Talk:Białystok

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[edit] Lithuanian name

A suggestion only - Given that the extent of Baltic hydronyms (river names) extends southwards to the Pripet marshes, one could accept a Baltic (Jotvingian) derivation along the lines of Balstoge < bala "swamp/marsh" + stoge "shelter" ie., ultimately from a phrasal construction meaning "guarding the swamps/marshes", analogous to pastoge "home, shelter". Likewise Panevežys is transparently Baltic. [dictionary - Piersarskas & Svecevičius, 1963, "Lietuvių-Anglų Kalbų Žodyna", Viva, Chicago]. Dr. E. Reilly, Australia.

I wonder, why do we need Lithuanian translation of the city name here ? Does it have any significant Lithuanian minority, or other similar reason ? Lysy 20:36, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well, Panevežys doesn't has nor ever had significant Polish minority either, but yet you advocated the mention of Polish name based on the fact that Lithuania and Poland had common history. Therefore Balstogė should also be mentioned then, especially as it is unique name, not just Polish name with Lithuanian ending ("Bialystokas"). And I am not sure here, but does Bialystok means the same in Polish? Cause if it doesn't, then that would mean the name itself came from Lithuanian.DeirYassin 15:43, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

OK, so it's in retaliation then ? ;-) I don't mind it, I just wondered why.
Białystok means "white slope" in Polish. I would rather expect Belarusian origin of the name, not Lithuanian. Lysy 16:04, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)
You're right. --Monkbel 10:50, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I was under the impression that the "stok" in the city's name actually referred to falling water of some sort (i.e., "staczający się strumień"). That's what I seem to remember, and that's what the official site claims. Granted, you shouldn't trust everything you read online, but I currently don't have a better source at hand.

[edit] German name

I am not sure how seriously to take edits by User:Chris 73. They are so unreasonable as to seem to be some kind of a joke, or a case of making silly edits to make a point.

But anyway, here is the short response:

1. German Bialystok is just the German form of Polish name Białystok without diacritics. Hence I see no reason to list it separately.

2. Bialystok was in Prussia from 1795 to 1807. This was a very violatile period when borders changed frequently. For example, France at the time owned much of Western Europe. Should we list French names for all cities which were part of the Napoleonic Empire at that time?

Actually, we do list French names for Mainz, Trier, and possibly some other German cities. For many cities in the Napoleonic Empire, the French and English names are the same - Florence, Rome, and Cologne, for instance. john k 16:01, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

3. The mention of German occupation in years 1941-1944 as a reason to include the German name is just plain incendiary. Try doing the same edit for articles about other European cities and watch the reaction :).

Balcer 17:20, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

Besdies that quibble, I agree with Balcer's points - this is absurd, especially since the German name isn't actually different from the Polish name. john k 16:01, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

The "German name" is no German name. Białystok is a good example of a city, which was never "German" and thus got no German name (another reason could be, that the spelling Bialystok is no problem for the German tongue, but this is just a theory by me). By the way: What does the name mean? I guess, it derived from the Bialka river? -- Arne List 13:17, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Belarusian Relevance

I seem to be having a bit of a quarrel with using Białystok vs Belostok in Belarus-relevant articles. --Kuban kazak 14:10, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Country clarification

I just want to clarify that I understand the article. Bialystok was in Prussia from 1795 to 1807. Bialystok was in Russia from 1807 to 1915. Is that correct? -- Reinyday, 16:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes, funny thing is the Russians did not annex it in 1945 AGAIN (like all Kresy) like they liked to do.


[edit] Bialka River

"Bialka river" link leads to page about river in southern Poland. Bialystok, as you can see on the map, is in the north-east part of Poland.during world war two bialystok was almost germany