Argentinia

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Possibly coined by a Jehovah’s Witnesses translation team, from Spanish Argentina, from Latin argentum (“silver”) + the feminine of the adjectival suffix -īnus, in reference to the Río de la Plata ("silver river"); likely influenced by Dutch Argentinië.

Proper noun

Argentinia

1. (rare, literary) Argentina (a country in South America)

   Synonym: Argentinië

   • 1980 May 1, “Na disiten bron foe na bijbel e misi hen marki [Modern-day bible burning is missing its mark]”, in A waktitoren‎^[1], Selters-Taunus: Wachtturm-Gesellschaft (Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses), page 5:

     Wan toe jari pasa kaba, den ben tapoe na wroko foe Jehovah Kotoigi ini Argentinia, en a no kisi toe jari pasa kaba den ben teki boen foeroe boekoe foe den tapoe na edekantoro foe den ini Buenos Aires en ooktoe 250 Nieuwe Wereldvertaling foe den Santa Boekoe ini Spanjoro tongo.

     A few years ago already, they stopped the work of the Yehovah's Witnesses in Argentina, and not even two years ago, they took a good number of their books at their head office in Buenos Aires as well as 250 [copies] of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Spanish.

Usage notes

Except for a limited number of countries, Sranan Tongo speakers use Dutch-language country names as unadapted borrowings.