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Atomic Rooster · Dec 21, 2007, 09:49 PM

There are two countries on this planet with the same name or at least derived from the same root word with their own slants or evolution to their current names. The names have the same meanings.

No fair cheating. If you know, give a vague hint. If you don't know just look at a world map. Look and look again and let your brain figure it out. Mouth the names and see if they sound somewhat alike and make a guess.

Hint: One country is west...one country is east.

Anyone else with a geographical piece of trivia to pursue?

I have to go out for a couple of hours. Will be anxious to see the results.

Good luck.

imitchellg5 · Dec 21, 2007, 11:07 PM

East Germany and West Germany

Or Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo would sort of work. Rwanda and Uganda sound similar.

Chuckit · Dec 21, 2007, 11:15 PM

I can think of a few answers, but I really hope none of those are right.

TETENAL · Dec 21, 2007, 11:43 PM

North Korea and South Korea?

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Macedonia?

North Carolina and South Dakota?

Chongo · 11:58 PM

Austria and Australia

Person Man · Dec 21, 2007, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Macedonia?

Both are the exact same country, unless you mean the region of Greece referred to as Macedonia.

Oisín · Dec 21, 2007, 11:56 PM

You’d think I’d be good at something like this, but no. I can’t think of anything here. The only one I can think of that kind of makes sense (but still doesn’t) and fits the criteria would be Guinea in Africa and (Papua) New Guinea north of Australia. Similarly, of course, Zeeland in the Netherlands and New Zealand (though Zeeland isn’t a country, but a region).

And of course there’s Russia, named (supposedly) after the same people who gave Sweden its Finnish name, Ruotsi. That seems a bit far-fetched, though.

Edit: And of course the Niger/Nigeria one, except that you can’t really say about those that “one is west and one is east”.

North Carolina and South Dakota?

Erm...

Oisín · Dec 22, 2007, 12:25 AM

The only one I can think of that kind of makes sense (but still doesn’t) and fits the criteria would be Guinea in Africa and (Papua) New Guinea north of Australia

Okay, I’m an idiot. I thought of Guinea (initially in conjunction with Guyana, they’re just not related at all), but I didn’t think of Ghana till much later, which would be a much better guess, since they both mean the same (as far as I know/recall/think) and neither is just a “New [name]”-style country. D’oh!

Kerrigan · 12:44 AM

I'm going to put a guess out there that one of them is Austria, because isn't this an anglicization of the German word for "Eastern State"?

Edit: I see that this wouldn't meet the criteria anyways.

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 01:10 AM

Niger and Nigeria.

EDIT: D'oh, Oisín beat me to it.

I still think it's right. The "east" and "west" clue be damned.

Kerrigan · Dec 22, 2007, 01:12 AM

I believe you're supposed to say Africa America.

RAILhead · Dec 22, 2007, 01:17 AM

Jersey?

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 01:26 AM

Another possibility would be Slovakia and Slovenia. Both from the Slavic "Slavs," and Slovakia being the former eastern portion of Czechoslovakia, and Slovenia being the former western portion of Yugoslavia.

Atomic Rooster · Dec 22, 2007, 01:34 AM

Another Hint.

Both countries are very religious (polar opposites) and reflects in their government and their laws although one is being dragged finally into the 21st century.

One is east and one is west.

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

One is east and one is west.

So it's not a hint, really, it's a condition? Because there have been a number of examples given in this thread so far.

Kerrigan · Dec 22, 2007, 01:45 AM

Lithuania and Latvia?

(Lietuva and Latvija)

Atomic Rooster · Dec 22, 2007, 01:53 AM

Hmmm...

If you look up the word on wikipedia you get this:

Editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.

Oisín · Dec 22, 2007, 02:15 AM

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

Another Hint.

Both countries are very religious (polar opposites) and reflects in their government and their laws although one is being dragged finally into the 21st century.

One is east and one is west.

Perhaps... Turkey and Turkmenistan?

The religion comment made me think of Iran and Iraq, but they’re not cognates at all, so that doesn’t work.

Edit: Also, none of these are closed for editing on Wikipedia.

Atomic Rooster · Dec 22, 2007, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by Oisín

The religion comment made me think of Iran and Iraq, but they’re not cognates at all, so that doesn’t work.

