What does the name of your Town/Village mean?

[Soner]

This thread is a spin-off from what Rambling Rose has said on another thread stating that her village OzanKoy translated means "The village of the Poet"
I just checked out on the internet and found out what my village name means, Geçitkale = "Fortress of the passageway"

Any more???

[iancrumpy]

Hi Soner,
My father-in-law was brought up in Şirinevler - "Cute houses" in English.
Rgds,
Ian

[Soner]

Iancrumpy, is that village in the South? Has it been rename?

[iancrumpy]

Iancrumpy, is that village in the South? Has it been rename?

No Soner, Şirinevler is a village only about 5 miles from Lapta, but on the other side of the mountain, well north of the "border". Before the troubles in the early 60s it was something like 70% GC and 30% TC and everyone there, even the TCs, refered to it by its Greek name of "Ayermola".

[Soner]

Thanks Iancrumpy, just checked the Kibkom Business Directory and found that there is one company listed in the village:
http://www.kibkom.com/Şirinevler/area-listing.html

Quite surprised.

[iancrumpy]

Thanks Iancrumpy, just checked the Kibkom Business Directory and found that there is one company listed in the village:
http://www.kibkom.com/Şirinevler/area-listing.html
Quite surprised.

Hi Soner,
I too was a bit surprised. So, I checked the business directory for Şirinevler on this web-page:
http://www.kibkom.com/Lefkosa/Sirinevle ... sting.html
and saw the following:

Industrial Kitchen Suppliers İNOKSİS ENDÜSTRİ A.Ş ENDÜSTRİYEL MUTFAK 100.YIL BULVARI 58.SOKAK NO:54-56 OSTİM Sirinevler KKTC +90 312 354 0 599

But Soner, this isn't in the village - the only things in the village are a bakkal, a restaurant and two coffee houses The telephone number is an Ankara number, maybe that's it ...

Regards,
Ian

[michelle3012]

Catalkoy - Fork Village, Catalkoy has 3 prongs like a fork! Aparently.

[Rambling Rose]

Gosh! I was thınkıng about startıng a thread on places names and Soner has done it for me. Great minds think alike!

I wonder who chose the new names, and what criteria. Some like Ozanköy and Karaloğlanoğlu celebrate recent events/people. Other seems to be called after places in Turkey.

Karakum puzzles me, I havent seen any black sand there?

[Soner]

Iancrumpy, I thought it was too good to be true, will amend this, but if ever in Sirinevler do try and get atleast the restaurant to register their details.

RamblingRose, I'd like to agree but the idea did come from you.

[dodger]

Esentepe = windy hill.I think.

Paul.

[come_on_aylin]

Esentepe, known locally as Mountain Breeze or 'Windy Hill'. However, Esen = Healthy and Tepe = Hill. Maybe it's a case of the sum of the 2 parts not equalling the whole. I notice that Esin = Morning Breeze so maybe it got lost in translation and should be spelt Esintepe.

[iancrumpy]

,,, and what criteria.

Clearly with some of them Rose, they are Turkish mainland place names that are spelled and/or pronounced similarly to the Greek versions ... as in the case of Karmi and Karaman, Lapithos and Lapta, and Trimit and Edremit.

if ever in Sirinevler do try and get atleast the restaurant to register their details

I'll ask Soner

[iancrumpy]

... Turkish mainland place names ... spelled similarly to the Greek ones ... Lapithos and Lapta

No, there isn't a Lapta on the mainland ... maybe in this case "Lapithos" sounded too Greek

[Rambling Rose]

Bellapaise (which should perhaps be Bellapaix) according to Gerald Durrel in Bitter Lemons is a corruption of the French "de la paix" (of the Peace), and should be "Abbaye de la paix" or perhaps "Cloitures" de la paix . The Turkish name is Beylerbeyi (though I havent heard anyone use it, that is the signpost), and I think there is a village of that name on the Bospherous. So perhaps they gave it that name because it sounded similar.

