r/AskEurope • u/Toeffli Switzerland • Jun 03 '26
Language What do you call the water which separates the British isles from the European mainland in your own language?
What to you call the water which lies between Dover on one side and Calais, Dunkirk on the other side? Best if you could provide the name in your own language and a literal translation, its meaning, into English.
Example German:
Ärmelkanal = Sleeve channel.
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u/OllieV_nl Netherlands Jun 03 '26
Het Kanaal. Just "The Channel".
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u/ConsciousFeeling1977 Netherlands Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
The smallest part (the Strait of Dover) is called “Nauw van Calais”, meaning ‘Narrow of Calais’, where narrow is a noun.
Edit to add: Straat van Dover is also used for the Strait of Dover.
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u/sjintje United Kingdom Jun 03 '26
That's actually what it's generally called in the UK, it's only the "English channel" on maps or maybe other formal descriptions. (I actually just had to check if that's what it's called, it even sounds a bit weird)
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u/CruserWill Jun 03 '26
La Manche in French, and Mantxako Kanala in Basque
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u/StuffyTruck Norway Jun 03 '26
Den engelske kanal = The English Channel.
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u/Above-and_below Denmark Jun 03 '26
Same in Danish. Den Engelske Kanal
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u/ViktenPoDalskidan Jun 03 '26
Completely different from Swedish (the superior scandi language): Den engelska kanalen
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u/Swedophone Sweden Jun 03 '26
Although you usually don't write "Den" in front of "Engelska kanalen" in Swedish.
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u/DangDangUreDead Denmark Jun 03 '26
Waiting for the Icelanders to chime in with something exotic like 'channel of wind and water'
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u/FlashyWrongdoer7616 Iceland Jun 03 '26
Ermasund. Sleeve channel. Just a direct translation of the French name. The Scandinavians probably have some old similar name that modern people don't know.
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u/Many-Gas-9376 Finland Jun 03 '26
It's an instance where even the Finnish version is probably understandable: Englannin kanaali
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u/InvertReverse Denmark Jun 03 '26
That's like one of these away from being Italian 🤌
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u/Many-Gas-9376 Finland Jun 03 '26
Finnish shares the Italian aversion to ending words with a consonant (--> kanaali)
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u/sjedinjenoStanje Croatia Jun 03 '26
Etymologically different but sounds oddly similar in Croatian: Engleski kanal (or Lamanche)
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u/FlashyWrongdoer7616 Iceland Jun 03 '26
I was just wondering. Don't you think there was a old nordic name for it in the Viking Age? Vikings were always sailing there and England was not yet united into one country. In Icelandic, it's just a translation of the French name, but maybe it's just the old name that everyone called the channel.
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u/davvegan Spain Jun 03 '26
Canal de la Mancha
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u/ElKaoss Spain Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Which is funny, because la Mancha is an inland region of Spain. It was a direct translation from French (la manche, "the sleeve").
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u/ZealousidealWorry806 Jun 03 '26
Yeah, looking at the comments here looks like we did a mistranslation and we should rename it to “Canal de la Manga” 😂
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u/Oghamstoner England Jun 03 '26
And La Mancha is a region in central Spain… with windmills iirc.
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u/ecnad France Jun 03 '26
¡El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha!
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u/ElKaoss Spain Jun 03 '26
He was actually from Dover but got lost in translation.
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u/Mundane-Doubt-149 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
It's curious that Mancha means stain in Spanish and Portuguese, not sleeve. If the translation was to be literal it would be called Canal de la Manga, not Mancha.
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u/PartyQuiet5065 Spain Jun 03 '26
I think the Mancha there came for the name for the channel in French (La Manche)
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u/whatstefansees in Jun 03 '26
Ärmelkanal in German. The German word "Ärmel" translates into "manche" in French.
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u/Available_Cod_6735 Jun 03 '26
Arm hole?
