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Re: [romconlang] Exonyms for fictional places in constructed and natural languages



Älvard J. te Kraamlep wrote:

Respekti fulz (respected folk):

A doun respeitat (respected sir!):

I have been pondering what the semi-fictional homeland of my entirely
fictional Germanic conlang Jameld would be called in other languages. The native name is Zuraalant, derived from the name of the river that flows through it: Zur-aa (known *here* as La Sauer in France, and as the Saarbach
in Germany). The homeland itself is a small area in northern Alsace.

For a number of years I have been referring to the region as Zuraaland
(formerly Zuraland) in English. The question now is what it would be called in French, Italian, and other Romance languages and, indeed, conlangs. (And also in other non-Romance languages -- please forgive me if I cross- post to
germaniconlang...)

Well, assuming that the etymology of the Alsatian Sauer is the same as the tributary of the Moselle, I'd say that the Old Bretagneis name would be "Paeis de Sora", or possibly "La Surana". In the modern language that would be "Pèis de Soura" and "La Surana". Boring, I know.

And, dare I ask, what would *your* conlang homelands be called in other
languages? :-)

Alas, in most languages it would just be boring old reflexes of Latin "Britannia". Vodaignàn, the Brythonic language spoken to the north of the Bretagneis-speaking area, uses reflexes of "Brittania" and *Brittanniaca to refer to their own language and territory. They refer to the Romance-speaking south of the island as "Deheubarth", and the language as "Rhamant".

Dan