Which one is it

[korgul]

I have seen 3 diff. spellings so far for a town in Afganistan. I have seen Kunduz, Konduz, and Kanduz. Which one is it?

I wish the people writing the articles that I have been reading would get it right. It makes you wonder is it the same town or are there 3 diff towns that are almost spelled the same?

In a state of confusion

korgul


P.S. I am easily confused

I`m pretty sure there is one and it`s Konduz as i have been reading lately ...
Could be wrong though

[Ratface2u]

Hey
Konduz is correct.
See map:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/tra...ap.detail.html

[strangerstill]

You trust CNN to tell you how to spell something?

The point is, the *correct* way to spell the name of the town known variously as Kunduz, Konduz, Kanduz... uses a script known as Arabic.

What you see written in newspapers in the Latin script is a transliteration; there can be no single correct way to transliterate a word from one script to another, so you will see different spellings being used.

Koran, Qu'ran, Mohammed, Muhammad... even Peking and Beijing are two transliterations of the *same* Chinese name!

I think HM Intelligence spell Osama Bin Laden as Usama Ben Ladin.

[caddmannq]

This is a big prob for cartographers the world over. The Afghani name for that town is written in Arabic: you know...those little squigles that don't look anything like the English alphabet?

So the English spelling is phonetic. We spell it like the Arabs/Afghanis pronounce it. The problem is that they've got umpteen different tribes, regions, and schools, and each one pronounces it a little different. So a reporter up north hears Kufug, and one in the south hears Koofook, while one in the central west hears Quefwek, etc, etc, etc.

Remember when Peiking was in China. Then someone with a different dialect came into power, and the people of Peking suddenly found themselves living in Peiping; and after the next coup: Beijing!

Heck, it's not just them. Last time in New York, some guy wanted fitty dallas ta paak da ka. If JFK had lived, we might all be driving a ka.