-stan
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The suffix -stan (-ston, -st�n, spelled ـستان in the Perso-Arabic script) is Persian and Urdu for "place of", a cognate to Pashto -tun, and the Indo-Aryan equivalent, -sth�na (pronounced[st̪ʰa�na]) (स�थान in the Devan�garī script), a cognate Sanskrit suffix with a similar meaning. In Indo-Aryan languages, sth�na means "place", and is cognate to the Latin terms, state andstatus (meaning "to stand").
The suffix also appears in the names of many regions, especially in Central and South Asia, areas where ancient Indo-Iranian peoples were established; in Iranian, however, it is also used more generally, as in Persian and Urdu rigestan (ريگستان) 'place of sand, desert' and golestan (گلستان) 'place of roses, rose garden', Hindi/Sanskrit devasthan (place of devas, "temple"), etc. Both suffixes are of Indo-Iranian and ultimately Indo-European origin, the Proto-Indo-European root being *stÄ�- 'stand,' which is also the source of English stand, LatinstÄ�re, and Greek histamai (ίσταμαι), all meaning 'stand,' as well as many other words, for instance the Russian word Ñ�тан (stan) meaning 'settlement' or 'semi-permanent camp' (used in reference to semi-nomadic settlements encountered in certain areas of Central Asia) or in other Slavic languages such as Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian where stan means 'apartment' in its modern usage, while its original meaning is 'habitat'. Also in Germanic languages the root has survived, for example in the words Stadt (German), stad (Dutch/Scandinavian) stêd (West Frisian) and stead (English), all meaning 'city'.
The suffix -stan occurs in the following names, mostly toponyms:
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Countries
[edit]Autonyms
- Hayastan, the name of Armenia in Armenian
- Hindustan: meaning "Land of Hindus"; primarily refers Republic of India. "Hindustani" is also an umbrella term for several similar languages including Hindi (primarily spoken in India) and Urdu (primarily spoken in Pakistan).
- Iriston (aryi+stan) - self-name of Ossetia
[edit]Regions
- Arabistan — refers to Arab lands in Middle East.
- Ardestan — a town in Isfahan Province, Iran.
- Avaristan — Avari name for Avari land in Dagestan (Russia)
- Baharestan - is a famous historical carpet, a square and district in downtown Tehran where the Iranian Parliament is located and a collection of poems by Persian poet Jami modeled upon the Gulistan of Sa'di
- Balawaristan — another name for northern Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
- Balochistan — region in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- Baltistan — a northern region in Pakistan.
- Bantustan — Apartheid-era South African black 'homelands'; the term is coined by an analogy
- Bargustan/Borgustan — to the north of modern Kislovodsk, mentioned by Evliya Çelebi[1]
- Bashkortostan (Bashkiria) — constituent republic of Russia
- Baloristan (Gilgit-Chitral) is the name of a region of Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
- Cholistan Desert — a desert region in Pakistan
- Dagestan — constituent republic of the Russian Federation, literally "place of mountains"
- Dardistan — a region in northern Pakistan
- Dashtestan — a region in Bushehr Province, Iran - its center is Borazjan.
- East Pakistan (or Bangalistan / Bangistan, refers to the historic name for pre-independence Bangladesh)
- Frangistan (Persian:�رنگستان farangest�n) [2] to refer to Western Europe. (or Frankistan i.e. land of Franks)
- Golestan - a province in northern Iran which center is Gorgan
- Gulistan (Golestan) ("rose garden" in Persian, an Iranian province and a city in Uzbekistan; compare with Gulistan Palace in Tehran and the collection of poems by Saadi)
- Hindustan — land of the Indus, of (Hindus). Coined by the ancient Persians, Also used British ruling in then the British India empire, generally talking about the South Asia.
- Hunistan, Chenestan — kingdom of Huns in the modern territory of Kumyks[3]
- Inglistan - England in Urdu (Now Obsolete).
- Kabulistan — ("The Kabul land" — old term used in many historical books and old Persian literature books for Kabul. Kabulistan contained a larger region than today's Kabul Province. Some times it is called as the country of Kabulistan)
- Kafiristan — ("land of the infidels"), historic region in Afghanistan until 1896, now known as Nuristan. A similarly named region exists in north Pakistan.
- Karakalpakstan — constituent republic of Uzbekistan
- Khuzestan — a province of southwestern Iran
- Kohistan — several regions of this name
- Kordestan — a Kurdish province in Iran
- Kurdistan — Kurdish region