Why not “Istanbul”? Because the name Istanbul is really an Arabic derivative of the Greek. If you live near New York City for example and are heading into Manhattan, you don’t say “I am going to New York City.” Instead, you say “I am going to the city.”
Well, the “Istanbul” means the same thing. “Ee steen polee” is the Greek way of saying in the city (in this case the “city of Constantine” or Konstanteen-oupolee — Constantinople in English). Change the the Greek hard “p” to the Arabic hard “b” and you end up with “ee-stan-bolee” or Istanbul. The Arab speakers in Turkey know this of course. Non-Arabic speakers think the name of Constantinople actually was changed.
In any case, the reason for this digression is this link: Turkey Panoramas
In August 2006, washingtonpost.com photographer Ben de la Cruz traveled to Turkey to capture some of its rich history and people. Starting in Istanbul — the gateway between Europe and Asia, Ben also stopped in Cappadocia — a region in Anatolia famous for its unusual landscape — before ending his journey along the Mediterranean coast.
I was in Constantinople about seven years ago. It was a fascinating trip. I was fortunate in that our tour guide on a bus tour we took one day consented to drive to the area of the wall that was breached when the Turks captured the city. You can still get a sense of the grandeur of the place when you visit the older (formerly) Greek sections of the city, which remain abandoned since the Greeks that were forced out early in the last century still lay claim to the property in places. Elsewhere the city has mushroomed. The panoramas on the site give a good idea of the flavor and temper of the city. You can see Hagia Sophia in one of the lower photos.
I could be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure that Istanbul is actually a Turkish corruption of the Greek, not Arabic. (Of course, Arabic has heavily influenced Turkish due to the strong traditional presence of the Qur’an in Turkish culture, and some Turkish has ended up in Arabic, due to the domination of the Ottomans.)
Hmm… upon further research, it seems to be a bit more complicated than I thought.
Yes, “corruption” is a better term than “derivative.” Still, the article confirms my explanation for the most part. Thanks for the link. I had not seen it written anywhere before.
In his book Istanbul: Memories and the City, Turkish writer and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk provides a candid and detailed account of the Turkish pogrom directed at Greek residents during the nineteen-fifties. His account leaves no doubt that the violence was State orchestrated bnd that arson, rape and murder were deliberately employed as weapons of ethnic cleansing.
Pamuk laments the loss of Turkey’s rich multi-ethnic past, which a rabid nationalist ideology has worked to scrub away. Anyone who has lived in a city with ethnic neighbrohoods, bought sausage at a Polish Deli, eaten at a Chinese or Indian restaraunt or bought Canolli at the Italian market, knows that they add an irreplacable richness and flavor to urban life. Turks like Pamuk are slowly realizing what was lost when the Christians were driven away.