Names of Singapore#Early records

File:6 . simha vahana in front of the sanctum ; sahadeva ratha also seen behind.JPG, or singa, at Draupadi Ratha. Although lions are not native to Southeast Asia, they are nonetheless numerous polities with "lion city" names in the region.]]

{{see also|Kingdom of Singapura}}

The English name Singapore comes from the Malay name Singapura which is believed to have been derived from Sanskrit meaning "Lion City".{{cite book|last1=Sommerville|first1=Maxwell |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literature, 9:22|date=1894|publisher= Adam and Charles Black, London, United Kingdom|page=94 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951t002526396;view=1up;seq=114}} Singa comes from the Sanskrit word siṃha ({{linktext|सिंह}}), which means "lion", and pūra ({{linktext|पुर}}) means "city" in Sanskrit and is a common suffix in many Indian place names.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ck1CLzJq9vAC&pg=PA905 |title=Namenforschung / Name Studies / Les noms propres. 1. Halbband |editor= Ernst Eichler|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-020342-4 |page=905|date=1995-01-01 }} The Sanskrit -pura suffix is the linguistic ancestor of the Malay and Indonesian -pura (e.g., Jayapura), the Thai -burī (e.g., Kanchanaburi), the Khmer -borei (e.g., Angkor Borei) suffixes. It is also cognates with the -polis suffix (e.g., Acropolis) of Ancient Greek via a common Proto-Indo-European linguistic ancestor.{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/S0424600.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010411060419/http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/S0424600.html|archive-date=11 April 2001|title=Singapore|publisher=bartleby.com|access-date=14 April 2006}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/viewpoints/mind-our-english/2011/05/20/language-and-places|title=Language and places|first=DR LIM CHIN|last=LAM|website=The Star}} Sanskrit was used as it was considered for a long period the prestigious international language of the region. Sang Nila Utama, said to be the founder of Singapura in the late 13th century who gave the city its name, also acquired a Sanskrit name Sri Tri Buana.{{cite book|author1-link=John N. Miksic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800|author= John N. Miksic |publisher=NUS Press |date=15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3|page=151 }} The name Singapura and its related forms were fairly common in early South East Asia, with a few cities given the same name – the earliest one known is Simhapura in what is now Vietnam established by the Cham people in the fifth century, others were found in Thailand (now Singburi) and Java. The name also appears in Buddhist jataka tales and in the Ramayana.

According to the Malay Annals, Singapura was named after a strange beast seen by Sang Nila Utama while hunting in Temasek, and he was informed that the beast must have been a lion. He decided to stay in Temasek and named the city he founded Singapura or "Lion City".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800|author= John N. Miksic |publisher=NUS Press |date=15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3|page=150 }}{{cite web |title=Sang Nila Utama Palembang|publisher=24hr Art |url=http://www.24hrart.org.au/pdf's/Utama_Every.pdf |access-date=14 April 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060819110624/http://www.24hrart.org.au/pdf's/Utama_Every.pdf |archive-date = 19 August 2006}} However, scholars have pointed out that lions are not native to Singapore or South East Asia, and the "lion" therefore would have been an error in identification. The Malay Annals describes the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama as a powerful, fast-moving and fine-looking animal with a "red body, black head, and white breast", and size "slightly bigger than a goat."{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.83132 |title=Malay Annals |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.83132/page/n59 43] |author=Dr John Leyden and Sir Thomas Stamford Rffles|date=1821 }} Some have suggested that the beast in question may have been a tiger or some other big cat,{{cite web |title=Studying in Singapore |publisher=Search Singapore Pte Ltd |url=http://www.schools.com.sg/articles/aboutSingapore.asp |access-date=14 April 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071223174218/http://www.schools.com.sg/articles/aboutSingapore.asp|archive-date=23 December 2007 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idt1BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |title=Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore |author=Tony O'Dempsey |author2=Mark Emmanuel |author3=John van Wyhe |author4=Nigel P. Taylor |author5=Fiona L.P. Tan |author6=Cynthia Chou |author7=Goh Hong Yi |author8=Corinne Heng |page=57|publisher=NUS Press |date=30 October 2014|isbn= 978-9971-69-790-7 }}{{cite web | url = http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/media/Archives2001/The%20Straits%20Times%20Interactive%20-%20National%20Day%20Webspecial.htm | title = The National Day Webspecial | work = The Straits Times | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140826170226/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/media/Archives2001/The%20Straits%20Times%20Interactive%20-%20National%20Day%20Webspecial.htm | archive-date = 26 August 2014 }} but others argued that tigers are native to the region, which made it unlikely that Sang Nila Utama or his followers would not recognise a tiger to mistake it for a lion. It has also been suggested that the description of the beast in the Malay Annals fits a mythical beast called janggi told in Minangkabau legends as a guardian of gold mines.

