-stan

[loes appelmoes]

Wat ik mij afvroeg tijdens het bladeren in de atlas; in het oosten liggen allerlei landen die eindigen op -stan. Zoals Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan en Kyrgyzstan. Waar staat -stan voor? Iemand een idee?

[Dynamico]

Leuke vraag. Voor wat etymologische research ben ik altijd wel te porren. Ik heb gezocht en gevonden op http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-stan (hoewel het van Wikipedia komt geloof ik het graag):

-Stan or -sthan is a suffix that is Persian for "home of", Sanskrit for "place", and Bulgarian for "camp" meaning specifically a Nomadic people camp, or a camp of tents or other temporary accommodations.

It appears in the names of many countries and regions, especially in central Asia and the Indian subcontinent which are the areas where Persian and related languages have historically been used. It is the Persian equivalent to the Latin ending -ia and the Germanic -land.

The -stan form of the suffix is spelled ـستان in Arabic script, and is derived from a Persian suffix which came from an Indo-Iranian root expressing "place" or "where one stands". This, in turn, was derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sta, "to stand" (which is the source of the English word "stand" and, via Latin, "state")

[loes appelmoes]

Dus simpel gezegd, Perzisch voor 'land'.

Merci voor het vinden!