Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Foreign kings' names [View all]Bucky
(54,094 posts)9. I'm pretty sure King doesn't come from Khan.
King is a protoGermanic term meaning ruler. Khan is probably Turkic. I'd be pretty surprised if they weren't from entirely separate etymologies, even if there's an ancient Indoeuropean link.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
65 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Interesting. I'm still not sure why the courtesy was extended to Germany but not Austria.
Bucky
May 2013
#10
Because the English pronunciation hasn't changed as much as the French one has
Spider Jerusalem
May 2013
#37
Me too. I always say "zhong guo" (pronounced "jum gwoo") instead of China, for example.
Nye Bevan
May 2013
#47
Do the Kims in North Korea count as 'kings' - grandfather - father - son - sounds like royalty.
pampango
May 2013
#51
I dunno. I go with what's common, and popular usage of words/terms isn't always logical
NYC Liberal
May 2013
#52