Edit: Also, none of these are closed for editing on Wikipedia.

Ooooooo....HOT!

East west eastern western as in we are western they are eastern.

In ancient times even a third country or region was named for this word.

Atomic Rooster · Dec 22, 2007, 02:32 AM

Another clue...

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 02:37 AM

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

Ooooooo....HOT!

East west eastern western as in we are western they are eastern.

In ancient times even a third country or region was named for this word.

If you are going for Ireland and Iran, most linguists think that Ireland derives from the proto-Celtic root *iweria, and not the PIE root *arya.

Oisín · Dec 22, 2007, 02:44 AM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

If you are going for Ireland and Iran, most linguists think that Ireland derives from the proto-Celtic root *iweria, and not the PIE root *arya.

Correction: the Celtic root *iwērja. The Proto-Celtic root would be *φīwerjō, and the PIE root would be *pi̯h₂u̯er- (‘fat’, ‘abundant’, etc.). The initial labial wasn’t lost in Proto-Celtic, only in Common Celtic.

I did consider Ireland and some other country for a while, but couldn’t think of any other countries from the same root, though the Danish island of Fur is supposedly a good candidate.

And even if Ireland were from the ‘aryan’ root, neither Iran nor Ireland are associated with that meaning anymore. (And what would be the third country?)

Atomic Rooster · Dec 22, 2007, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

If you are going for Ireland and Iran, most linguists think that Ireland derives from the proto-Celtic root *iweria, and not the PIE root *arya.

BINGO!!!

Yeah, you'll get some dispute but both are derived from the the word ARYAN which means Noble or Land of the Nobles.

Not some Faerie or Pixie or Goddess.

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 02:47 AM

Originally Posted by Oisín

Correction: the Celtic root *iwērja. The Proto-Celtic root would be *φīwerjō, and the PIE root would be *pi̯h₂u̯er- (‘fat’, ‘abundant’, etc.). The initial labial wasn’t lost in Proto-Celtic, only in Common Celtic.

That'll teach me to try to remember anything from that one intro linguistics course I took in college.

SpaceMonkey · Dec 22, 2007, 02:48 AM

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

BINGO!!!

Yeah, you'll get some dispute but both are derived from the the word ARYAN which means Noble or Land of the Nobles.

Not some Faerie or Pixie or Goddess.

Except that's not what most scholars think, as far as I can remember.

Oisín · Dec 22, 2007, 02:51 AM

Yeah, you'll get some dispute but both are derived from the the word ARYAN which means Noble or Land of the Nobles.

That was it?

Sorry to say it, then, but it’s not correct. There’s little dispute left that Ériu had a labial initial in Proto-Celtic, which the ‘aryan’ root has never had. It’s not known exactly what Aryan is from (I don’t buy Müller’s theory, either, about it being from *h₁erh₃-, as mentioned in the Wikipedia article), but it most definitely never had a labial initial.

I see the Aryan article on Wikipedia is locked due to vandalism, though, so I guess that was it.

Going by just your initial clue, Ghana and Guinea would be better candidates, actually, since they’re also an east-west pair and are undoubtedly from the same root with the same meaning (‘master battler’ or something).

Kerrigan · Dec 22, 2007, 03:10 AM

Worst Htread Evar ®

imitchellg5 · Dec 22, 2007, 11:15 AM

You can never use Wikipedia for a source in something like this. It's unreliable.

Mithras · Dec 22, 2007, 01:06 PM

Tom Wolfe wrote a great letter to Harper's last month, in which he said, (roughly), "a memoir is like a Wikipedia article -- it's likely that some portion of it is true."

OreoCookie · Dec 22, 2007, 01:13 PM

China and Taiwan.
(Yes, because one's official name is People's Republic of China, the other one calls itself Republic of China.)

imitchellg5 · Dec 22, 2007, 04:30 PM

Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information.

Oisín · Dec 22, 2007, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

China and Taiwan.
(Yes, because one's official name is People's Republic of China, the other one calls itself Republic of China.)

That would actually work, if it weren’t for the “derived from the same root word with their own slants or evolution to their current names” bit. China and Taiwan not only come from the same root, they are completely identical today, as well (both having 中华 as the main constituent: 中华人民共和国 (PRC), and 中华民国 (ROC), respectively).