Translation of Place Names (Toponyms)

By Marie-Claire Lander

Place names, or toponyms, are not just names on a map. They are closely associated with the history and culture of a country, which might lead you to think that such names would retain their original form across languages. After all, Paris is Paris, and New York, New York. And yet, many place names are translated. London, for example, becomes Londres in French. In this lesson, we will travel around the world to focus on a few well-known place names and see what happens to them in French.

As mentioned earlier, Paris is Paris in English. No need to translate here. But listen to how Sophie pronounces Paris in her video: with a long ee sound and without pronouncing the S:

Et tu sais que Paris se dépeuple ?

And do you know that Paris is depopulating?

Caption 9, Sophie et Patrice Paris se dépeuple
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Indeed, names of French cities are not usually anglicized, as you can see in the example below. Just be sure to follow French pronunciation if you wish to be understood:

Voilà, ils peuvent aller habiter à Lille, à Senlis, à Nantes...

Right, they can go live in Lille, in Senlis, in Nantes...

Caption 40, Sophie et Patrice Paris se dépeuple
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On the other hand, English place names of historical significance, such as the city of London, tend to be translated. London will appear as Londres on a French map:

La jeune Jane tente de percer dans un milieu artistique en pleine effervescence à Londres.

Young Jane tries to break into a booming art scene in London.

Caption 9, BFMTV La chanteuse Jane Birkin est morte à l'âge de 76 ans
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However, other major British city names mostly remain untouched:

Et l'année suivante, on va inaugurer la voie Manchester-Liverpool.

And the following year, they will inaugurate the Manchester-Liverpool route.

Caption 25, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 13. Stephenson - Part 7
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What about other major European cities? Do they follow any specific pattern? The famous Italian city of Venezia, for instance, becomes Venise in French and Venice in English:

Grande nouvelle, Maître. Le doge de Venise vous invite à lui présenter votre télescope.

Great news, Professor. The Doge of Venice is inviting you to show him your telescope.

Caption 4, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 6
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The city of Milan, whose endonym (original Italian name) is Milano, shares the same exonym (foreign name) in English and in French, Milan, with the same spelling but with a differing pronunciation:

Par exemple, sur celui-ci, c'est des images issues des dioramas du Musée national d'histoire naturelle de Milan

For example, on this one, these are images coming from dioramas from the National Museum of Natural History in Milan

Captions 17-18, Axel et Alice L'artiste
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Moving on to Spain, to the city of Barcelona, we discover that the endonym Barcelona is retained in English but changes to Barcelone in French:

Le célébrissime Antonio Gaudi, l'Espagnol qui créa la célèbre "Sagrada Familia" de Barcelone, qui comme vous le savez est une œuvre toujours inachevée.

The ultra-famous Antonio Gaudi, the Spaniard who created the famous "Sagrada Familia" of Barcelona, which, as you know, is still an unfinished work.

Captions 25-26, Voyage en France Lagny-sur-Marne - Part 4
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Interestingly, US cities with names of Spanish origin (Sacramento, San Diego, El Paso, San Francisco, etc.) are left unchanged in French:

Le fait de dessiner en noir et blanc, donc du... surtout Los Angeles et San Francisco

The act of drawing in black and white, so of... especially Los Angeles and San Francisco

Captions 94-95, Le saviez-vous? La pratique de dessin de Maxime Duveau
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As for South American cities such as Mexico City, named after the Aztec valley of Mexico, most are not to translated in French. So Mexico City is just Mexico:

Et pendant ce temps, à Tenochtitlan, aujourd'hui Mexico

And meanwhile, at Tenochtitlan, today Mexico City

Caption 16, Il était une fois: Les Amériques 9. Cortés et les Aztèques - Part 3
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Note, however, that the country of Mexico is le Mexique in French, and the American state of New Mexico is le Nouveau Mexique.

Some names of American states are translated into French, such as la Californie (California):

Là, j'étais en Californie y a trois semaines.

There, I was in California three weeks ago.

Caption 73, Le Figaro Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an - Part 2
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In an interesting twist of history, some US cities or towns have retained their French names given to them by French colonists, such as Des Moines (literally "Of the Monks"), IA or Prairie du Chien (literally, "Prairie of the Dog"), WI, named after a Fox Indian chief. The American pronunciation, though, usually bears little resemblance to the French:

Prairie du Chien est une ville du mid-ouest qui porte un nom d’origine française.

Prairie du Chien is a Midwest town that bears a name of French origin.

Furthermore, New Orleans had three different variations to its name, reflecting its colonial past. In 1718 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, the governor of French Louisiana, named the city La Nouvelle Orléans in honor of Philippe, Duke of Orléans. It was later renamed Nueva Orleans by the Spanish before finally becoming New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803:

L'épouvantail est revêtu de l'habit des jazzmen de la Nouvelle-Orléans.

The scarecrow is dressed in the garb of New Orleans jazzmen.

Caption 39, d'Art d'Art "Slave Auction" - Basquiat
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Endomyns written in a different alphabet face another problem. When translated, they need to be phonetically rendered into another alphabet. For example, the Russian city of Москва is adapted from Russian Cyrillic script as Moscow in English and Moscou in French:

Deuxième système de métro le plus peuplé d'Europe, après celui de Moscou, le métro parisien accueille en moyenne cinq millions de personnes par jour.

The second most populated metro system in Europe, after that of Moscow, the Paris metro welcomes an average of five million people per day.

Captions 6-9, Adrien Le métro parisien
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As you may have gathered, translating place names is a complex and inconsistent process. To familiarize yourself with the names of some wonderful places and what they have to offer, be sure to check out our travel videos. Thanks for reading!

Topics Vocabulary