List of Bergen, New Netherland placename etymologies: Difference between revisions
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====''[[Hackensack, New Jersey|Hackensack]]''==== |
====''[[Hackensack, New Jersey|Hackensack]]''==== |
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====''[[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]]''==== |
====''[[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]]''==== |
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The name "Hoboken" was decided upon by [[John Stevens (inventor)|Colonel John Stevens]] when he purchased land, on a part of which the city still sits. |
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It's believed that the [[Lenape]] referred to the area as the “land of the tobacco pipe”, most likely to refer to the [[soapstone]] collected there to carve [[Smoking pipe (tobacco)|tobacco pipe]]s, and used a phrase that became “Hopoghan Hackingh”.<ref>[http://www.hobokenmuseum.org/abridged_history.htm HM-hist "The Abridged History of Hoboken", Hoboken Museum, Accessed 24-Nov-2006.]</ref> |
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It cannot be confirmed that the American Hoboken is named after the Flemish town [[Hoboken, Antwerp|Hoboken]], annexed in 1983 to [[Antwerp]], [[Belgium]],<ref>[http://members.home.nl/pushkar/oranje11.html#1626 Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1600 - 1700<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> whose name is derived from Middle Dutch ''Hooghe Buechen'' or ''Hoge Beuken'', meaning ''High [[Beech]]es'' or ''Tall Beeches''.<ref>[http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/article.asp?articleref=AR00000382EN U.S. Towns and Cities with Dutch Names], Embassy of the Netherlands. Accessed [[November 24]], [[2006]].</ref> The city has also been cited as having been named after the [[Van Hoboken]] family of the 17th-century estate in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where there is still a square dedicated to them. |
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''Hoebuck'', old Dutch for high bluff and likely referring to Castle Point, was used during the colonial era and later spelled in English as ''Hobuck'',<ref>''Hoboken Reporter'' Jan 16, 2005</ref> ''Hobock'',<ref>http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl</ref> and ''Hoboocken''.<ref>http://files.usgwarchives.org/nj/statewide/history/colrec/vol21/v21-01.txt</ref> |
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====''[[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]]''==== |
====''[[Passaic, New Jersey|Passaic]]''==== |
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[[Passaic River]], it was first settled in [[1678]] by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] traders, as [[Acquackanonk Township, New Jersey|Acquackanonk Township]]. The city and river draw their name from the [[Lenape]] word "pahsayèk" meaning "valley".<ref>[http://www.web-savvy.com/river/schuylkill/new_lenape.html Lenape Language / Pronunciation], accessed [[September 20]], [[2006]].</ref> |
[[Passaic River]], it was first settled in [[1678]] by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] traders, as [[Acquackanonk Township, New Jersey|Acquackanonk Township]]. The city and river draw their name from the [[Lenape]] word "pahsayèk" meaning "valley".<ref>[http://www.web-savvy.com/river/schuylkill/new_lenape.html Lenape Language / Pronunciation], accessed [[September 20]], [[2006]].</ref> |
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Revision as of 18:21, 3 October 2008
Placenames in the 17th century province of Bergen, New Netherland (in what is now northeastern New Jersey), in most cases had their roots in Dutch, English. and Algonquian language Lenape. At the time of European settlement it was the territory of the Raritan, Tappan and Hackensack Indians, who spoke the Unami dialect.
Without a written language, the Lenape used configurations of sticks and oral communication to share ideas (History was so preserved). It was the New Netherlanders who first used the Latin alphabet to write down the words they heard from the indigenous people. These phonetic spellings were no doubt greatly influenced by Dutch, which was the lingua franca of the province, though, as a polygot society, many were spoken. The current spelling (and presumably pronouciation) of each evolved during the last four centuries.
There are various opinions as to the naming of Bergen itself. Some say that it so called for Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands or the city in Norway[1] Others believe it comes from the word bergen, which in the Germanic languages of northern Europe means hills,[2] and could describe a most distinct geological feature of the region, The Palisades.[3]Yet another interpretation is that it comes from the Dutch word bergen, meaning to save or to recover, prompted by the settlers return after they had fled attacks by the native population.