Many scholars, however, believe that the person Sang Nila Utama and the story of the founding of Singapura to be fictional, and a number of alternative suggestions for the origin of the name of Singapore have been given. For example, it has been proposed that the name was adopted by Parameswara to show that he was reestablishing in Singapore the lion throne that he had originally set up in Palembang. In this version of events, the lion throne was set up as a challenge to the Javanese Majapahit Empire, and the Javanese then drove Parameswara out of Palembang as a consequence of this defiance. Parameswara fled to Temasek, whereupon he assassinated the local ruler and usurped the throne. The change of name from Temasek to Singapura may therefore serve to strengthen his claim over the island.{{cite web |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/d24d6da6-0013-4a12-a6bc-68ad1497148e |title=Temasek/Singapora |work=HistorySG }} Others linked the name to the Javanese kingdom Singhasari as well as a Majapahit Buddhist sect whose adherents were referred to as lions.

File:Cantino planisphere (1502).jpg (1502) showing Singapore at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, written as Bargimgaparaa. The Portuguese had not yet arrived at the Malay Peninsula and its depiction is therefore inaccurate.]]

Early Portuguese sources from the 16th century do not indicate that the name meant "lion city", in fact they suggest that it meant falsa demora, perhaps meaning a "wrong, tricky or challenging interruption [of the voyage] or place to stay", and that it may have been named after a strait. Some modern scholars have proposed alternative readings of the name Singapura; for example, it has been suggested that the singa in the name may simply be the Malay word singgah meaning "stop over" indicating it was a stopover place.{{cite book |title=A Portrait of Malaysia and Singapore |author=Tan Ding Eing |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1978|isbn=978-0-19-580722-6|page=43 }}{{cite book |title= Impressions of the Malay Peninsula in Ancient Times |first=Paul |last=Wheatley |page=103 |publisher=The Eastern Universities Press Singapore|date= 1964 }} Yet another, based on names found in old maps, proposed that the name Singapura may have came from the strait as [bar]-čin-gapura, where "čin" is China and "gopara" is a "gate" in Sanskrit, and the bar in the name may be from either Arabic or Persian meaning "a large body of water" that may also be used to refer to a coastal kingdom. [Bar]-čin-gapura therefore may mean "gateway to the port of China".{{cite journal |last= Borschberg|first= Peter|title=The Singapore Straits in the Latter Middle Ages and Early Modern Period (c.13th to 17th Centuries). Facts, Fancy and Historiographical Challenges|journal=Journal of Asian History|volume= 46 |date=2012|issue= 2|pages= 193–224|url= https://www.academia.edu/4285020 }} Although it is believed that the name Singapura replaced Temasek some time in the 14th century, the origin of the name cannot be determined with certainty.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9yvBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |title=A History of Modern Singapore, 1819-2005 |author= C.M. Turnbull | author-link = Mary Turnbull | pages=21–22 |publisher=NUS Press |date=30 October 2009|isbn= 978-9971-69-430-2 }}

