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Re: Language



At 01:15 19/01/01 +0000, you wrote:
Hi Niven
Dose that mean Cymric is now a lost language?
All the best
Kermit

Yes, except where it exists in place-names.

I have always found the study of place-names to be exciting because they
tell us something about the 'history' of the area.  For example, in my 30
years in Africa, the first thing I would do is to find out the meaning of a
place name e.g.

                        Nairobi                 =       river of black water
                        Nanyuki =       river of red water

The 'na' prefix told me that it was derived from the Masai language whereas:

                        Lulindi         =       place of deep water
                        Kilindini               =       the village in the place of the seep water
                        Malindi         =       the town in the place of the deep water

came from Kiswahili whilst:

                        Khartoum        =       elephant trunk (because the spit of land where
                                                the Blue and White Niles meet is shaped like an
                                                elephant's trunk

                        Jedda           =       Grandmother (hence Jedd is grandfather)
                        Cairo           =       Mars

are derived from the Arabic names for those places.

                        Gibraltar       =       comes from the Arabic "Jabil Tariq" or the Mountain of
                                                Tariq.  Tariq was the Moorish Commander who conquered
                                                Spain and the name Tariq comes from taraqa which means
                                                  to hammer so he was the 'hammerer'

                        Mohammed        =       comes from the Arabic hamada which means 'to praise'
                                                  so, in effect, Mohammed is 'he who is praised' in the same
                                                way as Christ means 'the anointed one'

Quite simply, every name and place-name has a meaning which, when known, can add immeasurably to our
knowledge.

Niven Sinclair



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