why is it Czechia now ?

[biturbo19]

Well you see...Western Imperialism had previously run amok...

And they'd frankly had enough.

 

[PhysicalGraffiti]

Just like other things, some leader said he wanted it changed, even though the people didn't, and Western people did what they always do. They latch onto something, like a name change, and presume the other name is wrong and offensive despite not being Czech themselves. But no, don't listen to the people who live there, it's more fun to have people with no connections to the country being upset and wanting the change.

Similar to recent sports team name changes. Always fun when a person not involved or with any dog in the fight decides they want to champion a cause. It originated there, but only by a select group, and then you have the typical people like Google jumping on it and using the name. Hilarious.

 

[saintunspecified]

Well you see...Western Imperialism had previously run amok...

And they'd frankly had enough.

I mean... Really?

I hope nobody checks your bag for hash cartridges. Sheesh.

Ftr, I'm happy to call the nation Czechia if that's what the country represents it prefers in whatever context. And I agree that English speakers are often piggish about priviliging our language. But the notion that it has all these implications are ridiculous. Funnily enough, Czechia is willingly an EU member (of which the only primarily English-speaking member is Ireland).

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Redundant

 

[sufferer]

Germany should just annex it anyways.

 

[novisor]

I thought most actual Czech citizens prefer the 'Czech Republic' instead of 'Czechia'... isn't it more of political thing?

 

[who_me?]

Českoslávie / Czechoslavia / Tchécoslavie

 

[MeHateHe]

I'm prepared to start a movement to call countries whatever it is called by the people who live there - as near as I can, given my own linguistic limitations. I can kind of understand how we got "Norway" from "Norge" and even "Spain" from "Espana" but it has always befuddled me that "Deutschland" became "Germany."

 

[McGarnagle]

Orban has entered the chat.

 

[WaW]

I’m not a fan of countries that embed their government type in their official name (in part because it’s oftentimes not even accurate and just the words they want to project - Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, anyone?) - the people define the country, not their chosen words representing their chosen and current form of government.

We survived people learning the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia. We survived people learning the difference between Australia and Austria, between Switzerland and Sweden. This too shall be ok.

Yes but I never learned the difference between Switzerland and Swaziland. Thankfully Swaziland became Eswatini.

 

[McGarnagle]

I'm prepared to start a movement to call countries whatever it is called by the people who live there - as near as I can, given my own linguistic limitations. I can kind of understand how we got "Norway" from "Norge" and even "Spain" from "Espana" but it has always befuddled me that "Deutschland" became "Germany."

Germany's name in different languages is interesting. Most of the other romance languages basically calls it some form of Alemania/Allemagne, after a Latin exonym for the tribes along the Rhine which was Allemania. But English and Italian took the latin name for one of those tribes, Germania, and refers to the nation as Germany/Germania. But they call themselves Deutschland. Other languages have differend terms for it as well. Probably an artifact of the fact that there was no real single unified German state until 1870 and words sprung out from what they called individual components of the Holy Roman Empire that spoke Germanic languages.

 

[swissdude]

I'm prepared to start a movement to call countries whatever it is called by the people who live there - as near as I can, given my own linguistic limitations. I can kind of understand how we got "Norway" from "Norge" and even "Spain" from "Espana" but it has always befuddled me that "Deutschland" became "Germany."

well and what about multi lingual countries what would you propose for Switzerland for example Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera or Svizra? I don't see the problem, locations have different names in different languages so what? The problem with Czechia vs Czeck Republic is not because of the language I think

 

[SEALBound]

Wasn't there a country wide vote on this?

 

[Number 57]

This isn't a phenomenon specific to English, it happens across languages for a variety of linguistic, historic, and other reasons. For example, London in Spanish is Londres and England is Inglaterra. It's also Londres in French, but with a very different pronunciation, while England is Angleterre.

Edit: Wait, you're French? Come on now, man. You have infinite examples of this in your own native tongue.

I know. It doesn't make it right though

This is pretty far detached from reality.