{{see also|Early history of Singapore|Temasek}}

The first possible written records of Singapore possibly date to the 2nd century, when the island was identified as a trading post in the maps of the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy. The map located a place called Sabara or Sabana at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula (named the Golden Khersonese) where Singapore lies.{{cite web |last=Hack |first=Karl |url=http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/kahack/cc%202.3%20(Little%20India).htm |title=Records of Ancient Links between India and Singapore |publisher=National Institute of Education, Singapore |access-date=4 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426231828/http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/kahack/cc%202.3%20%28Little%20India%29.htm |archive-date=26 April 2006 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800|author= John N. Miksic |publisher=NUS Press |date=15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3|page=35 }} However, identification of Sabana or Sabara varies according to different authors.{{cite book|author=Paul Wheatley|author-link=w:Paul Wheatley (geographer)|title=The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D. 1500|location=Kuala Lumpur|publisher=University of Malaya Press|year=1961|oclc=504030596|pages= 151–152}}

It remains debated if a 3rd-century Chinese account of a locality named Pu Luo Zhong refers to the main island of Singapore, Pulau Ujong.{{cite journal | title = Within and Beyond Academy: A Debate on Pulau Ujong amongst Jao Tsung-I, Hsu Yun-Tsiao and Tan Yeok Seong| journal = 华人研究国际学报 | publisher = International Journal of Diasporic Chinese Studies | url = https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1793724819000051 |date=2019 | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 47–76 | accessdate = 2021-11-22 | doi = 10.1142/S1793724819000051| df = mdy-all | last1 = 杨 | first1 = 斌. | s2cid = 242494474 | url-access = subscription }} Ninth century Arab sailors recorded a place called the island of Ma'it, which could be Singapore.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9yvBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=A History of Modern Singapore, 1819-2005 |author= C.M. Turnbull | author-link = Mary Turnbull | page=20 |publisher=NUS Press |date=30 October 2009|isbn= 978-9971-69-430-2 }} Arab sources also refer to a place called Betumah that some argued to be Bukit Timah (meaning "tin hill") of Singapore, or that it was sited at or near Singapore.{{cite journal |author=G. E. Gerini |title=Researches on Ptolemy's geography of Eastern Asia (further India and Indo-Malay archipelago) |publisher= Royal Asiatic Society |journal=Asiatic Society Monographs|volume= 1909|pages=199–200 |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/printheritage/detail/7aba5b63-ee38-4765-937c-1ea035bf1ba2.aspx }}

It was recorded that in 1320, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty sent a mission to obtain elephants from a place called Long Ya Men ({{zh|t=龍牙門|p=Lóngyámén|l=Dragon's Teeth Gate}}), known locally as Batu Berlayar in Malay, which is believed to be Keppel Harbour.{{cite web | title = Singapore: Relations with Malaysia | url = https://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/research/educators/060106_15a/ | publisher = Community Television Foundation of South Florida | date = 10 January 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222073109/http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/research/educators/060106_15a/ |archive-date=22 December 2006 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSqXGSinwP4C&pg=PA1 |title =Singapore: The Unexpected Nation |author= Edwin Lee |pages=1–2 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |date=15 October 2008|isbn= 978-981-230-796-5 }}

File:Mao Kun map - Singapore.png from Wubei Zhi, which is based on the early 15th century navigation maps of Zheng He, showing Temasek (淡馬錫) at the top left, and Long Ya Men (龍牙門) on the right panel.]]

Singapore is referred to in old Javanese and Malay literature as Temasek. The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese eulogy written in 1365, names a settlement on the island as Tumasik. The name appears twice in the Malay Annals before it is replaced by "Singapura" following Sang Nila Utama's arrival upon the island. Temasek may have been derived from Tasik, the Malay word for "lake" or "sea", perhaps meaning "Sea Town".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTOJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA381 |title=Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics|author=Victor R Savage |author2=Brenda Yeoh |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |date= 15 June 2013 |isbn=978-981-4484-74-9 |page=381}} In a version of Marco Polo's account of his travel, a place named Chiamassie that could be Temasik was mentioned in relation to the island kingdom of Malayur. Temasik may have also been mentioned in Vietnamese records as Sách Mã Tích ({{Vi-nom|𱏺馬錫}}) in the 14th century.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA181 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800|author= John N. Miksic |publisher=NUS Press |date=15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3|pages=181–184 }}

