RoughRomanMemes
A place to meme about the glorious ROMAN EMPIRE (and Roman Republic, and Roman Kingdom)! Byzantines tolerated! The HRE is not.
RULES:
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No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, bigotry, etc. The past may be bigoted, but we are not.
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Memes must be Rome-related, not just the title. It can be about Rome, or using Roman aesthetics, or both, but the meme itself needs to have Roman themes.
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Follow Piefed.social rules.
MORE COMMS ON THE HISTORYVERSE:
- !historymusic@quokk.au
- !historygallery@quokk.au
- !historymemes@piefed.social
- !historyruins@piefed.social
- !historyart@piefed.social
- !historyartifacts@piefed.social
- !historyphotos@piefed.social
Explanation: The exact etymology of Africa is still hotly debated, but it's fairly certain that it's not actually what the inhabitants of North Africa primarily called their land. As with many cases in history, translation is a bitch - 'Avon' is a common component of rivers in Britain, for example, because when the Romans came in and asked the locals what the local river was called, they told the Mediterranean weirdos that it was an 'Avon' - a fuckin' river. XD
- Carthaginians found a city in Africa. They call it ⟨𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕⟩ Qart Hadašt. It's literally "New City".
- They do the same in Iberia. And they call it... ⟨𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕⟩ Qart Hadašt. Again.
- Romans conquer both. ⟨𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕⟩ ends as ⟨Carthago⟩. To avoid confusion the second city gets called ⟨Carthago Nova⟩. It's "New City New".
- Latins in Iberia eventually univerbify ⟨Carthago Nova⟩ into ⟨Cartagena⟩.
- Folks still live there. And they need a new neighbourhood. With blackjack and hookers. They call it... ⟨Nueva Cartagena⟩. New New City New.
Also any river in South America with the word "para" large river, sea in it.
Also any river in South America with the word “para” large river, sea in it.
are you fucking telling me that Paraguay, the landlocked country, is named for the sea
[looks up]
[that is indeed one of the possible etymologies]
goddammit
Kinda.
The catch here is, while the primary distinction in Indo-European languages is between "salty water" vs. "non-salty water" (e.g. "sea" vs. "river", or Spanish "mar" vs. "río"), in Tupian languages it's about the size: if it's big (like the sea or a big river) it's "para[nã]", if it's small it's simply "y" (lit. "water"). And the Paraguay doesn't lead directly into the sea, but another river (Rio Paraná - and yes, the name is simply "river", so... "River River").
So with all that context into account, if that etymology is correct, "Río Paraguay" is:
- río - river, Spanish
- para - large river or sea; in this case the Paraná river
- gua - leading to
- y - water or small river; in this case the Paraguay river itself
"River Small-River-Leading-to-Big-River". Yup, three times.
(Granted, nowadays Paraguayan Guaraní does have the word ysyry, but it means simply "flowing water". It might be due to Spanish interference, I don't recall toponyms using it.)
Aspirational naming
Latins in Iberia eventually univerbify ⟨Carthago Nova⟩ into ⟨Cartagena⟩.
DELENDA EST!