-stan explained

stan (Persian: ستان) has the meaning of "a place abounding in" or "a place where anything abounds" as a suffix. It is widely used by Iranian languages as well as the common Turkish languages (excluding Siberian Turkic) and other languages. The suffix appears in the names of many regions throughout West, Central and South Asia, and parts of the Caucasus and Russia.[1]

Etymology and cognates

See also: Oikonyms in Western and South Asia.

The suffix -stan is analogous to the suffix -land, present in many country and location names. The suffix is also used more generally, as in Persian (Persian: ریگستان) "place of sand, desert", (Persian: گلستان) "place of flowers, garden", (Persian: گورستان) "graveyard, cemetery",[2] Hendostân (Persian: هندوستان) "Land of the Indus (India)".[3]

Originally an independent noun, this morpheme evolved into a suffix by virtue of appearing frequently as the last part in nominal compounds. It is of Indo-Iranian and ultimately Indo-European origin. It is cognate with the English word state, Polish stan (estate, or New World first-level subdivisions), and with Sanskrit (Devanagari: Sanskrit: स्थान in Sanskrit pronounced as /stʰaːnɐ/), meaning "the act of standing", from which many further meanings derive, including "place, location; abode, dwelling", and ultimately descends from Proto-Indo-Iranian,[4] partly loaned into Ancient Greek as Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: -στήνη .

Countries

Countries adopting the -stan suffix in both English and these countries' national languages include:

Some of these nations were also known with the Latinate suffix during their time as Soviet republics: Turkmenistan was frequently Turkmenia, Kyrgyzstan often Kirghizia, and even Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were very occasionally Uzbekia and Tajikia.[5] [6] In addition, the native name of Armenia is Hayastan, hay being the endonym of Armenians. The largest -stan country by area is Kazakhstan.

Country names in various languages

English Name Persian name Turkish name Armenian name Azerbaijani name Kazakh name Turkmen name Tatar name Uyghur name Bashkir name Hindi–Urdu nameUzbek name
– Persian: ارمنستان Turkish: Ermenistan – Armenian: Հայաստան (native term: – Armenian: Հայք)Azerbaijani: Ermənistan Turkmen: Ermenistan – Tatar: Әрмәнстан – Bashkir: Әрмәнстан – Hindi: अर्मनिस्तान – Urdu: ارمنستان - Uzbek: Арманистон
– Persian: بلغارستان Turkish: Bulgaristan Azerbaijani: Bolqarıstan – Tatar: Болгарстан – Bashkir: Болғарстан – Hindi: बुल्ग़रिस्तान – Urdu: بلغارستان
– Armenian: Չինաստան
Turkish: Hırvatistan -
(alternative – Tatar: Хырватстан)
– Bashkir: Хыруатстан – Hindi: ख़िरवतिस्तान – Urdu: خروتستان
– Persian: انگلستان – Hindi: इङ्ग्लिस्तान - Urdu: ان٘گلستان
(and)-
(formerly Turkish: Habeşistan)
-
(formerly – Armenian: Հաբեշստան)
-
(formerly Azerbaijani: Həbəşistan)
-
(formerly – Tatar: Хәбәшстан)
-
(formerly – Uighur; Uyghur: ھەبەشىستان)
-
(formerly – Bashkir: Хәбәшстан)
– Hindi: हब्शिस्तान – Urdu: حبشستان-
(formerly - Uzbek: Ҳабашистон)
– Persian: گرجستان Turkish: Gürcistan – Armenian: Վրաստան (native term: – Armenian: Վիրք) Azerbaijani: Gürcüstan – Tatar: Гөрҗистан – Bashkir: Гөржөстан – Hindi: गुर्जिस्तान – Urdu: گرجستان - Uzbek: Гуржистон
Turkish: Yunânıstan – Armenian: Հունաստան Azerbaijani: Yunânıstan – Tatar: Юнанстан – Bashkir: Юнанстан - Uzbek: Юнонистон
– Persian: مجارستان Turkish: MacârıstanAzerbaijani: Macârıstan – Kazakh: Мажарстан Turkmen: Majarystan – Tatar: Маҗарстан – Bashkir: Мажарстан – Hindi: मजारिस्तान – Urdu: مجارستان - Uzbek: Можаристон
– Persian: هندوستان Turkish: Hindistan – Armenian: Հնդկաստան Azerbaijani: Hindistan – Kazakh: Үндістан Turkmen: Hindistan – Tatar: Һиндстан – Uighur; Uyghur: ھىندىستان – Bashkir: Һиндостан – Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान – Urdu: ہِنْدُوْسْتان - Uzbek: Ҳиндистон
– Persian: مغولستان Turkish: Moğolistan – Bashkir: Мағулстан – Hindi: मङ्गोलिस्तान – Urdu: من٘گولستان - Uzbek: Мўғулистон
– Persian: لهستان -
(formerly Turkish: Lehistan)
– Armenian: Լեհաստան – Tatar: Ләхстан – Uighur; Uyghur: لەھىستان – Bashkir: Ләhстан – Hindi: लहिस्तान – Urdu: لہستان
– Armenian: Ռուսաստան
– Persian: عربستان سعودی Turkish: Suudi Arabistan Azerbaijani: Səudiyyə Ərəbistanı Turkmen: Saud Arabystany – Tatar: Согуд Гарәбстаны – Uighur; Uyghur: سەئۇدى ئەرەبىستان – Bashkir: Сәғүд Ғәрәбстаны - Uzbek: Саудия Арабистони
– Persian: صربستان Turkish: Sırbistan -
(alternative – Tatar: Сырбстан)
– Bashkir: Сырбстан – Hindi: सर्बिस्तान – Urdu: صربستان

Administrative divisions

The following table lists the subnational entities of different countries that end with -stan.

