How do we call ourselves? This is a question that leads to some strangely amusing answers. But there is indeed a common thread that binds them.

In this thread, I will discuss the endonyms of some countries and how they are related to Sanskrit by etymology.

Here is the original tweet that led me to this beautiful map. It is quirky and funny. Take a look.

But at some places, it is wrong. And at some places, the words are not analyzed with sufficient depth. https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/971354998541037568?s=20

The funny thing about endonyms is that they might start out as perfectly meaningful words in the local language. But over time, the meaning is forgotten and the word simply means “our country”. So if you ask people “what does it mean?”,

They reply “Nothing. It is just our name.”

Of course, experts in the local language know about the meaning of these name. Or at least, have some theories about this name. (The theories may be very well wrong).

But two types of names are common:

1) Related to agriculture
2) Related to the understandability of speech

Agriculture is important if the identity of that tribe or country arose in an ancient time, when these tribes were neighbors to other tribes who were hunter-gatherers. Then, agriculture would be a distinctive aspect of the identity of the group, and thus reflected in its name.

The case for mutual understandablity of speech is clear. The Endonym of the tribe or country may be related to voice, speech, or sensibility of this speech.

Sometimes, it is qualified by a direction: where this tribe is located relative to the dominating population in the area.

Let us start with my mother tongue “Telugu”. It derives from “ten+ku”. The word “ten” means “south”. Although this meaning is lost in Telugu, it is preserved in related languages like Tamil. The word “ku” means “speech” or a “call” (“kootha”).

So, Telugu means “southern speech”.

The oldest Endonym of the Slavic people is the word “Slověně”, which is still found for the countries of Slovenia and Slovakia. This name is connected to the word “slovo”, which means a “word”.

In Sanskrit, the related word is “Śloka”, which means a “verse” or “voice”.

The Endonym for German people is the word “Deutsche”. This is related to words like “deutlich” (clear, lucid) and “bedeutung” (meaning).

“Deutsche” means “people who we understand clearly”.

In Sanskrit, the related word is “Dyotaka” (adj: meaning, illuminating, making clear).

The Celtic people were one of the oldest farming communities in Europe. Most of their languages are now lost or dying.

One important Celtic people are the Britons/Bretons.

I suspect this word is related to “bru” (speech) in Sanskrit. (Eg “Satyam bruyat” speak the truth).

The word for Polish people is very interesting. The Endonym is “Polacy” and connected to the word for a field “pola”, where the crops are grown.

The related Sanskrit word is “polati” (to grow).

The funny thing is the word for a field in Telugu is also “polam”.

The spread of Slavic people must have happened at a very ancient time, corresponding roughly to the spread of agriculture to the south of India from the northern irrigated plains (“Āryāvarta”). So the words are similar. Even the word for speech “slovo” is mirrored in Tamil “sol”.

The Endonym for Croatian people “Hrvati” is a mystery. Some people connect it to the Iranian name of Saraswati river “Harahvati”.

But I think there is a clue in the pagan deities of the Slavic people. Uroda (“ur” from irrigated, “oda” from water) is the goddess of agriculture.

The compendium of verbal morphological roots by the Sanskrit grammarian Panini mentions the root √ṛ (to flow) from which words like “Urvara” or “Ārya” can be derived. They refer to the practices of irrigation. https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1100314423728750592?s=20

The word “Āryāvarta”, one of the ancient names for India, refers to the irrigated plains of the Sindhu and Ganga rivers.

The word “Ārya” is also the root for the name “Eran” or Iran. The ancient Iranians were also experts in irrigation. https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/987383279883051008?s=20

I will conclude this thread with this fascinating article on how the Endonym for China “Hua” could also be related to “Ārya”.

I think this denotes irrigation practices introduced by the western Zhou kings (probably influenced by Iranians/Indians).
http://indiafacts.org/chinese-self-designation-hua-root-word-ᾱrya/