The Yuan dynasty Chinese sojourner Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330, mentioned Danmaxi ({{zh|c=單馬錫|p= Dānmǎxí}}, written as 淡馬錫 in the Mao Kun map), which is a transcription of the Malay name Temasek. Wang described two settlements in Danmaxi: Long Ya Men and Ban Zu (班卒, {{langx|ms|pancur}}).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300–1800|author= John N. Miksic |publisher=NUS Press |date=15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3|pages=171–182 }} Chinese records continued to use the name Temasik as seen in the Mao Kun map, even though according to the Malay Annals' its name had changed to Singapura in the 14th century by Sang Nila Utama. Although the name was mentioned in Malay literature, the name Temasek had become obsolete and did not appear in European maps and documents from 1500 to 1800. In more modern times, this early name for Singapore has been revived for modern institutions and for national honours in Singapore.

File:Map of Singapura by Godinho de Erédia 1604.jpg. Marked on the map are places such as Blacan mati (Sentosa), Xabandaria, Tana Mera, and Ujontana (the Malay Peninsula)]]

Early European visitors to the region gave Singapore a number of different names. Portuguese and Spanish sources may use the name Viontana for Ujong Tanah, a name that may also be used to refer to Johor or the lower part of the Malay Peninsula. Dutch maps of the 1600s and 1700s named the island as 't Lange Eyland or 't Lang Eiland ("The Long Island"), or the Malay equivalent Pulau Panjang, as well as Iatana for Ujong Tanah. A Flemish merchant named the island as Ysla de la Sabandaria Vieja, or "Island of the Old Shahbandar's House" (the Shahbandar or Portmaster's house was marked on some early maps near the mouth of Singapore River). Xabandaria along with other place names of Singapore such as Tana Mera and Blakang Mati (Sentosa) appear in a map by a Malay-Portuguese cartographer Godinho de Erédia drawn in 1604 and published in 1613.{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMt3BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA164 |title=Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300–1800 |first= John N. |last= Miksic |publisher= NUS Press |date= 15 November 2013|isbn= 978-9971-69-574-3 |pages=163–165}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/2016/01/22/a-portugese-map-of-singapura/#sthash.J5OGaMG3.wp9WnrUG.dpbs |title=A Portuguese Map of Sincapura |work= Biblioasia |publisher=National Library Board}}

The name Singapura and its many variants were used from the 1500s onwards in Europeans sources. Early 16th century European maps such as Cantino planisphere, showing the knowledge of Malay Peninsula before the actual arrival of the Portuguese in the region, give names such as bargimgaparaa or ba(r)xingapara and ba(r)cingapura, where the Persian or Arabic bar is added before the name.{{cite web |url=http://historydelocalized.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/bargimgaparaa.html |title=Bargimgaparaa. Carta del Cantino|work=History Delocalized |date=22 December 2014 }} The use of the term Singapore however was inexact, and can refer to a number of geographical areas or entities. Up to the late 1700s, the name Singapura was more often used in relation to a strait rather than the island itself. The Portuguese general Afonso de Albuquerque who conquered Malacca in fact claimed that Singapura was named after the strait.{{cite web |url= http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/3be6e35b-321c-4961-83a7-0ef0ffa44f24 |title=Singapura as "Falsa Demora" |work=Singapore SG |publisher=National Library Board Singapore }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WUhjKE8APSYC&pg=PA73 |title=The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India |author= Afonso de Albuquerque |page=73 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=20 May 2010|isbn= 978-1-108-01154-9 }} The Strait of Singapore in the early period may refer to the southern portion of the Strait of Malacca or other stretches of water,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggyl2FSzXvgC&pg=PA98 |title=Iberians in the Singapore-Melaka Area and Adjacent Regions (16th to 18th Century)|editor= Peter Borschberg |publisher= Harrassowitz |date=December 2004|isbn= 978-3-447-05107-1|pages=98–99 }} and maps of the 16th century may use Cingaporla, Cincapula, Cingatola, Cinghapola and many other variations to refer to island as well as the various straits or the southern portion of the Malay peninsula.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rb6cBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |title=The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century|author= Peter Borschberg |publisher= NUS Press |date=1 June 2009|isbn= 978-9971-69-464-7|pages=47–49 }}{{cite journal |url=https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/files/pdf/BiblioAsia%20Apr-Jun%202015.pdf |journal=BibloAsia |title=Searching for Singapore in Old Maps and Sea Charts |author=Kwa Chong Guan |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=50–55 }}

