List of tautological place names
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A place name is tautological if two parts of it are synonymous. This often occurs when a name from one language is imported into another and a standard descriptor is added on from the second language. Thus, for example, New Zealand's Mount Maunganui is tautological since maunga is Māori for mountain. The following is a list of place names often used tautologically, plus the languages from which the non-English name elements have come.
Tautological place names are systematically generated in languages such as English and Russian, where the type of the feature is systematically added to a name regardless if that contains it already. For example, in Russian, the format "Ozero X-ozero" (i.e. "Lake X-lake") is used. In English, it is usual to do the same for foreign names, even if they already describe the feature, for example Lake Kemijärvi (Lake Kemi-lake), or Saaremaa island (Island land island, actually island land island land, since island comes from an old English word for island land).
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Rivers
- Connecticut River, United States (Long Tidal River River - Algonquian)
- Cuyahoga River, Ohio ("Cuyahoga" means "crooked river" in a Native American language. [specify])
- Fishkill Creek, New York, USA (small waterway small waterway - "kil" meaning "small waterway" in Dutch)
- Hatchie River, United States (River River - "hatchie" meaning "river" in Muskogean languages)
- Kymijoki, Finland (River River)
- Latsa erreka (tributary of the Nive), France (Brook Brook - Euskara)
- Mississippi River, United States, and Mississippi River, Ontario, Canada (Big River River - Algonquian)
- Molopo River, South Africa (River River - Setswana)
- Paraguay River, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina (From the Great River River - Guaraní Language)
- Potomac River, United States ("Potomac" comes from Greek "potamos," meaning "river.")
- Rillito River, southern Arizona, United States (Little River River - Spanish)
- Río Guadix, Spain (River River River - Río is "river" in Spanish, guad comes from Arabic wādi 'valley' or 'river', and ix is "river" in Phoenician)
- Río Guadalquivir, Spain (Great River River - from Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr 'The Great Valley (or River)'.
- Reka, Slovenia - the name means literally "River" in Slovene
- River Avon, various in England and Scotland (River River - Brythonic (spelled Afon in modern Welsh), or Goidelic abhainn)[1]
- River Avonmore, County Wicklow, Ireland (Big River River - Irish: Abhainn Mór)
- River Avonbeg, County Wicklow, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- River Awbeg, County Cork, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- River Humber, England, and Humber River, Ontario, Canada (River River - Brythonic)
- River Tyne, England (River River - Brythonic)
- Schuylkill River, eastern Pennsylvania (Hidden River River - the suffix kill in Dutch meaning "river")
- Šešupė River, Lithuania (Sixth River River - Lithuanian)[2]
- Skookumchuck River and Pilchuck River, Washington, United States - the suffix chuck in Chinook Jargon meaning "river"
- Uruguay River, Uruguay and Argentina (River of the painted birds River - Guaraní Language)
- Vaslui River, Romania - uj meant "body of water" in Cuman
- Walla Walla River, Washington, United States (Little River River; Walla means "river" in Sahaptin, repeated to express the diminutive ("little river"))
- Most river names in Java, Indonesia starts with the prefix "ci-", which is Javanese for "river". Many people refers the names redundantly using both the Indonesian word "sungai" and prefix "ci-", for example, "Sungai Cihampelas" ("Cihampelas River") translates to "Sungai Sungai Hampelas"/"Hampelas River River".
Lakes and other bodies of water
- Dal Lake, Kashmir (Lake Lake - Balti)
- Deschutes Falls, Tumwater, Washington (Falls Falls, Falls, Washington - Chinuk Wawa)
- Gaube Lake, Hautes-Pyrénées (Lake Lake - French and Gascon)
- Gulf of Bothnia (Gulf of gulf - English and Latinised Swedish)
- Hayle Estuary, Cornwall (Estuary Estuary - Cornish Heyl "estuary")
- Järvijärvi, Sodankylä, Finland (Lake Lake – Finnish)[3]
- Jaurajärvi and Jaurakkajärvi, Finland (Lake Lake - Sami javri "lake", Finnish järvi "lake")
- Laacher See, Germany - A caldera lake and potentially active volcano (Lake of the Lake)
- Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria - 'lagos' is Portuguese for 'lakes', and 'lagoon' derives from Latin 'lacus' "lake, pond"
- Laguna de Bay, Philippines - also referred to as Laguna Lake (Lake Lake - Spanish)
- Laguna Lake, California (Lake Lake - Spanish)
- Lake Chad, Chad (Lake lake - Bornu word tsade: "lake")
- Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand (Ella's lake lake - Old Norse. Several English lakes, such as Windermere, are often incorrectly referred to using the incorrect "Lake -mere" form, but New Zealand's has this form as its official name)
- Issyk-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan (Hot Lake Lake - Kyrgyz)
- Lake Lagunita, Stanford, California (Lake Little Lake - Spanish)
- Lake Nyassa (now called Lake Malawi), Malawi/Mozambique (Lake Lake - Yao)
- Lake Rotorua, New Zealand (Lake Lake Second - Māori. Many other New Zealand lakes have the tautological "Lake Roto-" form)
- Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California (Lake the lake - Washo Native American Tribal language)
- Lakeville Lake, Michigan, USA - The village is Lakeville, the adjacent lake is Lakeville Lake.