Now here's a thing. The legend of the Tree of Idleness is that anyone who sits under it shall be idle for the rest of their days. (which is my excuse having sat under it many times!). But the name of the adjoining restaurant in Turkish is Huzur Ağaç but according to my dictionary huzur means , peace of mind, ease, tranquility. This is not the same as idleness, but does tie in with the Abbey of the Peace. Is this a mistranslation, possibly from the Greek (Durrell spoke fluent Greek but not Turkish) . On the other hand, Durell had a bit of a reputation as a practical joker, so perhaps he make up the legend, possibly to tease the gentlemen who spent their days under the shade of the tree drinking coffee.

For the benefit of newcomers, there is some argument as to which is (or was) The Tree of Idleness
but apparently it was a mulberry, so not the tree that grows through the restaurant staircase. Most people think it was the splendid tree in the carpark by the Abbey - sadly removed a few years ago.

[MonkeyJustice]

Arapkoy = Arabville, basically.

[Rambling Rose]

Did you know the study of place names is called toponymy?

Actually, neither did I! I found it when looking for something entirely different. Ain't the internet wonderful?

[JBA]

Alongside the Lefkosa/Guselyurt road is a village called Turkeli - it means "Turkish Hand". In 1963 a lot of the Turkish inhabitants of then Ayios Vasilios were massacred by their Greek neighbours who then hastily dug a mass grave and buried their victims overnight. But they were too hasty and left the arm of a young boy exposed and pointing skywards. This "Turkish Hand" was discovered the next morning, the grave exhumed and the village renamed.

[yucatan]

Bahceli (GARDEN)

[mickhm]

Tatlisu = Sweet Water or Fresh Water

[wanderer]

Wolverhampton
Historically a part of Staffordshire, and forming part of the metropolitan county of the West Midlands from 1974, the city is commonly recognised as being named after King Wulfhere, who established an abbey in 659. The original name being from Wulfereēantūn = "Wulfhere's high or principal enclosure or farm" after the Mercian King.[4] The name Wulfrun is used to denote a later nun who established a church in the city – for example, for the Wulfrun Centre[5] or for Wulfrun Hall.[6]
The city's name is often abbreviated to "Wolvo", "W'ton"[7] or "Wolves".[8][9]
The city council's motto is "Out of darkness cometh light".[10]
People from Wolverhampton are known as Wulfrunians, or, colloquially, "Yam Yams" due to regional phraseology.
"ton" as part of the name and the rest of the funny English places

[iancrumpy]

Alongside the Lefkosa/Guselyurt road is a village called Turkeli - it means "Turkish Hand". In 1963 a lot of the Turkish inhabitants of then Ayios Vasilios were massacred by their Greek neighbours who then hastily dug a mass grave and buried their victims overnight. But they were too hasty and left the arm of a young boy exposed and pointing skywards. This "Turkish Hand" was discovered the next morning, the grave exhumed and the village renamed.

I had a chat with my father-in-law about this, and it turns out that the father/grandfather of one of the families masacred in that village was a first cousin of his father. On the day in question "Hasan Dayı" was in Lefkoşa. Hasan's son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren boarded themselves in one room of their house, hoping UN troops would intervene. However, the Greek Cypriots, who it is thought came from neighbouring villages, were able to make a hole in the roof, through which they dropped explosives, presumably handgrenades. The whole family were killed ...

It's difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like for Cypriots at that time

In any case, thanks for that JBA ... and hopefully the reasons for other place names are not so gruesome.

[Rambling Rose]

It's difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like for Cypriots at that time

I was living in Limassol in 1963.

Back to place names. Anyone from Zeytinlik? With the Olive Festival in progress I imagine everything knows the meaning of zeytin and "lik" is a suffice meaning of or with or having the property of olives - Place of Olives would seem to be the best English equivalent. I wonder why not Zetinköy?

Here it is the Greek name that is also interesting - "Tempos" which apparently reflects the fact that it was a base for the Knight Templar. One year I visited the festival there was a sort of play showing , presumably, Knights beating the peasants something rotten! Throws a whole new light on Knights in shining armour!

