Why names like Jeanne d’Arc in original french become Joan of Arc in English?
In: Culture
>Why names like Jeanne d’Arc in original french become Joan of Arc in English?
Sometimes honorific names get translated *literally* from one language to another.
Names change spelling depending on language. For example, the name Michael (in English) and Michel (in French) both derive from מיכאל (in Hebrew, pronounced something along the lines of “Mikha’el”). The equivalent for the French “Jeanne” is the English “Joan.”
The last part of this particular name is also literally translated; “d’Arc” literally means “of Arc.” Hence, Jeanne d’Arc becomes “Joan of Arc.”
These names don’t always get translated though, or if they do the honorific is translated into another language. For example, Rene Descartes last name essentially translates to “of maps” in English, but we don’t ever refer to him as Rene of Maps, but just as Rene Descartes. Instead, if Descartes is referred to by his honorific title, it’s in Latin as Renatus Cartesius.
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