# Is Canada basically called and pronounced "Canada" in every language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 11, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973 "2017-07-11T01:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/1 "2017-07-11T01:47:43Z")
Most countries are called something else by foreign speakers: Deutschland - Germany États-Unis - United States Sverige - Sweden for example. But is Canada always Canada, or a variant thereof, like Kanada? ---
**Author:** ![habs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@habs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/habs)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/2 "2017-07-11T02:59:47Z")
[http://www.geonames.de/couca.html](http://www.geonames.de/couca.html) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/3 "2017-07-11T03:11:04Z")
In Chinese it’s like “jia na da”, but that’s still pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/4 "2017-07-11T03:28:36Z")
No, theres a town in California (La Canada) that calls itself Lockin’ Yodda. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/5 "2017-07-11T03:47:09Z")
Apparently Mongolian drops the final vowel and calls the country Kanad (Канад). Basque goes the opposite way and adds a letter at the end, calling the country Kanadan. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/6 "2017-07-11T04:53:08Z")
If you scroll through the left column in Wikipedia with different languages, you can check how things are translated by hovering over them. I looked at all the Latin script languages, and most of them are Canada, Kanada, or slight variations of it (Irish Ceanada, Pennsylvania Dutch Kanadaa, Maori Kānata, etc.) Exceptions that are completely different or variations that are a bit distant: Manx - Yn Chanadey Hawaiian - Kanakā and Tahitian - Tanata; not sure these count as it’s due to lacking the right consonants in these languages (though wouldn’t Kanatā make more sense?) Lobjan - kadnygu’e Eastern Min - Gă-nā-dâi Zhuang - Gyanazda I can’t speak about the non-Latin scripts except that Japanese is just kanada. La Cañada means “the canyon” ETA: In the “Canadian language,” it’s spelled CND. As in, C, eh? N, eh? D, eh? of course. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/7 "2017-07-11T06:21:03Z")
French usually gives it an article (le Canada) as it does with all countries. There are slight variations in vowel length and stressing of syllables - some languages will naturally tend more to CahnahDA rather than CANuduh. As a very general rule of thumb, the more recently the name comes into use, the less likely it is that other countries will have their own names for it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/8 "2017-07-11T07:23:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Basque goes the opposite way and adds a letter at the end, calling the country Kanadan. No, that’s a declension. The nominative is Kanada. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > La Cañada means “the canyon”. “The road” would be a better translation, as it covers more of the meanings, and if you call it a canyon it would be a low one. And it’s not where the name of the country comes from, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/9 "2017-07-11T12:51:04Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > No, theres a town in California (La Canada) that calls itself Lockin’ Yodda. > [@Nava](#): > > “The road” would be a better translation, as it covers more of the meanings, and if you call it a canyon it would be a low one. And it’s not where the name of the country comes from, anyway. In the situation above, though, wouldn’t “canyon” be the better translation? The town was originally called Rancho La Cañada. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/10 "2017-07-11T14:17:15Z")
I thought it was called Acadia in French, the place that Cajuns come from. But it looks like it’s not the name of the entire country. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/11 "2017-07-11T14:21:37Z")
Acadia is a historical region of French speaking Canada. In French, the name of the country is Le Canada, with the stress on the last syllable. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/12 "2017-07-11T17:21:43Z")
I thought it is pronounced "Canada, eh. "😃 ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/13 "2017-07-11T20:40:26Z")
We’uns calls it Kanadia 😃 Why else ya’ll called Kanadians? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/14 "2017-07-11T23:37:57Z")
The Dine (Navajo) name for Canada is apparently “Deeteel Bikéyah” which I gather means “country of the moose.” To trust Wiktionary, they have a lot of interesting geographic names. Their name for Alaska is literally “country of the cold people” and for Russia “country of the red shirt”. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/15 "2017-07-12T00:04:20Z")
And while we’re at it, in Spanish it’s _Canadá_, from the French pronunciation, stress in the last syllable. (On the sidetrack: Cañada can also be translated as “Glen” or “Ravine” depending on how the guy naming geographic features felt that day.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/16 "2017-07-12T02:47:38Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > I thought it is pronounced "Canada, eh. "😃 It’s actually only called CND. However, they transcribed it, “C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?” and thus the country was named. My 5th grade self thought that was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/17 "2017-07-12T03:49:51Z")
How about in areas where they stick an extraneous ‘r’ after an ‘a’? Carnardar? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/18 "2017-07-12T05:10:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I can’t speak about the non-Latin scripts except that Japanese is just kanada. Tetsuo! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/19 "2017-07-12T06:24:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > How about in areas where they stick an extraneous ‘r’ after an ‘a’? > > Carnardar? Only at the end of words in non-rhotic accents. kænuhderr > [@Trancephalic](#): > > Tetsuo! I think I know where the reference is from but not how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973/20 "2017-07-12T07:16:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > In the situation above, though, wouldn’t “canyon” be the better translation? The town was originally called Rancho La Cañada. That the town was originally called a herding farm (the Latin American meaning of _[rancho](http://dle.rae.es/?id=V7T2mDI)_, see last definition) actually favors the “road used by herds” meaning 🙂 If there is also a part of the road which goes through hills thereabouts, it could actually be wordplay. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-canada-basically-called-and-pronounced-canada-in-every-language/790973.md?page=2)