[iancrumpy]

It's difficult for us to imagine what it must have been like for Cypriots at that time
I was living in Limassol in 1963.

I imagine though Rose, as part of the expat community here, it wasn't quite so frightening for you.

But I take your point Rose, this thread wasn't started to discuss such matters. On the matter of "lik" or "köy", with fruits it can be either ... with "li" also being used as a suffix.
For example:
Armutlu (Yalova) , Armutluk (Erzincan) , Armutköy (Bursa)
Ayvalı (Samsun) , Ayvalık , Ayvaköy (Bursa)
Elmalı (Muğla), Elmalık (Bolu) , Elmaköy (Samsun)
Incirli (Ankara) , Incirlik , Incirköy (Muğla),
etc

I'm not certain which of the three is the most common, but I would guess the "lik" suffix is ... maybe though that's because I have heard the place name of "Ayvalık" (famous for its toasts) and "Incirlik" (a US military base) more often.

Regards,
Ian

[Rambling Rose]

Ian: Being with a member of the civilian component of HM Forces, I was protected to a certain extent, though my volunteer job could have put me in the front line, but it could still be pretty hairy and the horror , for those of us who had Cypriot friends, came through. I was really about to make the point that some of the current expat community have previous experience of the Island through service with British Forces and/or UN and perhaps have a closer view of history. Then I realised I was, and now am, going ot. Apologies.

Do Tuzla and Tuzlucu stem from tuz (salt)?

[Keithcaley]

Rose,

Your mention of "Tempos" got me thinking - do yo know if there is any connection with the name of the 'Tempo' supermarket? - I seem to remember looking at the 'Tempo' sign once, and thinking that it said something like 'aTEMPOs' Supermarket'...

[andrew4232]

i think you will find that AS is something to do with registered company name ie ltd i used in uk companies

[iancrumpy]

"AŞ" means "Anonim Şirketi" - which in English is "Plc" (ie. Public Limited Company) as opposed to Ltd (which means Private Limited Company). "AŞ" / "Plc" are those companies which are owned by the public by way of shares.

Quite a few companies in Turkey actually have "aş" as part of their brand name - For example "Sütaş" who make dairy products, "Tofaş", who at least used to be the main manufacturer of cars in Turkey. There are many more, but I can't remember them at the moment.

[Rambling Rose]

Sorry Keith , my mistake. The village name is TempLos, not Tempos!

[Rambling Rose]

I am surprised no - one has mentioned Karaoğlanoğlu. Its something of a mouthful for native English speakers, and I find it helpfulto my ageing memory to find out the meanings and how they are broken up,

Kara means black for animate objects, it can according to context be interpreted as dark, swarthy or just black haired and black eyed). Oğan - son or boy and Oğlu is the possessive of Oglan. Thus : "Son of a black boy". It is a Turkish surname (I think, perhaps in Turkey rather than Cyprus) and the village was re-named in honour of the leader of the l974 landings at the nearby "Landing Beach" (now mysteriously called Escape Beach).

[Rambling Rose]

Bother! I wısh theır was an edıt facility so I could correct the errors I only see once I have posted! For Oğan above read Oğlan!

On the subject of my mistakes, in an earlier post I said Gerald Durrell was the author of "Bitter Lemons". It should have been Lawrence Durrell - his brother , Gerald, wrote "My family and other animals " etc.

[iancrumpy]

The village was re-named in honour of the leader of the l974 landings at the nearby "Landing Beach"

Something else I didn't know - thank you Rose

By the way, all the TCs I know call the said beach "Çıkarma Plajı" ... it's only the expats that call it "Escape Beach" ... because of the beach club of that name there.

[andrew4232]

Bother! I wısh theır was an edıt facility so I could correct the errors I only see once I have posted! For Oğan above read Oğlan!

On the subject of my mistakes, in an earlier post I said Gerald Durrell was the author of "Bitter Lemons". It should have been Lawrence Durrell - his brother , Gerald, wrote "My family and other animals " etc.

you can edit your post there is a little button in top right corner marked edit next to the quote button