- Loch Loch, Scotland. Not to be confused with Loch Lochy.
- Loch Lomond Lake, near Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
- Loch Watten, Scotland, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse vatn
- Loughrigg Tarn, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse "ridge", and "tarn" meaning a body of water
- Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota, USA (Thousand Lakes Lake - French)
- Østensjøvann is a Norwegian lake name that concatenates sjø ("lake that is not as narrow as a fjord") and vann ("lake"). Similarly Møsvann in Telemark, Norway combines mjøsa meaning lake with vann meaning lake.
- Tal-y-llyn Lake, Wales (End-of the-lake lake - llyn is Welsh for lake)
- Vatnshlíðarvatn, Iceland (Lake-slope-lake - The farm Vatnshlíð (Lake-slope) named after the lake, which in turn is named after the farm.)
- Vatnvatnet, Norway (Lakelake - Norwegian), a lake near Bodø
- Wast Water, England - 'water's valley water' from Old Norse "vatns dalr" (= Wasdale) and Old English "wæter"
- Lake Hayq, Ethiopia - hayk Amh. means lake.
- Sandefjordsfjorden, Norway, Sande fjord's fjord
- Lake Michigan, United States - 'Lake Large Lake' (Michigan is French alteration on the Ojibwe word mishigamaa)
Mountains and hills
- Bergeberget, Norway (The Hill Hill - Norwegian)
- Brda Hills, Slovenia - "brda" means small hills in Slovene (thus, the area is sometimes referred to as "Goriška Brda" or "Gorizia Hills" to distinguish it from others)
- Bredon Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill - Brythonic/Old English/Modern English); compare Bredon and Breedon on the Hill (Hill Hill on the Hill - Brythonic/Saxon/Modern English)[4]
- Brill, England (Hill Hill - Brythonic/Saxon) - also once known in documents as Brill-super-montem (Hill Hill on the Hill - Brythonic/Saxon/Latin)
- Brincliffe Edge, Sheffield, UK (Burning Hill Hill Welsh/English)
- Bryn Glas Hill, Wales (Blue Hill Hill - Welsh/English)
- Brynhill, Wales (Hill Hill - Welsh/English)
- Djebel Amour, Algeria: (Arabic & Tamazight)
- Eizmendi: Haitz Mendi 'mount mount' (Euskara)
- Filefjell, Norway (The mountain mountain - Norwegian)
- Fjällfjällen, Sweden (The mountain mountains - Swedish)
- Garmendia: Garr- Mendi(a) (fossil & modern Basque)
- Gibraltar, commonly "The Rock of Gibraltar" From Arabic Jebel-Al-Tariq, which means "The Rock of Tariq"
- Hill Mountain, Pembrokeshire, Wales
- Hueco Tanks, an area of low mountains in El Paso County, Texas.
- Knockhill, a common placename in the Scottish Lowlands, deriving from either Scottish Gaelic, cnoc meaning a "hill" or a similar word originating in either Danish or one of the West Germanic languages that predated Old English.
- Kukkulamäki, in 24 distinct locations (Rautjärvi, Jyväskylä, Salo, ...) in Finland, is kukkula "hill" and mäki "hill".[3]
- Mongibellu, Sicilian name of the volcano Etna, in Sicily, Italy (Mountain Mountain, from Romance monte and Arabic žabal).
