The Mystery Behind the Sahara: Why is it Just "The Sahara"?

Have you ever wondered why the Sahara desert is just called "The Sahara" and not "Sahara Desert"?

Why is it that the term for this vast desert in Arabic translates to "desert" itself?

Answer:

The term 'Sahara' is derived from the Arabic word for desert, which is 'ṣaḥrāʼ'. Saying 'Sahara Desert' is redundant as it's equivalent to saying 'Desert Desert'.

Let's delve deeper into the etymology of the word 'Sahara' and the concept of tautological place names. The term Sahara is derived from the Arabic word 'ṣaḥrāʼ', which simply means 'desert' in English. The redundancy in saying "Sahara Desert" arises from the fact that both 'Sahara' and 'Desert' convey the same meaning.

This kind of redundancy in geographical names is known as 'tautological place names'. It occurs when a foreign language term is used alongside an English term, unknowingly creating a repetitive expression.

Some other examples of tautological place names include 'Rio Grande River' (which translates to 'Big River River') and 'Mount Fujiyama' (which translates to 'Mount Fuji Mountain').

For further exploration on this topic, you can refer to the Oxford English Dictionary for the etymology of the word 'Sahara' and various linguistic and geographical resources that discuss tautological place names.