S10: Writing systems
  
 

1. Meaning sound and looks - A) Meaning: the semantic aspect

<previous - next>
 

 

  • As long as a name is what it means, both its sound and its looks (spelling) are only relevant as far as they support the meaning.

  • The name ‘Nederland’ is wat it means to our neighbours: ‘Low country’. So they translate it for instance into ‘Pays-Bas’ (French) or Netherlands (English) or Niederlande (German), even though that does neither sound nor look like ‘Nederland’.

  • To Romans and Italians, however, the names Qart Hadasht and Neapolis had never been what they meant (‘new towns’). So they became what they sounded: Carthago (to the Roman ear) and Napoli.

For more information click Click here for more information
 
Print this page
 

 

Copyright United Nations Statistics Division and International Cartographic Association, July 2012