- Montcuq, Lot, France: Mont Kukk 'mount mount'
- Mount Katahdin, Maine (Mount The Greatest Mountain - English/Penobscot)
- Mount Kenya, Kenya (Mount White Mountain - "Kenya" is from Kikuyu "Kirinyaga", 'white mountain')
- Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Mount Mount Njaro - Swahili)
- Mount Maunganui, New Zealand (Mount Mount Big - Māori)
- Ochil Hills, Scotland (Hill hills)
- Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. (Hill Hill Hill) - "Pen" -(Cumbric language) "Pendle" by epenthesis and elision from "Pen Hyll", the latter word being Old English for "hill".
- Pendleton, near Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. (Hill Hill Town) or, possibly (Hill Hill Hill), taking the -ton as deriving from Old English dun as opposed to Old English tun.
- Pendleton Hill, North Stonington, Connecticut. (Hill Hill Town Hill) or, possibly, (Hill Hill Hill Hill).
- Pic de la Munia in Piau-Engaly, France: Pic Muño (Romance & Euskara)
- Picacho Peak (Arizona, U.S.) (Peak Peak - Spanish)
- Pinnacle Peak (Maricopa County, Arizona, U.S.) and Mount Pinnacle (southwestern Virginia, U.S.). Both English. Other locations have the same names.
- Slieve Mish Mountains, Ireland (Mis's Mountain mountains)
- Slieve Bloom Mountains, Ireland - (Bladh's Mountain Mountains)
- Summit Peak, New Zealand (Peak Peak - both English) - also the U.S. has five hills called Summit Peak.
- Table Mesa, Colorado (Table Table - Spanish)[5] - also Table Mesa, Arizona
- Torpenhow Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill Hill - SW-British (Tor) / Brythonic (pen = "head") / Anglo-Saxon hōh = "spur of high ground" / English (hill)) (disputed [6])
- Tuc de la Pale, Ariège, France: Tuk Pal 'mount mount'
- Urlichsberg in central Carinthia, Austria - the name derives from the Slovene name "Vrh", which means peak (more exactly, from the Carinthian Slovene version uerh); the name in German thus means "Mount Peak"
- Vignemale, Pyrenees: Went Mal 'mount mount'
Islands
- Canvey Island, UK (Cana's island island - Anglo-Saxon)
- Dodecanese Islands, Aegean Sea (Twelve Islands Islands - Greek; usually called just Dodecanese)
- Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, also Faroes or Faeroes (Faroese: Føroyar, Danish: Færøerne, Icelandic: Færeyjar, Bokmål: Færøyene, Nynorsk: Færøyane), North Atlantic (Sheep Islands Islands - Faroese) — It is the -oe part of Faeroe that means 'islands' (Faroese: oyar, Danish: øerne, Icelandic: eyjar, Bokmål: øyene, Nynorsk: øyane); the first part of the name (Før- or Fær-) is thought to mean 'sheep'; see History of the Faroe Islands.
- Gili Islands, North-west of Lombok, Indonesia (Small Island Islands - Sasak)
- Grand Manan Island, CA (grand island island - Maliseet-Passamaquoddy-Penobscot Indian)
- Isle of Sheppey, UK (Island of sheep island - Saxon)
- Lundy Island, UK (puffin island island - Norse)
- Motutapu Island, New Zealand (Island Sacred Island - Māori)
- Orkney Islands, UK, (Boar Island Islands), suffix ey means island
- Walney Island, UK (British island island - Old Norse)
Other
- Aran Valley, Catalonia, Spain - "Aran" comes from the proto-Basque word "haran" meaning "valley"; in the local Gascon dialect, "aran" also means valley
- Ardtornish Point, Scotland (High/Heights or Point Point) - "Aird" from Gaelic, "Nish" from the Norse Ness and Point from English - all referring to some form of cape, point or headland).
- Avenue Road in Toronto, Ontario.
