Spain

Spain (Spanish España), that sunny country on the Iberian Peninsula whose offspring spread their culture and faith throughout most of America and to many other parts, has a long and complicated history. At the western edge of the ancient Mediterranean world, it was an important source of natural resources and warriors.

The modern name Spain derives of course from the Latin name for the Iberian peninsula, Hispania. Its course into English follows Anglo-French Espayne, which in turn derived from late Latin Spania. Hispania, however, has a disputed history, no doubt because the name is so ancient. As Spain was at one time settled by the same Phonecians who founded Carthage, its name could likely derive from a Punic source:^ʔi-spn-ya, with the first element designating a land or island, and the last meaning "region." The Semitic root is related to Hebrew saphan, meaning "hares, hydraxes." Some Romans (including Cicero and Catullus, for example) therefore took the name Hispania to be derived from a Punic source meaning "land of hares." The Punic root could also mean "north" (Hebrew sphan), or "to forge metals." Modern observers, however, tend to see these theories as perhaps a bit romantic.
Another likely theory has the word Hispania derived from the same source as Seville, Latin Hispalis. The words for the city and the country may then derive from an older Iberian word *hispa, whose meaning is lost. Still others refer to the poetic usage of Hesperia ultima, "the farthest west," from Greek Ἑσπερία, "land of the setting sun / western land." (this would ultimately would derive from Indo-European *wes-pero, which gives us also vesper "evening" in Latin, and whose reduced form is the source of English "west"). Whatever the case, a certain lack of clarity is to be expected, given the ancient history of the Iberian peninsula, which was also home to several languages still unkown to us today.

For most of its history, Spain has been more a geographial entity than a political one. Roman Hispania was divided into several provinces:

At the time of Caesar Augustus, these included Lusitania (most of modern Portugal and Extremadura), named for the Lusitani, an Indo-European tribe who may have been Celtic; Baetica (roughly modern Andalusia), named for the river Baetis (called Baits by the Phonecians), which is today the Guadalquivir, and Tarraconensis, named for Tarraco (now Tarragona), which was the capital of the province, its name perhaps coming from a Phonecian word for "citadel," tarchon. Hispania was gradually Romanized.

In the 5th century, various Germanic tribes overran the western Roman Empire, including the Suevi, and Vandals, who settled in the northwest and the south, respectively. In the next few centuries, the whole peninsula (as well as part of southern France) was united under the Visigoths, and the Visigothic Kingdom based in Toledo would be the ancestor of the medieval kingdoms of northern Spain. In their roughly 3 centuries of rule, however, the Visigoths themselves remained apart from the locals, contributing to their downfall. The Visigothic language had very little impact on embryonic Spanish.

In 711, Muslim Berbers and Arabs conquered almost the whole peninsula except for a few northern enclaves and established the Muslim domain known as al-Andalus (الأندلس), a name whose origin is disputed (see Andalusia). The Muslims had a profound effect on the local culture and left behind a wealth of place-names. Almost from the beginning, Christian kingdoms in the north, remnants of Visigothic rule, fought to regain lands lost to the Muslims: la Recoquista. In 1469, Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, establishing the Kingdom of Spain, making Spain a political entity rather than a geographical area. Modern Spain directly derives from this kingdom.

Switzerland

Switzerland, German die Schweiz, French la Suisse, Italian Svizzera, and officially the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin, hence CH as its country code), is everyone's favorite tax haven. Perhaps literally the most democratic nation on Earth, it sits in the middle of the Alps and snubs its nose at the bureaucratic monstrosity known as the European Union. It has a cheese for every valley, a square flag flown by the most patriotic people in Europe, and great choclate. Switzerland has had a history of isolation "from it all," which one would expect given its location.

In Roman times, the region comprising modern Switzerland first belonged to the Celtic Helvetii tribe. Their name could be a compund of Celtic elements: *elu-et(u) "rich in land" (cf. Welsh elw "gain, profit" and Old Irish il- "many"). The lands belonging to the Helvetii were conquered and incorporated into the Roman Empire as parts of the provinces Germania Superior and Rhaetia (probably derived from Celtic rait "mountain land"). Like much of the rest of the Empire, this land passed into Frankish control, eventually ending up split up between the duchies of Burgundy and Alemannia (later Swabia). When the Holy Roman Empire emerged around the year 1000, these lands counted among its dominions.

The name Switzerland of course has nothing to do with the Helvetii, but comes from the little Alemanic communiy of Schwyz, which was one of the founding cantons of the Swiss Confederation in 1291 (along with Uri and Unterwalden [Nidwalden + Obwalden]), a loose community of self-governing entities. The name is first attested as Suittes in the 10th century, probably from Old High German suedan, "to burn," perhaps referring to the practice of burning the forest to build settlements and plant crops. After the Swabian War in 1499, when the Swiss achieved de facto independence from the Holy Roman Empire, the name of Schwyz was applied to the whole confederation. The English name comes from the obsolete ethnonym Switzer, from Alemannic Schwiizer, used to describe a resident of Schwyz. The adjective "Swiss," however, comes from French Suisse.


