Luisiana (And Help Me Please)

Question

Louisiana- a U.S. state. Why is it Luisiana, not Louisiana? Like how names aren't translated, why is this proper noun translated.

Stop following me bonnie . :) - Nickelbackfan1, Jan 21, 2016

welcome to the SpanishDict forum, Stonebuns :) Thank you for completeing your basic profile here is vote from me in recognition of this fact! ;) - FELIZ77, Jan 22, 2016

Answer 1

Names of geographic places are sometimes identical to English, sometimes not, but they are translated frequently enough. If they weren’t Spain would be Spain, not España in Spanish (or it would be España in English)- or what about Deutschland, Alemania, Germany.

Newer names especially names that are more approachable to a Spanish speaker tend to have less or no modification.

Here is a list of the States, note that a number of them are not the same as English, but all are similar enough that you could guess, knowing that they are states:

http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/9421/50-states-de-estados-unidos

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Carolina del Norte, Carolina del Sur, Colorado, Conécticut, Dakota del Norte, Dakota del Sur, Delaware, Distrito Federal de Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawái, Ídaho, Ilinóis, Indiana, Iowa, Isla de Rode, Kansas, Kentucky, Luisiana, Maine, Máriland, Masachusets, Míchigan, Minesota, Misisipi, Misuri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Nueva Jersey, Nueva York, Nuevo Hampshire, Nuevo México, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregón, Pensilvania, Texas, Tenesí, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Virginia Occidental, Wáshington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

:) - rac1, Jan 21, 2016

:) - FELIZ77, Jan 22, 2016

Answer 2

Hello Stonebuns

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

I know this doesn't directly answer your question , but Bosque has already given you a very good answer, and so I thought that I would add some guidance about translating proper nouns, such as names of people in Spanish as they are important ,too !

As we are talking about names of places, certain names of people also have clear translations. Here are some well known names.:

Miguel = Michael (Yes, like in San Miguel beer ) enter link description here

Esteban = Stephen enter link description here

Penélope= Penelope* enter link description here

Bárbara = Barbara*

Pedro = Peter

Mary = María

Samuel = Samuel (pronounced like: Sam well)

Katherine / Catherine = Catalina

Pablo = Paul

Mateo = Matthew

Luca = Luca

Mark = Marco

Ricardo = Richard

Guillermo = William

Juan = John

(difference in pronounciation*)

Names of companies like "Coca-Cola" often remain the same in Spanish because they are registered (company) trade marks /business names.. The first letters of the words are normally are capitalised.

If you are not sure, you can always place the name/s in quotation marks; eg; "Coca-Cola" You may find that some very popular brand names are listed in good dictionaries, but you can also put in a Google search on the internet and if your question is commonly asked, it is likely that someone will have aksed it before you!

I will add the links to the translator so you and others can see how to pronounce the names! You simply click your mouse on the link next to the name you want to hear spoken and it will take you to the translator page where you can click on the loud speaker/megaphone symbol next to the name and it will speak it out! I intend to add links to the other names later (in the next day or two)

I hope this also helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

Answer 3

Following up my above comments, I think the designation of a gender to a place named after another has to do with what the original was. If York is an English city, New York is a new city of York, so it's feminine because La Ciudad de York. Hampshire in England is a county so a new Hampshire is a new county, so it's masculine because… El Condado de Hampshire. Mexico: a nation, new Mexico, named after the old country of Mexico, country in Spanish is masculine (El País) so a new Mexico would be masculine too.

Answer 4

I think Bos has covered this .

I'd like to know why "York" and "Jersey" are feminine but "Hampshire" and "Mexico" are masculine. - AnnRon, Jan 21, 2016

Hmm that is a good question? - Nickelbackfan1, Jan 21, 2016

Just joined to answer this: New York and New Jersey are feminine in Spanish because they are cities: la ciudad de Nueva York and la ciudad de Nueva Jersey. It's the city that's new. New Hampshire & New Mexico are states: Estados, masculine i - 00f5a004, Jan 26, 2016

...so it is El estado de Nuevo Mexico and el estado de Nuevo Hampshire because it is the state thats new, like the city (la ciudad, fem.) that's new. - 00f5a004, Jan 26, 2016

Thanks, Observador and welcome! New Jersey is a state, but I suppose its name is derived from the island and therefore feminine. - AnnRon, Jan 26, 2016

Well, to be honest I think there's a degree of, shall we say, fanciful serendipity in choosing genders for geographical names, because I am sure you can say "Nueva Hampshire" and "Nuevo Jersey" and nobody can tell you it's wrong, it doesn't sound wrong. - 00f5a004, Jan 26, 2016

New York is also a state and nobody will call it Nuevo York, just because the city's translation won that argument. It's all a bit flexible in my view. - 00f5a004, Jan 26, 2016

O course from an English-speaker's POV, there's a lot of "fanciful serendipity" in choosing genders for any inanimate entity. ;-) - AnnRon, Jan 27, 2016

Well, the inanimate entities don't have a gender, it's only the words that are gendered. - 00f5a004, Jan 27, 2016

Answer 5

Thank you, and I'm not following anyone. (that's for Mr.Nickelbackfa).