Where does “Казахстан” come from?
Казахстан (Mongolian) comes from Russian Казахста́н, from Kazakh Қазақстан, from Kazakh қазақ, from Persian ـستان, from Middle Persian -stʾn', from Proto-Indo-Iranian stáHnam, from Proto-Indo-European stéh₂-no-m, from Proto-Indo-European steh₂- — to stand.
Ancestry of “Казахстан”, 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 |