国連が世界の地名表記を統一へ
最近の植民地支配の影響を払拭しようと地名を変える動きに対応し、地名による誤解を避けるために国連が世界の地名表記を統一しようと動き出した。各150ページの小冊子2冊を来年、各国政府に配り地名統一の指針とする。
This has a dual use ― to prevent the Foreign Office from embarrassing itself by using an “old” name and to keep people such as the Defence Intelligence Staff and GCHQ up to date on names that terrorists or other political groups may use in their own language.
Not knowing the correct name of a place can have serious consequences sometimes. In the first Gulf war, bombs were reportedly dropped in the wrong place because of a misunderstanding about names. Sites were bombed because Western defence forces were not updated with any changes in place names.
イスラエルでは英語でエルサレムというところをヘブライ語ではイェルシャレイムまたはウルシャリムといい、アラビア語ではアル・クドという。ということは今回の地名統一でエルサレムは呼び方が変わるのだろうか。
In Israel, the city known as Jerusalem in England is called Yerushalayim in Hebrew, as well as Urshalim and al-Quds in Arabic.
南アフリカの場合は事情がもっと深刻で英語でケープ・タウンというところをアフリカーンス語でカープスタットといい、ホサ語ではエカパという。また、アジアでは、タジキスタンが英語地名のつづりを正しくTashkentからToshkentに、SamarkandからSamarqandに変えている。
For countries such as South Africa, which has 11 official languages, the situation is even more acute. A city called Cape Town in English is Kaapstad in Afrikaans and eKapa in the local Xhosa language. The government is apparently at a loss on how to deal with this issue. And in Asia, Tashkent was corrected to become Toshkent and Samarkand on the Silk Road to China has become Samarqand.