As the Confederation expanded, it remained a very loose Eidgenossenschaft (literally meaning an association by oath), with cantons run democratically, aristocratically, theocratically, and anything else you can imagine (but no kings). The Reformation assured that some of the cantons were safe havens for radical Reformers like John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli.

And then the French Revolution spoiled the party: Revolutionary France conquered Switzerland and imposed the hated Helvetic Republic, stealing some land to boot (Mulhouse, for example). The Helvetic was a French satellite, but not particularly loyal, refusing to fight against the Russians and Austrians at the beginning of what was to become the Napoleonic Wars. When Napoleon finally came onto the scene, he brokered the Act of Mediation (1803), which established more or less the government of modern Switzerland, with a relatively stronger federal government, but largely self-governing cantons. It was also at this time that die Schweiz became the Standard German name of the country. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna fully recognized Swiss independence from France, and Switzerland's permanent neutrality was forst formally recognized by all parties. But just see what happens if you try to invade 'em ...

France

La France. Since Roman times, France has been a major theater of European history. In Classical times, the region covered by most of the modern Republic of France was Gaul, Gallia, which would become a Roman province. The name, which shares a root with other places dominated by Celts (Galatia in Poland, Galicia in Spain, etc.), but the origin of this name is uncertain. Some have proposed Proto-Celtic *g(h)al- "powerful," or that it is named for a Gallos River that is now unknown. In any case, this was the name of the country until the arrival of the Franks.

Roman Gaul was subdivided into three major parts: Cisalpine Gaul, Gallia Cisalpina, meaning "Gaul on this side of the Alps" was eventually merged into Italy. Narbonese Gaul, Gallia Narbonensis, covered a chunk of southeast France (modern Provence, Côte d'Azur, and Languedoc regions). It was centered on the city of Narbonne (L Narbo). It was also called Transalpine Gaul -- Gallia Transalpina -- ... guess why. The biggest part, which would become modern France, Belgium (Wallonia at least), and parts of Germany and the Netherlands, was called Gallia Comata, "long-haired Gaul," filled with what were to the Romans the equivalent a savage, hairy bikers.

It was this region which Julius Caesar refers to in his famous Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres. Gallia Belgica was named for the Belgae (see Belgium), Gallia Aquitania in the southeast for the Aquitani (see Aquitaine), and Gallia Lugdunensis in the east for Lugdunum, modern Lyons (see Lyons).

But France, of course, is named for these Franks. The tribe was probably named for a type of spear called *frankon in Proto-Germanic. The Latin name for their land, Francia, referred simply to the territory of these ferocious barbarians. In the 3rd century, Francia was an triangle of land north and east of the Rhine. As the Franks expanded, the name did as well, but for a long time Francia and Gaul were used simultaneously, as the Franks themselves were a minority among the Gallo-Romans (And this is why the Frankish language is dead and modern French descends from the Vulgar Latin of Gaul).

In the 5th century, the Franks began to dominate northern Gaul, and in 486, Clovis I united much of Gaul. In good time he converted to Catholicism (not Arianism, the heretic faith of the Goths), made his capital at Paris, and founded the Merovingian Dynasty. The seed of modern France had been planted. By the time Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the West in 800, the Franks were at the peak of their power. The Frankish Empire was divided up permanently after a civil war among his grandsons: Lothair got the central part, including the Low Countries, Alsace, Lorraine ("Lotharingia") Burgundy, and northern Italy; Louis the German received East Francia, which would eveolve into the Holy Roman Empire and modern Germany; and Charles the Bald got West Francia, which would become the core of modern France, including Aquitaine. Interestingly, France is still called Frankreich in German, which literally means "Empire of the Franks" (although the ethnonym is französisch, deriving from the Latin name).


West Francia crumbled in the early Middle Ages, with the various dukedoms struggling for power, making France a vague decentralized region -- a very violent place. Hugh Capet was elected as Rex Francorum ("King of the Franks") in 987. From that point on, the idea of la France was strongly associated with le roi, whose power (and France's) grew and grew until 1789 ... and it's been downhill ever since. We've gone back and forth from republic to monarchy, with an empire thrown in there under Napoleon, and couple of other revolutions and assorted radicalism, like the Paris Commune in 1871. As of today, June 19, 2010 at 7:35 pm (GMT +1), the Fifth Republic reigns, and they even have a smart logo that looks like an American sports league:

Germany

Germany (Deutschland in German), right in the center of Europe both geographically, and at least since medieval times, also politically, has a wide variety of names. Modern Germany did not come into being until 1871 with the formation of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm I. Before that, the name "Germany" was used in English to refer to the region where "Germans" lived, meaning the people of a certain ethnic, cultural, and linguistic stock who populated central Europe, especially those within the Holy Roman Empire.