The 18th century German encyclopedia Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon provided five separate entries for Singapore: Sincapur (tip of the Malay Peninsula) and its Latin equivalent Sincapurum Promontorium, Sincapura (a city), Sincapor and Singapour (both straits).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PfhfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1595 |title=Grosses vollständiges Universal Lexicon aller Wissenschaften und Künste, Volume 37 |year=1743 |page=1595}} After the 1780s, the name Sinkapoor began to be commonly used on Dutch maps.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rb6cBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |title=The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century|author= Peter Borschberg |publisher= NUS Press |date=1 June 2009|isbn= 978-9971-69-464-7|page=50 }} In English sources, Sincapore, Sincapure, Singahpura and other variants of Singapore were used in the 17th to 19th century, and although a few variants such as Singapoor and Singapure continued to appear for some time, Singapore would become the standard form in English.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBQACAAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |title=Travellers' Tales of Old Singapore|author= Michael Wise |publisher=Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd |date=15 December 2012 |isbn=978-981-4677-30-1 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4lhAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA2-PA51 |title=A New Geographical Dictionary|date=1738 }}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyindianar04crawgoog |title=History of the Indian Archipelago: Containing an account of the manners, arts, languages, religions, institutions, and commerce of its inhabitants |publisher=A. Constable and Company |author =John Crawfurd|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyindianar04crawgoog/page/n285 265] |date=1820 }}

A number of names for Singapore were used by local Hokkien-speaking ethnic Chinese in early modern Singapore. In addition to the now standard Sin-ka-pho ({{zh|t=新加坡|p=Xīnjiāpō}}), other former names include Seng-ka-pho (星嘉坡 or 星加坡) and the derived shorter forms Seng-chiu (星洲; "Singapore Island") and Seng-kok (星國 "Singapore State").

Another name, Sit-la̍t (石叻) derived from the Malay word selat meaning "strait" (from Sit-la̍t-mn̂g [石叻門] another name for Longyamen){{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} and the derivatives or variants Sit-la̍t-po· (石叻埠), Si̍t-la̍t-po· (實叻埠), and La̍t-po· (叻埠) were also used.The syllable La̍t (叻) was used as shorthand for Singapore in terms such as the Hokkien name for the Straits Settlements, La̍t-sū-kah (叻嶼呷) where sū (嶼) refers to Penang (Pin-nn̂g-sū 檳榔嶼) and kah (呷) to Malacca (Mâ-la̍k-kah 麻六呷). Po· (埠) means a quay, port, or city.

The Japanese renamed Singapore {{nihongo|2=昭南島|3=Shōnantō}}, from Japanese {{nihongo|2="昭和の時代に得た南の島"|3="Shōwa no jidai ni eta minami no shima"}}, or "southern island obtained in the age of Shōwa", and occupied it until the British repossessed the island on 12 September 1945, a month after the Japanese surrender.{{cite web |author=Ron Taylor |title=Fall of Malaya and Singapore |url=http://www.britain-at-war.org.uk/WW2/Malaya_and_Singapore/index.htm |access-date=10 July 2007}} The name Shōnantō was, at the time, romanised as Syonan-to or Syonan, where the characters 昭南 literally translate to "Light of the South".{{cite web |url=https://mothership.sg/2017/02/on-the-road-to-syonan-to-how-singapore-got-swept-into-ww2/ |title=On the road to Syonan-to: How Singapore got swept into WW2|author=Joshua Lee |date= 11 February 2017 |work=Mothership}}

In English, the country's name is "Singapore" and its official name is "Republic of Singapore".

