Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-24
EUROPEAN NAMES
ODDLY CHANGED
Venice for Venezia Example
of Twists Given Some
times by Error.

Are YOU familiar with Sardegna,
Eariovy, Ankara or Thessalonike?
Probably not, though you readily recog-
nize the Anglicized names OF those
places, which ar, respectively, Sardinia
Karlsbad, Angora and Salonih.
The question Of how, then, did Eng
disappearing people come to adopt
these and other appellations for Euro
pean places is discussed in bulletin
from the National Geographic Society;
The society compiled list OF oInclal
spellings Of European place mait foS i iss
the preparation of its new map LOT us
membership, which map follows the
rule of national autonomy in the spen.
ing of foreign place names. some OF
the strange names are results OF
changes since the World War" the
bulletin says. "Others diverge because
of long usage; in some cases the qlver.
Uence is due to sheer error perpetuateo
from medieval times: ,...
"Such seems to be the case with
Ydyorno. Because English sailors who
nut in at the famous Italian hat port
centuries ago did not pronounce the
name properly, the city won the unSo-
licited title Of Leghorn. And, to TINS
day, English and Americans have per-
petuated what additionally was merely
o seaman's error.
'Venice'' Unknown 10 Italy.
'Tn north italy especially place name
Inconsistencies thrive in startling
abundance, as every traveller knows.
Many an American tourist has puzzled
an Inexperienced italian ticket agent by
asking for a ticket to Venice.
Venice, Milan, Padua, Genoa, Flor
ence, Turin-none of these is to be
found In an Italian railway schedule,
or ON the .letterhead Of resident IN
any Of those cities.
%The history of the 'Anglicization' Of
Florence illustrates how these Spellings
have wandered so far from the home
Romans christened the town Flor
entia. meaning 'hourishing' or bloom
ing The French converted this spell
ing into Florence, which England, and
later America, accepted But mean
while the Latin of the Romans dissolved
into modern Italian, which spells 1t
T,renze. The new National Geographic
Soriety's map spells it Firenze, with
tFlorence) below. Venice, Milan, Pa
Cua, Genoa and Turin in native dress
are Venezia, Milano, Padova, Geneva
and Torino.
Comparable to "Neuvo York"
''Misraming of foreign places has per-
sisted under the principle Of AngliciZa-
ton; the necessity Of giving the Eng
lish Of It. Such principle recognizes
the right of SpaniardS to use Nuevo
York and Germans, Neues York.
Examination Of maps reveals that
AngIiciZation Is q miSnomer itself.
Actually English and American map
makers have often accepted French or
German spellings.
name OF the German city, Koln, for
the English tongue and palate might
be Koein. Instead, English-speal1ing
people have accepted the French Co.
1ogne.
Spelling Often German.
aaermans have been famous as ex-
plorers and mapmakers. so the German
spelling for place names in parts Of
Europe and other continents has often
become the English spelling. German
penetration Of Russia, coupled with the
difficulties of the Russian alphabet, re-
suited In the extensive use of German
names for Russian Places. The Rus
SLAMS countenanced the English worlds
use Of 81. Petersburg until Russia went
to war with Germany. Then the name
was altered to Petrograd. Later it was
renamed Leningrad, the grad Slavic
for city, persisting instead Of the Ger
man burg
introduction of native local names,
the ofiicial post office names, for indi-
vidual European states is relatively easy
when the nation uses the Latin alpha
bet. Difficulties arise in countries such
as the y. s. S. r.. where the alphabet
tional geographic boards have worked
out rules Of transliteration by which the
equivalents of letters unknown to the
English alphabet can be written in
Latin letters.
"The result may be breath-taking, as
in PoIuostrov Kolskn for the region
formerly known as Kola Peninsula, but
1t is accurate"