Pavonia, the first settlement by the Europeans, takes its name from a burgermeester of Amsterdam. Micheal Pauw purchased land along the banks of the Hudson in 1633 in order to establish a patroonship. Pavonia is a Latinized version of his surname, based on the word for peacock (During the Dutch Golden Age, a period of economic, scientific and artistic growth, Latin was used in academia, and occasionally among upper echelon.)
The name "Hoboken" was decided upon by Colonel John Stevens when he purchased land, on a part of which the city still sits.
It's believed that the Lenape referred to the area as the “land of the tobacco pipe”, most likely to refer to the soapstone collected there to carve tobacco pipes, and used a phrase that became “Hopoghan Hackingh”.[4]
It cannot be confirmed that the American Hoboken is named after the Flemish town Hoboken, annexed in 1983 to Antwerp, Belgium,[5] whose name is derived from Middle Dutch Hooghe Buechen or Hoge Beuken, meaning High Beeches or Tall Beeches.[6] The city has also been cited as having been named after the Van Hoboken family of the 17th-century estate in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where there is still a square dedicated to them. Hoebuck, old Dutch for high bluff and likely referring to Castle Point, was used during the colonial era and later spelled in English as Hobuck,[7] Hobock,[8] and Hoboocken.[9]
Passaic River, it was first settled in 1678 by Dutch traders, as Acquackanonk Township. The city and river draw their name from the Lenape word "pahsayèk" meaning "valley".[10]
The town's name is pronounced "SEE-kaw-cus", with the accent on the first syllable, not the second as often used by non-natives.[11]
"Weehawken" is generally considered to have evolved from the Lenape (or Delaware Indian). It has variously been interpreted as "place of gulls" or "rocks that look like rows of trees", which would refer to the Palisades, atop of which most of the town sits.[12] The Lenape, whose contemporary language the word "wikweko" means "at the end of", may have used that meaning to describe the end of the cliffs closest to the river or to the mouth of the stream that flowed from them.
Spellings in Dutch and English have included: Awiehawken, Wiehacken, Weehauk, Weehawk, Weehock, Wiceaken and Wiehachan.
References
- ^ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njhudson/genhistory_hudson_bergen_2.html.
- ^ Walking Tour of the Bergen Square
- ^ Indigenous Population
- ^ HM-hist "The Abridged History of Hoboken", Hoboken Museum, Accessed 24-Nov-2006.
- ^ Nederlandse Geschiedenis, 1600 - 1700
- ^ U.S. Towns and Cities with Dutch Names, Embassy of the Netherlands. Accessed November 24, 2006.
- ^ Hoboken Reporter Jan 16, 2005
- ^ http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl
- ^ http://files.usgwarchives.org/nj/statewide/history/colrec/vol21/v21-01.txt
- ^ Lenape Language / Pronunciation, accessed September 20, 2006.
- ^ Page, Jeffrey. "Our towns challenge our tongues", The Record (Bergen County), June 17, 2005. Accessed June 19, 2007. "You can always tell newcomers to Secaucus. Because most words are pronounced with emphasis on the next-to-last syllable, they say they live in see-KAW-cus - although the ones who fear their friends might recall that Secaucus used to be pig-farming country might say they live in South Carlstadt, which doesn't exist. If I said 'see-KAW-cus' to someone local, they'd think I didn't know what I was talking about, said Dan McDonough, the municipal historian. Of course it's SEE-kaw-cus. Everybody knows that."
- ^ Weehawken, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, accessed June 13, 2007. "A township in Hudson County, N.J., seven miles northeast of Jersy [sic] City. The name was originally an Algonquin Indian term and later changed by folk-usage to a pseudo-Dutch form. Its exact meaning is unclear, but variously translated as place of gulls, rocks that look like trees, maize land, at the end (of the Palisades) and field lying along the Hudson."