604: transylvania and pennsylvania Aug 3, 2016

Romanian in a Romance language, so it should be no surprise that the name for the region 'Transylvania' comes from Latin, even though it's true that Hungary and then the Ottoman Empire controlled the area for century. The name comes from 'trans' meaning 'across' and 'silvia' which means 'forest', and the suffix '-(n)ia' is a common way to make something a noun which would otherwise, in this case, be a phrase. Once that had been created, words like Pennsylvania could be formed with ease and understanding, even though 'Penn' is not Latin or Latinate, but Welsh in origin.