)
It was a common name for all foreigners, not just Germans. During a certain era, German traders were the most common foreigners in Slavic lands, so the name stuck with Germans.
As the Russian proverb says, "you can call me even 'kettle', just don't put me on the stove".
They call their country France, named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks. Only in Asterix they remember that their country should be called Gaul.
You mean, the Germans who call it “Frankreich”?
There were several Frankish tribes, who occupied over the years regions from Thuringia all the way to Gascony. You might have heard of Clovis, king of the Franks, baptised at Reims and who made Paris the capital of his kingdom, and founded the Frankish Merovingian dynasty that ruled almost all of what is France now for 2 centuries. Gauls had been heavily romanised well before that point anyway.
You should probably read a bit in a subject before trying to be clever.
For another example, the name "Russia" is derived from "Rus", which itself appears to be a derivative of the Norse "Ruslaw" - again, because it was the Norse who came, conquered, and became the ruling elite.
Basically, it happened all the time.
Let me guess: the one of the three Länder that are called something with "sachsen" that you forget is Niedersachsen, even despite spelling it out literally one word before that sentence! Being born in the only saxon capital of the of the country I was born in I've made a habit out of confusing saxons from the east by claiming that I'm one of them, never gets old.
(yeah, and I was close to posting that wiki link myself, so happy that nobody has started referring to the country by what it's most famous for)
But no, everybody must be pissing on their little sandbox - Neuchatel has to be Neuburg, although both are perfectly pronounciable in both languages. US has to be États-Unis. Practically every effin' language has this.
I'd say using original names and how they sound shows some proper respect towards given place, country, people, culture and its history. Shows you actually make some effort, and also shows having some class. But I can only wish this was a widespread opinion.
États-Unis is quite respectful as it literally describes how the country wants to be considered: United States. It is only if you don’t find the term meaningful that way you would want someone to uncomprehendingly parrot the sounds.
In Afghan Farsi (Dari) the bird is a "feel murgh" which translates as Elephant Chicken.
That's many centuries out of date. You want Ellas. The aspiration was lost long ago.
(We might also note that the Greek wikipedia page is titled Ellaða, but the first thing it does is list Ellas as an alternate name.)
Also, even more weirdness about the channel islands and the "British" overseas territories (which are isles, but not British isles...).
Try Czech: Cáchy, Trevír, Řezno vs Aachen, Trier, Regensburg.
(Or just look at the Wikipedia talk page archives for the city.)
And as long as the English speaking world still butchers German town names (Hanover, Hamelin, Nuremberg instead of Hannover, Hameln, Nürnberg) I think it is legit to call the country Turkey.