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From: lilandbr@scn.org (Leland Bryant Ross)
Subject: Re: Proteros,  phaneros
Message-ID: <E0sK0M.AFE@scn.org>
Sender: news@scn.org
Reply-To: lilandbr@scn.org (Leland Bryant Ross)
Organization: Seattle Community Network
References: <Pine.SOL.3.95.961110232034.15850C-100000@y.glue.umd.edu> <5650bd$r9b@elna.ethz.ch>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 04:19:33 GMT
Lines: 31


In a previous article, schmertz@Glue.umd.edu (Bob Schmertz) says:

>Sorry, can't help you with your words, but I couldn't help wondering what
>the .ch stands for in your email address.  Surely not China, nor Chad.
>Perhaps Chile?

Try "Confoederatio Helvetica", which is Modern Latin for Switzerland--and 
might well have been the ancient Latin for it too, if they'd had one back 
then.  The literal English meaning is "Helvetic Confederation", but I'm sure
you'll agree we all say "Switzerland".  Of course the Swiss themselves 
tend to name the country in one of their own languages--Schweiz in 
German, Suisse in French, Svizzera (I think) in Italian--but for 
concision, in language-neutral contexts, where space is at a premium, the 
efficient polyglottal Swiss have long used CH as 
their country code (e.g. on those little oval stickers European cars 
often sport).  

Incidentally, the first syllable in the Korean (Hangul) spelling of 
"Korea" *looks* an awful lot like "CH".  When I was a geographically 
precocious kid collecting stamps, I thought it stood for "Chosen"...

And does anybody out there know offhand the word for Switzerland in the 
fourth (excluding Latin) Swiss language?

Gxis!
--
Liland Brajant ROS'    			Ae, ka manu iluna oka hale,
P O Box 30091      			"O" ku'u leo "E moe maika'i," 
Seattle, WA 98103 Usono			Kani ku'u leo, ku'u hoapu,
Tel. (206) 633-2434  			Ae, ka manu iluna oka hale.
