• Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 months ago

    “Hippopotamus” is another one. It derives from the Greek words hippos (horse) and potamos (river) and this concept of river horse is present in many different languages:

    • German: Flusspferd (lit. river horse)
    • Dutch: Rivierpaard (lit. river horse)
    • Finnish: Virtahepo (lit. stream horse)
    • Danish: Flodhest (lit. flood horse)
    • Chinese: 河马 (lit. river horse)
    • Arabic: فرس النهر (lit. river horse)
    • French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese use variations of hippopotamus.

    Tiny variations exist as well:

    • Hungarian: Víziló (lit. water horse)
    • Afrikaans: Seekoei (lit. sea cow)
    • Smallwater@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Actually, the Dutch translation is “Nijlpaard”, not “rivierpaard”.

      But, it uses the Dutch name for the Nile river, “Nijl”. So it’s lit. “Nilehorse” - which is technically the same as “river horse”, just more geographically specific.

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Aye! Flodhäst in Swedish, and カバ (河馬, 河 river, 馬 horse) in Japanese.