The place names of the
Maghreb come from a variety of origins, mostly
Arabic and
Berber, but including a few derived from
Phoenician,
Latin, and several other languages. This is well illustrated by the three largest cities of
Algeria, for instance:
Algiers from Arabic al-jazā'ir "the islands",
Oran from wahran from Berber wa-iharan "place of lions" and
Constantine (Arabic Qasantinaقسنطينة) from the Latin name of the emperor
Constantine. Phoenician names include
Jijel, shortened from Latin Igilgili, from Phoenician i gilgilt "Skull Island" (according to Lipinski),[where?] and
Carthage, ultimately from
Punicqrt-ḥdšt (𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕) "New City."
Given the fact that Arabs founded very few cities in the regions they conquered, a large portion of cities in Arab countries have non-Arab etymologies. Many places, however, have had their names changed and "Arabized."
The following toponymic elements are common in place names in the Maghreb:
agadir, granary, wall (in Berber languages), from Punic 𐤀𐤂𐤃𐤓, ʾgdr, the name of ancient
Cadiz
Watson, Wilfred G.E. (2013),
"Loanwords in Phoenician and Punic", Ritual, Religion, and Reason, Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments, No.404, Munster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 327–346.
The place names of the
Maghreb come from a variety of origins, mostly
Arabic and
Berber, but including a few derived from
Phoenician,
Latin, and several other languages. This is well illustrated by the three largest cities of
Algeria, for instance:
Algiers from Arabic al-jazā'ir "the islands",
Oran from wahran from Berber wa-iharan "place of lions" and
Constantine (Arabic Qasantinaقسنطينة) from the Latin name of the emperor
Constantine. Phoenician names include
Jijel, shortened from Latin Igilgili, from Phoenician i gilgilt "Skull Island" (according to Lipinski),[where?] and
Carthage, ultimately from
Punicqrt-ḥdšt (𐤒𐤓𐤕 𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕) "New City."
Given the fact that Arabs founded very few cities in the regions they conquered, a large portion of cities in Arab countries have non-Arab etymologies. Many places, however, have had their names changed and "Arabized."
The following toponymic elements are common in place names in the Maghreb:
agadir, granary, wall (in Berber languages), from Punic 𐤀𐤂𐤃𐤓, ʾgdr, the name of ancient
Cadiz
Watson, Wilfred G.E. (2013),
"Loanwords in Phoenician and Punic", Ritual, Religion, and Reason, Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments, No.404, Munster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 327–346.