3 biggest cities in my country are Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda and I give 90% chance you wouldn't come close to pronouncing either one of those correctly, not to mention all of them. There is indeed a whole lot of words English people cannot pronounce and it is very hard to learn without putting in significant effort.

I'm actually fairly certain you don't know how to pronounce "Moskva" correctly either since the whole a/o thingie.

I understand where you are coming from but still, at least coming close to pronouncing correctly should be the main goal. Not changing the whole name!

British guy: So what's the name of this city?
Russian guy: Moskva
British guy: What?
Russian guy: Moskva
British guy: Well Moscow it is!

Doesn't make sense

Nothing new. Russians pronounce Canada like (kah-nah-dah). It threw me off the first time I heard it. I get why countries tend to make pronunciation easier for their native tongue. Obviously this isn't a great example, since it sounds similar enough to our pronunciation.

That's how we pronounce it in French too so it's not that far fetched lol

 

[Artorius Horus T]

I didn't like it when Sm-Liiga got changed to Liiga.
For me its still Sm-Liiga!

Also, SHL? nope, its Elitserien....

 

[Clamshells]

Czechia yourself before you wreckia yourself doesn't have the same ring to it

 

[MeHateHe]

well and what about multi lingual countries what would you propose for Switzerland for example Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera or Svizra? I don't see the problem, locations have different names in different languages so what? The problem with Czechia vs Czeck Republic is not because of the language I think

I guess what I'm saying is that's for countries to figure out themselves. On the topic of the thread, it was the Czech government who said that they wanted the Anglicization of their name to be Czechia. It just strikes me as odd that in the people in a place say "hey, we call our country 'Suomi'" but a bunch of people from another place say "that's confusing, mind if we call you Bruce?"

 

[Riddum]

The guy was an interior decorator

 

[MatthewFlames]

Wait til you hear how "Japan" came to be.

Don't leave us hanging

 

[Dr Pepper]

Don't leave us hanging

Names of Japan - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

"Marco Polo called Japan 'Cipangu' in circa 1300, based on the Chinese name,[5] probably 日本國; 'sun source country' (compare modern Min Nan pronunciation ji̍t pún kok). In the 16th century Malacca, Portuguese traders first heard from Malay and Indonesian the names Jepang, Jipang, and Jepun."

Basically when Marco Polo landed in Japan he misheard what the Chinese were calling it, and it kept getting misheard until Japan became the common name - at least in Europe and later North America.

 

[Hisch13r]

People care too much about dumb shit.

 

[bossram]

People care too much about dumb shit.

The reactions to name changes of things are always amazing - especially of people who don't live there.

It's been Czechia for a while anyway.

 

[ijuka]

It's been Czechia for a good while. It's nothing new.

I've never liked it, though. I'm not sure why but it just doesn't fit.

Czech is just a single syllable and it sounds wrong with "ia". Like Finnia? Absolutely dreadful.

Czechey probably best.

 

[Wallet Inspector]

I’m not a fan of countries that embed their government type in their official name (in part because it’s oftentimes not even accurate and just the words they want to project - Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, anyone?) - the people define the country, not their chosen words representing their chosen and current form of government.

We survived people learning the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia. We survived people learning the difference between Australia and Austria, between Switzerland and Sweden. This too shall be ok.

Funnily enough, Swaziland changed their name to Eswatini because their King thought people confused the former name with Switzerland too much.

 

[mja]

I know. It doesn't make it right though



I understand where you are coming from but still, at least coming close to pronouncing correctly should be the main goal. Not changing the whole name!

British guy: So what's the name of this city?
Russian guy: Moskva
British guy: What?
Russian guy: Moskva
British guy: Well Moscow it is!

Doesn't make sense



That's how we pronounce it in French too so it's not that far fetched lol

Quick research informs me that the name Moscow predates Russia, likely originating from an ancient Finnish language, and that the first historical references to it are indeed closer to the English / French spelling & pronunciation than the Russian.

As I said, the reasons for this are complex and deeply rooted in linguistics and history. It has nothing to do with something being wrong or right.