Where does “Kazakhstan” come from?
Kazakhstan comes from Russian Казахста́н, a place name formed from Kazakh ethnonym elements meaning "land of the Kazakhs."
Ancestry of “Kazakhstan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian | Казахста́н | — |
| 2 | Kazakh | Қазақстан | Kazakhstan |
| 3 | Kazakh | қазақ | Kazakh |
| 4 | Persian | ـستان | -istan, -estan, -stan |
| 5 | Middle Persian | -stʾn' | makes nouns of places; of indeterminate function |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | stáHnam | the act of standing; position, location, place |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | stéh₂-no-m | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | steh₂- | to stand |