- Barna Gap, Ireland - (Gap Gap - Barna is the Irish word for a mountain gap)
- Beechhurst Holt Wood, England (beech wood wood wood - Anglo-Saxon)
- Boulder Rock, Ross Dependency, Antarctica
- Carmarthen, Wales (Welsh : Caerfyddin) - (Fort fort by the sea - "Caer"/"Car" = Welsh for fort (from Latin castra), "marthen"/"m(f)yrddin" is Welsh name derived from Latin Moridunum, which itself derived from Brythonic "môr" (sea) and "din"/"dun" (fort))[7]
- Cartagena, Spain - (New New City - from Latin Carthago Nova, 'New Carthage'; but Carthago itself is from Phoenician Qart-ḥadašt, 'New City')
- Châteaudun, France (Castle Stronghold - French and Gaulish)
- Cividale, a town in Friuli, Italy - the name comes from Latin "civitas", meaning "city" or "town"
- Col de Port, Ariège, France (Pass Pass - French and Occitan)
- Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France (Coast of Coast - French and Breton)
- Eas Fors Waterfall on the Isle of Mull in Scotland (waterfall waterfall waterfall)
- El Camino Way in Palo Alto, California (The way way - Spanish)[5]
- El Pont de Suert, Catalonia, Spain - literally 'the bridge of bridge'; "Pont" is the Catalan word for 'bridge' derived from Latin pons, pontis 'bridge' and "Suert" is the Basque word for 'bridge'
- El Puente de Alcántara, Toledo, Spain, (The Bridge of the Bridge - Puente from Spanish, Alcántara from Arabic al-qanṭaraht 'the bridge')
- Forumtorget in Uppsala, Sweden. Forum being the Latin word for square and torget also meaning square. Thus, Square-square.
- Glendale - Anglicisation of the Gaelic Gleann Dail. Gleann simply means "valley", and dail is a borrowing from the Norse for "valley", which in Gaelic specifically means a valley containing fertile arable land, or any low-lying farmland. The anglicised form appears more tautological as the word dale in English is used to describe any valley.
- Gobi Desert, central Asia (Very large and dry desert, Gobi means 'very large and dry' in Mongolian)
- Jiayuguan Pass - (Jiayu Pass Pass - Mandarin Chinese)
- Kaieteur Falls in Kaieteur National Park, Potaro-Siparuni Region, Guyana - (Kai falls Falls - Patamona language)
- La Brea Tar Pits, California (The Tar Tar Pits - Spanish)[5]
- Lee Mead - (Meadow Meadow)
- Milky Way Galaxy (Milky Way Milky Way — Greek; for this reason some scientists, such as the late Isaac Asimov, have argued that the Milky Way should be renamed the "Home Galaxy" or some such.)
- Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota (Waterfall Falls - Lakota)
- Moorestown Township, New Jersey
- Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire - Napton means "settlement on the hill"
- Nathu La Pass, Sino-Indian border, (Listening Ears Pass Pass- Tibetan)
- Nesoddtangen, Norway - (The Cape cape cape, Norwegian, from nes (promontory or cape), odde (promontory or cape) and tange (promontory or cape))
- Nyanza Lac, Burundi - ("Nyanza" and "Lac" are the Bantu and French words for "lake" respectively. Interestingly, Nyanza Lac is not a lake - it's a city)
- Sahara desert, Africa (Deserts desert - Arabic)
- Playalinda Beach, Florida (Pretty beach beach - Spanish)
- Rökstenen, a runestone in Sweden
- Selo, a village near Ajdovščina, Slovenia - the word "selo" means "village" in old Slovene
- Selo, a village near Sežana, Slovenia - "selo" means "village" in old Slovene
- Sela na Krasu, a village on the Kras Plateau in western Slovenia - literally meaning "villages on the Kras"
- Sharm Old Harbour (a common English name for the old harbour at Sharm el Sheikh) (harbour old harbour - Arabic)
- Skarðsskarð, Iceland (Pass's Pass: A mountain pass named after a farm which in turn is named after tha pass to begin with.)
- Staðarstaður, Iceland (Staður means "a pastor's farm" and is a common suffix to the names of such farms—this means "Pastor's farm which is a pastor's farm")
- Street Road is a highway that passes through several towns slightly north of Philadelphia, PA - Two nearly synonymous English words
- Te Rere Hau Wind Farm, New Zealand (The flowing wind wind farm - Māori/English)
- Timor-Leste, East Timor, (East East - Indonesian/Malay, Portuguese) - Note: this is the eastern half of an island that is the easternmost major island in its chain.
- Trendle Ring earthwork in Somerset, England (Circle Circle)
See also
References
- ^ Victor Wadds, ed., The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place Names, 2004, s.n. River AVON
- ^ Piesarskas, Bronius (1995). Lithuanian Dictionary. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12857-9.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Kansalaisen karttapaikka. http://kansalaisen.karttapaikka.fi/
- ^ McDonald, Fred (1993). The Guinness Book of British Place Names. London: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-576-X.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Merriam-Webster (1998). Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam Webster. ISBN 0-87779-165-1.
- ^ The Debunking of Torpenhow Hill
- ^ Hywel Wyn Jones, The Place-Names of Wales, 1998