GERMANY

Because of Germany's central location and its often chaotic history, it is referred to by several unrelated names in various languages. The English name is derived from the Latin Germania, used as early as the 3rd century BC to refer to lands east of the Rhine. The origin of the name is uncertain, though it seems to be a Gaulish term -- the Germans never referred to themselves as such. Julius Caesar, in his Commentaries on the Gallic War (c. 50-40 BC), and Tacitus, in Germania (98 AD), recognized, though crudely, the differences between the Celtic Gauls and Balgae and the Germans, seeing the latter as more barbaric and dangerous though admiring their industiousness (big surprise), among other virtues. Magna Germania came to refer to the lands east of the Rhine (modern Germany), which were for the most part only ever partially subdued. Roman expanison into Magna Germania ended with the battle of Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD. The two provinces of Germania Superior (roughtly modern-day Switzerland, Baden, and Alsace) and Germania Inferior (Belgium, Luxembourg, Flanders) remained a part of the Empire until the rise of the Franks in the 5th century.


As I said, the exact origin of the name may never be known , though many theories have been advanced. One links the name with the Old Irish [OI] gair, "neighbor," which gives the rather bland explanation that the Belgic Gauls referred to the Germans as simply a neighboring people. Jakob Grimm proposed that the name was related to OI gairm (Proto-Celtic *gar-), "battle cry," referring to their warlike nature, though this could well be a bit of 19th-century romanticism.

DEUTSCHLAND

Deutschland, the name Germans use to refer to their own country, the land of the Deutsch. This word simply means "of the people," and comes from Old High German [OHG] diutisc, from Proto-Germanic *þeudiskaz < *þeudō "people, folk." This is the same source of the name Theodoric (and hence, Dietrich, Dirk, Derek, etc.), Tolkien's character Théoden, and ultimately, of the word "Teutonic," which comes to English via the Latin name for a Germanic tribe, the Teutoni. The Proto-Indo-European root, *teuta, is the source of Irish tuath "country" and maybe even Latin totus, "whole." The word "Dutch," which refers more to people from the Netherlands, comes into English from a Low German dialect -- although the "Pennsylvania Dutch" in the US are actually of German stock, reflecting a time when the distinction was not so clear.


After the breakup of Charlemagne's Empire, Germanic-speaking Franks in Western Francia (modern France) started to refer to their language no longer as frengisk ("Frankish"), but as diutisc "folkish" in order to distinguish themselves from Romance-speaking Franks. This trend spread to Eastern Francia (roughly modern Germany) by the 10th century.

Most ther Germanic languages use a variation of this name: Scandinavian Tyskland, Dutch Duitsland, etc. East Asian languages also use this name, with Japanese Doitsu and Chinese Déguó, a pun which literally translates to "moral country."

ALLEMAGNE

In most Romance languages (French Allemagne, Spanish Alemania, Portuguese Alemanha), in several languages of the Near East (Arabic 'Almāniyā, Persian 'Ālmān, Turkish Almanya), and in various Celtic languages (Welsh Yr Almaen, Breton Alamagn), a name is used which derives from the name of the Alamanni, a Germanic tribe who had settled in the Upper Rhine Valley. Today, "Alemannic" refers to the dialect of German spoken in the Black Forest around Freiburg im Breisgau. Even the English name for German was more commonly "Almain" until the 16th century. This name was probably spread to other nations by the French.

The origin of the name Alemanni itself is disputed. It almost certainly comes from PG *Alamanniz, which can be derived two ways: It could mean "all men," referring to a confederation of tribes, or the al- part is related to Latin alius "other" and English "else," and it means "foreign men, aliens."

SAKSA

In Finnic languages (Finnish Saksa, Estonia Saksamaa), the name comes from the Saxons, who were prominent in the East along the Elbe (modern Saxony is in the former East Germany). The warlike Saxons, whom the Franks only subdued and converted after a long series of bloody conflicts, were named for the seax, the single-edged knife or sword they wielded.

NIEMCY

In most Slavic languages, the name for the Germany may be derived from a Slavic root meaning "mute" or "dumb": Polish Niemcy, Czech Německo, Ukrainian Nimeččyna, and (non-Slavic) Hungarian Némeország. According to this theory, the Slavs, who derived their own name from slovo, "word," referred to foreigners, and then specifically Germanic tribes, as nemoy, "mute, dumb, or those who cannot talk." A better but less colorful theory has this name coming from the Nemetes, a tribe mentioned by Caesar and Tacitus living in the area around modern Speyer in southwest Germany on the Rhine. Their name is probably derived from a Celtic word nemeton, "sacred space, sacred grove." The Arabic name for Austria, an-Nimsā, may also come from this name.

OTHER

In Latvian and Lithuanian, the words for Germany are Vācija and Vokietija, most likely from German Volk, "people, folk." Old Norse used the term Suðvegr, "south way," as opposed to Norðvegr, the "north way," Norway. And in Tahitian, Purutia is a variation of Prusse, the French name for Prussia.

First post -- test post

I'm posting this first post as a test, to make sure all of this works out.