Etymology
Until 1775, the river was called Yaik and was labeled as Jajykon on the map by Ptolemy from the 2nd century AD. This name has a Turks origin and is currently official in Kazakhstan and in the Bashkir language. In the later European texts it is sometimes mentioned as Rhymnus fluvius and in the Russian chronicle of 1140 as Yaik. The river was renamed in Russian language in 1775, as a result of the motion from Catherine II of Russia – its name remained unchanged in the Bashkir and Kazakh languages.
Read more about this topic: Ural River
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)