Whatever he may have found in “a lot of Latin dictionaries”, the adjective iugosus occurs only twice in all of classical Latin, both times in Ovid (Amores 1.1.9 and Heroides 4.85, if you want to check). Montanus is the standard adjective for ‘mountainous’, and is attested long before and after Ovid’s time in dozens of authors. The feminine singular nominative (subject form) of montanus is montana.

Why should it be feminine in the name of the state Montana? Probably for the same reason Taiwan was once called Formosa, not Formoso, and some people call the Falkland Islands the Malvinas, not the Malvinos: because the implied noun with which the adjective agrees is, whether singular or plural, feminine. In Latin, Spanish, and (I’m pretty sure) Portuguese, the word for ‘island’ is feminine, hence Portuguese ‘Formosa’ and Spanish ‘Malvinas’.

Of course, Montana is not an island but a landlocked state. However, most of the Latin words for political units are also feminine, for instance respublica or res publica and civitas (‘commonwealth’), terra (‘land’), and provincia (‘province’). There are exceptions, but Montana, as a state, was never an empire or kingdom (neuter imperium and regnum, respectively).

Complaining that a Latin dictionary has no separate entry for feminine montana is absurd. My Portuguese dictionary (by James L. Taylor) has no entry for formosa, because the word is listed as “formoso,—sa (adj.) beautiful, handsome”. Similarly, the form montana is included under montanus,—a,—um in Latin dictionaries, which list the masculine, feminine, and neuter in that order. (By the way, although many Latin adjectives end with —us in the nominative singular masculine, very few end with —ous and there are thousands that end in —er, —is, —ax, or other syllables.)

There are several other places with names that are Latin feminine adjectives: Argentina, Carolina, and Dominica (the island, not the republic), for instance. Why is it so hard to believe that Montana is another, when we are explicitly told that it was named from a Latin dictionary by one J. M. Ashley?

One more point: so far from being rare, the adjective montanus is used in the West Virginia state motto, montani semper liberi, “mountaineers are always free”. As in many other languages, an adjective can be used as a noun, so ‘of or pertaining to mountains’ can mean ‘mountain-man, mountaineer’: the masculine plural ending and the context suffice to make it a noun.

Michigan is transfered from the Anishinaabemowin (a central Algonguian language spoken by Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Menominee of upper Great Lakes, among others) through 17th century French [Nicolet 1634] to English by mid-18th century. It means “Great Lake (Sea),” derived from michi = large, great, awe-inspiring plus gami, a form of zaaga’igan = lake. Michigami is a Great Lake; Michigami Ojibwe was the dominant local term for Lake Superior into the 19th century.

do you have a link to the list of 100%-USCA-certified customs we all need to follow ?

I searched through a lot of Latin dictionaries and found most translations of mountainous as being iugosos. Moreover, adjectives seem to end in ous or us. Accordingly, I don’t see how you get montana being mountainous in Latin. You dismissed the latinized Spanish part of the explanation as well.

Color me unimpressed and unconvinced.

2. Any language other than English is and should be secondary in the USA for the reasons I set forth, primarily: “We may not like or respect each other, but at least we should be able to communicate.”

3. A question like “Are citizens of Spanish ancestry also “secondary” to other citizens?” is so obviously spoiling for a fight that I will not answer except to say “No”

4. As to how decisions are made in democracies on laws and customs, it’s called majority rule. If people don’t want to live under American law and customs, they are free not to come here.

Tell me that Ponce de Leon or one of his men published an account of his voyage, give me the title, the date and place of publication of a reliable edition, and the page on which he tells of naming Florida, and I will (after a trip to the library) call the Spanish etymology “certain”. A reference in a scholarly history would make it “nearly certain”, but even that is not always to be trusted: the story about salted Carthage seems to have been started by one of the contributors to the usually-authoritative Cambridge Ancient History. Until I see something better than a bare unfootnoted assertion on a website, or on a hundred websites, I will call it “probable” or (if you insist) “very probable”, say 98% likely.

You do not seem to be willing to admit that the likelihood of Montana being a Latin name is every bit as high. As I wrote in comment 77, “I would need a link or bibliographical reference to some more detailed account to be absolutely sure”, but J. M. Ashley’s consultation of a Latin dictionary is just as well-supported on the web as Ponce’s Easter season discovery of Florida. Again, I cannot call the Latin etymology of Montana absolutely certain without further evidence, but it is extremely probable, and you are the one who is unwilling to admit that.

I ignored your argument about the motto because it is worthless, and I thought it would be kinder to pass over it in silence. Since you insist, I will spell out the problem with it. The etymologies of state names and the languages of their mottoes have very little correlation. For instance, the state of Maryland has an Italian motto, but the state’s name is English. Of the six states with allegedly Spanish names listed in the original post, only Montana has a Spanish motto. The other five mottoes are English (Florida and Nevada), Greek (California), and Latin (Colorado and Oregon). If Colorado has a Spanish name and a Latin motto, there is no reason at all why Montana cannot have a Latin name and a Spanish motto.

As for links, I figured you were perfectly capable of Googling J. M. Ashley and his Latin dictionary. Apparently I was wrong.

No mention of the oro y plata in the motto. That’s pure Spanish. It’s pure Spanish (silver is argentum in Latin). Regardless of the use of the tilde (I’m a fluent Portuguese speaker and pretty good Spanish speaker, btw) it’s certainly possible that it could have been dropped.

As for this:

Thanks for so effectively shooting yourself in the foot, rp. Your poor aim has left my horse quite lively. If you had Googled yourself instead of leaving the job to me, you would have found numerous respectable sites alleging that the name Montana was “chosen from Latin dictionary by J. M. Ashley. It is a Latinized Spanish word meaning ‘mountainous’.”

Not even the simple courteousy of a link?

Your refusal to acknowledge Florida as being Spanish may be even more risible. Any kid growing up there knows that it was named by Ponce de Leon for Pascua Florida.

I am glad that you acknowledge that such a right should be limited to citizens. I don’t particularly agree but there is room enough for some variation on the basic theme and that’s why I noted that singing the national anthem could be seen as a nice gesture, so long as the anthem in any language but English is seen by all as secondary.

But, as a factual question, is the issue in the street being promoted by citizens? Or by those who would like to become citizens?

And what exactly is the issue? It’s not coming through very clearly. Is it open borders without limitation?

I realize that there is debate on whether a nation can propser with a multiplicity of languages. But it seems to me that the thing which ties the USA together is the English language and that it is destructive of the maintenance of a pluralistic, tolerant society to have competing languages. We may not like or respect each other, but at least we should be able to communicate.

That’s why I urge “Millions of dollars for English as a Second Language. Not a penny for bi-lingualism.”

This means that the peoples you listed are an integral part of their respective countries’ history.

We are talking national anthems and they are not historical documents but means to form and sustain a national identity.

Yeah, and citizens of Spanish ancestry have as much right to determine what form that national
identity should take as do citizens of English ancestry.

We are talking national anthems and they are not historical documents but means to form and sustain a national identity. I guess it’s a nice gesture—I suppose—that some people want to sing the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish. But I hope that they will sing it in English quite a bit louder.

Millions of dollars for English as a Second Language. Not a penny for bi-lingualism.