England, but Dutch

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3 points·anieuwland··2 comments

A map of England with place names etymologically translated.

Explanation in Dutch here: https://taaldacht.nl/2023/08/05/engeland-maar-dan-nederlands...

The author put in a lot of effort to not just literally translate names, but find the common etymological root between English and Dutch and then translate according to the sound shifts occurring in Dutch since then.

* reconstructing contractions

* -ham to -hem / -um / -em and others

* difference between the written name and the spoken name, e.g. Birmingham becoming Berminchem and Bermekom respectively

There is more if you're interested. It probably translates well via the web browser.

I didn't see an explanation for how the -chester suffix became -kaster, as in "Manchester" (en) -> "Mankaster" (nl). Perhaps I missed it?

The -chester means something like "a city or walled town, originally one that had been a Roman station", or sometimes "prehistoric fort". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_(placename_element)

I thought it might be the sound, but I see Worcester (which is the spelling of the unpalatalised variant ) is translated to Workaster, so it's a consistent conversion based on the root.

But if it's etymology, I can't find (at least not with my poor knowledge of Dutch) a Dutch use of -kaster.

A-ha! I think I figured it out! The Dutch village of Kesteren is from the Latin "Castra", for "army camp", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesteren .

Well done!

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