In written Chinese characters, the country's official name, "Republic of Singapore" is rendered as 新加坡共和国 in simplified Chinese. The full name of Singapore in different varieties of Chinese is:

• Mandarin: Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó
• Hokkien: Sin-ka-pho Kiōng-hô-kok
• Cantonese: Sān'gabō Guhng'wòhgwok
• Hakka: Sîn-kâ-phô Khiung-fò-koet
• Hokchiu: Sĭng-gă-pŏ̤ Gê̤ṳng-huò-guók

A nickname for the city is Shīchéng (Mandarin)/Sai-siâⁿ (Hokkien) (獅城), literally "Lion City." Modern historical names are retained as poetic or shorthand names for the island or country and include Xīngzhōu/Seng-chiu (星洲) and Xīngguó/Seng-kok (星國). Xīng, literally "star," is used as a transcription for the first syllable of "Singapore." Zhōu is a term for "island" in this case while guó means "country" or "state." Xīngzhōu is used in names such as the Sin Chew Jit Poh (星洲日報), a newspaper that was published in Singapore until the 1980s, and Nanyang Sin-Chew Lianhe Zaobao (南洋·星洲联合早报, Lianhe Zaobao for short), Singapore's largest Chinese-language newspaper.{{cite web|url=https://www.zaobao.com.sg/about-us|title=《联合早报》介绍 (Introduction to Lianhe Zaobao)|publisher=lianhe zaobao|access-date=25 July 2018}}

The official name of the country in Malay is Republik Singapura and the Malay name is used for the country's motto and its national anthem of the same name, "Majulah Singapura".

In Tamil, the country's name is Ciṅkappūr (சிங்கப்பூர்) and its official name is Ciṅkappūr Kuṭiyaracu (சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு, /{{IPA|siŋɡəppuːr kuɽijərəsɯ}}/). The word Ciṅkai (சிங்கை) is a poetic and abbreviated form of the city name that can act as a Tamil place-of-origin or place-of-residence-prefix to one's personal name as in Singai Mukilan. It is also used in Singai Nesan, a weekly newspaper published in Singapore from 1887 to 1890.

Nearly every language currently uses a name for Singapore derived from "Singapore" or "Singapura".

Japan uses the Katakana script for Singapore, {{nihongo|2=シンガポール|3=Shingapōru}}. There are variations of Singapore in Kanji script that are occasionally used, one of which is 新嘉坡. The one-character abbreviation for Singapore is 星, due to its historical name. Japan usually uses the Kanji script for other countries with official names in Chinese characters, i.e. China, Taiwan, South Korea. This is not the case for Singapore despite having an official name in Chinese characters.

In the Khmer language, the country's name is Sernghakborey (សិង្ហបុរី) from the word សិង្ហ meaning "lion" and បុរី meaning "city". The official name of the country is ស឵ធ឵រណៈរដ្ឋសិង្ហបុរី, literally "Republic of Singapore". The French word "Singapour" is commonly spoken.

Vietnamese either uses the word Singapore, Xin-ga-po, or Xinh-ga-po for the country (and Cộng hòa Singapore or Cộng hòa Xin-ga-po for "Republic of Singapore") but has used versions taken from the chữ Hán 新加坡, namely Tân Gia Ba. Vietnamese has also used other Sino-Vietnamese names other for historical names including Chiêu Nam for Shōnan (昭南) and Hạ Châu (賀州). There is also the transcription, 撑歌哺 Xinh Ca Bô, which was especially used in the newspaper Thanh Nghệ Tĩnh tân văn 清乂静新聞.

Likewise, Korea formerly used a Hanja-derived name for Singapore, Singapa (신가파), but now uses Singgaporeu (싱가포르).

• Little red dot: A nickname for the country

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003356/http://www.chinalanguage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1613&sid=05f2a532fd6d670487b81b91c31eead2 Geographic name in Hokkien]

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Singapore

Category:History of Singapore

Singapore

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Singapore