Country subdivision name
Nuristan
Gobustan
Rajasthan[7]
Golestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Sistan, Baluchestan
Kurdistan Region
Turkistan
Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan
Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Tatarstan
Karakalpakstan

Administrative subdivisions

The following list shows some examples of some second-level, third-level, and fourth-level subdivisions inside different countries that have their names ending in a -stan-like suffix.

In Iran

Dehestan is the name of an administrative division in Iran.

In other countries

Regions

Historical regions

Proposed names

Fictional

Other

See also

Sources

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Ford. Matt. Kazakhstan's President Is Tired of His Country's Name Ending in 'Stan'. 28 October 2022. The Atlantic. 7 February 2014. en. 25 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221025082333/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/kazakhstans-president-is-tired-of-his-countrys-name-ending-in-stan/283676/. live.
  2. Book: Moshiri, Leila. English-Persian Glossary. Colloquial Persian. 1988. Routledge. 150. 0-415-00886-7.
  3. Book: Kapur. Anu. Mapping Place Names of India. 2019. Taylor & Francis. 978-0-429-61421-7. en.
  4. Book: Macdonell, A. A.. A practical Sanskrit dictionary with transliteration, accentuation, and etymological analysis throughout. 1929. Oxford University Press. London. 365. Arthur Anthony Macdonell. 1 September 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221016144545/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/macdonell_query.py?page=365. 16 October 2022. live.
  5. Web site: Google Ngram. Uzbekia, Kirgizia, Turkmenia, Tajikia . https://web.archive.org/web/20230410094017/https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Uzbekia,%20Kirgizia,%20Turkmenia,%20Tajikia&year_start=1900&year_end=2100&corpus=0&smoothing=2&case_insensitive=on&direct_url=t1%3B%2CUzbekia%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2CKirgizia%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BKirgizia%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BKIRGIZIA%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2CTurkmenia%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BTurkmenia%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BTURKMENIA%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2CUzbekia%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2CKirgizia%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BKirgizia%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BKIRGIZIA%3B%2Cc0%3B.t4%3B%2CTurkmenia%3B%2Cc1%3B%2Cs0%3B%3BTurkmenia%3B%2Cc0%3B%3BTURKMENIA%3B%2Cc0 . 10 April 2023 .
  6. Book: Becker, Seymour. Russia's Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865–1924. 2004. Routledge. 1-134-33582-2. 553. As early as June 1920, Lenin had toyed with the idea of dividing Russian Turkestan into three national regions: Uzbekia, Kirgizia and Turkmenia..
  7. The suffix -sthan is through Indic, not Iranic.
  8. Web site: Turmoil in the North East: The demand for Bangalistan. 28 January 2020. SabrangIndia. en. 16 April 2020. 28 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200128134544/https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/turmoil-north-east-demand-bangalistan. live.
  9. News: Lebanese solution " 15 Jul 1978 " The Spectator Archive. The Spectator Archive. 19 August 2018. 20 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180820005719/http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/15th-july-1978/9/lebanese-solution. live.
  10. Web site: Lojbnaistan. 4 November 2013. lojban wiki. 30 March 2017. 31 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170331030632/https://mw.lojban.org/papri/Lojbanistan. live.
  11. Book: Cowan, John Waldemar. The Complete Lojban Language. http://www.lojban.org/publications/reference_grammar/chapter1.html. First. 1997. The Logical Language Group. Fairfax, VA, US. English. 0-9660283-0-9. 3. 1. 30 March 2017. 2 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170402142427/http://www.lojban.org/publications/reference_grammar/chapter1.html. live.
  12. Web site: Stanistan (TV Movie 2015) - IMDb . .
  13. News: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare returns to tread a moral minefield. Stuart. Keith. 31 May 2019. The Guardian. 25 September 2019. en-GB. 0261-3077. 25 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190925003729/https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/may/31/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-reboot-controversy-activision. live.
  14. Book: Allan, Chantal. Bomb Canada: And Other Unkind Remarks in the American Media. registration. soviet%20canuckistan%20arab%20canadians.. 2009. Athabasca University Press. 978-1-897425-49-7. 84–85. en.
  15. News: Cavaquistão continua irredutível e a votar laranja ("Cavaquistan remains unyielding and voting orange") (in Portuguese). 6 October 2019. Visão. 26 August 2020. 3 October 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201003182449/https://visao.sapo.pt/atualidade/politica/2019-10-06-cavaquistao-continua-irredutivel-e-a-votar-laranja/. live.
  16. Book: Carla Fernandes. Multimodality and Performance. 2016. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 978-1-4438-9465-4. 27. 1 October 2020. 10 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230410094013/https://books.google.com/books?id=qOX6DAAAQBAJ&q=cavaquist%C3%A3o+cavaquistan&pg=PA27. live.
  17. Book: Dibyesh Anand. Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear. 15 October 2011. Palgrave Macmillan. 978-0-230-36263-5. 34–.
  18. News: Govt blocks 18 sites to check hate messages. 19 July 2006. The Times of India. 15 December 2015. 27 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130527095335/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2006-07-19/india/27816956_1_govt-blocks-check-terror-websites. dead.
  19. Web site: The Ruler of Orbánistan. 13 March 2022. Aspen Institute Central Europe. cs. 13 August 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220813060919/https://www.aspen.review/article/2017/the-ruler-of-orbanistan/. live.