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ArchivesNames that sound (very) different in other languages
Names like Sophia can become Sofia or Sophie, or can even go as far as Zofie and still be similar, either by sound or spelling. But about names that sound nothing like the regular form.
I'll take a name from my culture, Ibolya as an example. Ibolya is the Hungarian form of Violet, even though it sounds nothing like the english for violet (it does sound like ebola though). The reason for this is because Ibolya is the literal form of Violet in the Hungarian language.
Other names look nothing like their original form because of the pronounciation of certain letter. For example, the Somali name Cabdiraxmaan, which is the Somali for of Abd-ar-rahman . The resoning why these names look so wildly different in their latin form is because C in somali is pronounced like an a and x is a h. So using these letters, (with the -) Cadbiraxmaan becomes Aabd-ir-rahmaan, which looks a lot closer to it's original form.
But some names i don't understand, like the user-submitted Sami name Ååjjaž, which is the Sami form of Eugenia. But Ååjjaž looks nor sounds (Saying the j as a y and the Z as zh) like Eugenia.
What other names do you know that look nor sound anything like their original form? Do you know why this is?
(Sorry if this is badly written english is my second language)
I'll take a name from my culture, Ibolya as an example. Ibolya is the Hungarian form of Violet, even though it sounds nothing like the english for violet (it does sound like ebola though). The reason for this is because Ibolya is the literal form of Violet in the Hungarian language.
Other names look nothing like their original form because of the pronounciation of certain letter. For example, the Somali name Cabdiraxmaan, which is the Somali for of Abd-ar-rahman . The resoning why these names look so wildly different in their latin form is because C in somali is pronounced like an a and x is a h. So using these letters, (with the -) Cadbiraxmaan becomes Aabd-ir-rahmaan, which looks a lot closer to it's original form.
But some names i don't understand, like the user-submitted Sami name Ååjjaž, which is the Sami form of Eugenia. But Ååjjaž looks nor sounds (Saying the j as a y and the Z as zh) like Eugenia.
What other names do you know that look nor sound anything like their original form? Do you know why this is?
(Sorry if this is badly written english is my second language)
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Replies
Botros, Boutros and Butrus, the Arabic forms of Peter.
Evžen, the Czech form of Eugene, looks mildly different from its counterpart, though its pronunciation is similar (ž making the zh sound).
Lalo is a Spanish diminutive of Eduardo, itself a form of Edward.
Silje, a Norwegian/Danish diminutive of Cecilia, also looks quite different (but again, the pronunciation is similar, Norwegian j sounds like an English y, and probably Danish too, though I’m more knowledgeable on the former).
Evžen, the Czech form of Eugene, looks mildly different from its counterpart, though its pronunciation is similar (ž making the zh sound).
Lalo is a Spanish diminutive of Eduardo, itself a form of Edward.
Silje, a Norwegian/Danish diminutive of Cecilia, also looks quite different (but again, the pronunciation is similar, Norwegian j sounds like an English y, and probably Danish too, though I’m more knowledgeable on the former).
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I think a distinction needs to be made between names in various languages which are actually derived from a common root, and names which merely have the same meaning in different languages.
As an example, the Greek name Sophia means "wisdom" and so does the Japanese name Chie, but it would not be correct to say that Chie is the Japanese form of Sophia. They are unrelated names.
Every language has its own phonological system and will substitute, add, or drop original sounds for familiar ones. Names which are actually related across languages have sounds that have changed in an identifiable, consistent way (for example, English John, Joseph vs. Italian Giovanni, Giuseppe vs. the original Hebrew forms which appear to have started with a /y/). It appears to me that Hungarian "ibolya" and English "violet" actually do have a common etymology through Latin "viola," and, if so, then Ibolya is indeed the Hungarian form of the English name Violet and not just a translation.
As an example, the Greek name Sophia means "wisdom" and so does the Japanese name Chie, but it would not be correct to say that Chie is the Japanese form of Sophia. They are unrelated names.
Every language has its own phonological system and will substitute, add, or drop original sounds for familiar ones. Names which are actually related across languages have sounds that have changed in an identifiable, consistent way (for example, English John, Joseph vs. Italian Giovanni, Giuseppe vs. the original Hebrew forms which appear to have started with a /y/). It appears to me that Hungarian "ibolya" and English "violet" actually do have a common etymology through Latin "viola," and, if so, then Ibolya is indeed the Hungarian form of the English name Violet and not just a translation.
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