The place names of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

come from a variety of origins, mostly

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–19 ...

, but including a few derived from Phoenician,

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, and several other languages. This is well illustrated by the three largest cities of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, for instance:

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

from Arabic ''al-jazā'ir'' "the islands",

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

from ''wahran'' from Berber ''wa-iharan'' "place of lions" and Constantine (Arabic ''Qasantina'' ) from the Latin name of the emperor Constantine. Phoenician names include

Jijel Jijel ( ar, جيجل), the classical Igilgili, is the capital of Jijel Province in north-eastern Algeria. It is flanked by the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Corniche Jijelienne and had a population of 131,513 in 2008. Jijel is the administr ...

, shortened from Latin ''Igilgili'', from Phoenician ''i gilgilt'' "Skull Island" (according to Lipinski), and

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

, ultimately from

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

''qrt-ḥdšt'' () "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 Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

'', granary, wall , from Punic , ʾgdr, the name of ancient Cadiz *''aghbal'' أغبال, spring. *'' adrar'' أدرار, mountain. *''tit'' eye, source, plural ''tittawin''. *''aït'' or ''ath'' آيت, "sons of". *''ighrem'' "settlement" *''azrou'' أزرو, "stone" from "azru" *''berkane'' بركان, "black" from ''aberkan''. *''bordj'' برج, fort. from Arabic. *''bou'' بو, place of (literally "father of").

Maghrebi Arabic Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Al ...

and , from abū أبو. *''

casbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

'' قصبة, old quarter of a town. *''chergui'' شرقي (pl. ''cheraga'' شراقة), eastern. *''

chott In geology, a chott, shott, or shatt (; ar, شط, šaṭṭ, lit=bank, coast) is a salt lake in Africa's Maghreb that stays dry for much of the year but receives some water in the winter. The elevation of a chott surface is controlled by the po ...

'' شطّ, a swampy salt lake.

, from ''shātī'' شاطئ *''dar'' دار, pl. ''diar'' ديار, home. *''

djebel : ''For mountains or other uses, see: Jabal.'' Djebel (1937–1958) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse, who won 15 of 22 races during 1939–1942 including the Prix d'Essai, 2000 Guineas and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He was later a leading ...

'' جبل, mountain. *''djemaa'' جامع, mosque. *'' douar'' دوار, (traditionally) region about the size of a county *''

erg The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100 nJ). It originated in the Centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). It has the symbol ''erg''. The erg is not an SI unit. Its name is derived from (), a Greek word meaning 'work' o ...

'' "field of dunes" (in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

.) *''

foggara A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same acros ...

'' "irrigation channel" (in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

.) *''gharbi'' غربي, "western" *''

hamada A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...

'', "barren rock plain" (in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

.) *''hamra'' f., ''hmar'' m. أحمر, "red" *''

hassi Hassi is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jouko Hassi (born 1959), Finnish sprinter * Satu Hassi (born 1951), Finnish politician {{surname, Hassi Finnish-language surnames ...

'' حاسي, "well" (in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

.) *''i'',

transcriptions of

(, "island, coastland"), from Egyptian ''iw'' ("island") *''idhan'' "sand dunes",

Tamahaq Tamahaq (''Tahaggart Tamahaq'', ''Tamahaq Tahaggart'') is the only known Northern Tuareg language, spoken in Algeria, western Libya and northern Niger. It varies little from the Southern Tuareg languages of the Aïr Mountains, Azawagh and Adagh ...

, the Tuareg language. *''ifrane'' "caves". *''ighil'' "hill". *''in'' "of",

, Tuareg language. *''kalaa'' قلعة, "fortress". *''khemis'' خميس, "Thursday". *''

ksar Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: wiktionary:قصر, قصر ''qṣer'' or ڭصر ''gser'', plural ''qṣur''; Berber language, Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ ''aghrem'' or ''ighrem'', plural: ''igherman''), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is the Nor ...

'' قصر, "fortified town, castle". from Latin ''castrum'' *''lalla'' لالاّ, "female saint".

from *''larbâa'' "Wednesday". *''melloul'' ملول, ''mellal'' ملال, ''mellil'' مليل, "white" from ''amellal''. *''mersa'' مرسى, "port" *''n'' ن, "of" *''

oued Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water o ...

'' واد.

from wādī وادي *''ouled'' ولاد, "sons of"

from ''awlâd'' أولاد. *''ras'' راس, "cape, head" * ''rus'' ( xpu, 𐤓𐤔‬, , "head, cape") *''

sebkha A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal ...

'' or ''

sabkha A sabkha ( ar, سبخة) is a coastal, supratidal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal p ...

'' سبخة, " salt pan" (in Arabic) *''seghir'' صغير, "small" *''si'' سي or ''

sidi ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Wit ...

'' سيدي, "male saint" *''

souk A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

'' سوق, "market" مرسى, search *'' tadrart'' "the rock"

. *''tala'' تالا, "spring" ; attested as early as

Sallust Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisa ...

's time in the form ''Thala''. *''tan, tin'' "of, in"

. *''taourirt'' تاوريرت, "hill". *''tedles'' تدلس, "reeds". *''tehe'' "pass"

, Tuareg language. *'' tell'' تل, "hill" *''tizi'' تيزي, "pass" *'' Ténéré'' صحراء تينيري, "desert" *'' Wahran'' وهران, "lions", *''wan'', ''win'' "of"

. *'' zaouia'' زاوية "Quranic school"

, from "corner". *''zemmour'' زمور. ''azemmur'', f. ''tazemmurt'' "olive tree". *''Zenati'' زناتي, from the medieval tribe

Zenata The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic. Etymology ''Iznaten ( ...

. *''zeriba'' زريبة, "stockade" *''zmala'' زمالة, pl. ''zmoul'' زمول "encampment"

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Maghreb Placename Etymology Maghreb Sahrawi culture Names of places in Africa Place name etymologies