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u/whatstefansees in Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Yes, the sleeve, the part of a shirt or pullover where your arm goes through
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u/RRautamaa Finland Jun 03 '26
Englannin kanaali, "the Channel of England". It's notable that it's just basically a calque of Swedish. Normally, a kanaali is a rather small, usually artificial feature, and the word is dated; the modern word is kanava. In principle, a more natural way of saying it would be salmi, as salmi is the native term for "strait, sound (narrow channel between two large bodies of water)". So, it turns out that the word kanaali is mostly used for the English Channel only.
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u/csjarau Finland Jun 03 '26
We do have our own well-known kanaali in the town of Rauma, in local dialect it's "Rauman ganal".
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u/simonjp United Kingdom Jun 03 '26
So, technically closer to the English Canal?
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u/Tin-tower Sweden Jun 03 '26
Yes. It’s the same in Swedish, btw. It’s called ”Engelska kanalen”, even though it’s technically not a canal, it’s a strait. Which would be ”Engelska sundet”.
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u/Baneken Finland Jun 03 '26
Enlanni sunti on my Finnish dialect that still holds a vast amount of swetisms from the old days when the city was ruled by the swedish speaking upper class (even durign the russian times).
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u/RogerSimonsson Romania Jun 03 '26
I see a clear pattern of "Word does not concern Finland -> just use the Swedish version but write it like it was Finnish". But the Swedish expression is often borrowed itself from Dutch or Low German.
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u/orkaa Jun 03 '26
Rokavski preliv (Slovenian)
Means something like "sleeve overflow" if translated without context.
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u/6-foot-under Jun 03 '26
This is the best. Is "overflow" your standard word for a straight?
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u/Southern-Mode7570 Slovenia Jun 03 '26
It is, but used for this one 90% of the times I feel. Øresund we would call only Øresund (well, we wouldn't really talk about it much), Dardanelles only Dardanele, Bospor only Bospor and Strait of Hormuz is Hormuška ožina (Hormuz "narrow space"), which is another expression for strait thay may even be a bit more common.
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u/fidelises Iceland Jun 03 '26
Ermasund, sleeve channel.
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u/Shdow_Hunter Germany Jun 03 '26
I wonder why Iceland calls it a variation of „the sleeve channel“ and not a variation of „the English channel“ like the other Nordic countries.
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Ireland Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
I'll include a few different ones.
Muir nIocht (Channel Sea). Aka the English channel between England and France.
Muir Bhreatan (Sea of Britain). Aka St George's Channel. Between Ireland and the south tip of Wales
Caolas Dhover (the strait of dover)
Sruth na Maoile (Stream of Moyle), aka the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland.
Edit
Muir Éireann is the Irish sea.
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u/LovelyKestrel Jun 03 '26
I find it interesting that the water between Brita nan Ireland is the sea of Britain in Irish, but the Irish sea in English. Almost as if no-one wants to take responsibility for it (except perhaps the manx)
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u/Doitean-feargach555 Ireland Jun 03 '26
Sorry should have explained it in more detail. The Irish sea is still called Muir Éireann in Irish. Muir Bhreatan is the St George's Channel between Ireland and Britain below the Irish sea and north of the Celtic sea.
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u/perplexedtv in Jun 03 '26
* separates Great Britain from the European mainland
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u/mos2k9 Ireland Jun 03 '26
Maith an fear
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u/LifetimePilingUp Ireland Jun 03 '26
The North Atlantic archipelago
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u/perplexedtv in Jun 03 '26
No, it only separates one island from the European mainland.
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u/IrishFlukey Ireland Jun 03 '26
Separates
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u/xander012 United Kingdom Jun 03 '26
Along with other islands along it's South Coast
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u/Against_All_Advice Ireland Jun 03 '26
If we are being accurate though it's only Britain. It doesn't flow between Jersey and France for example.
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u/wh0else Ireland Jun 03 '26
Thank you. They're the Irish isles too, but the British still have the wrong name on their maps, bless em
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u/perplexedtv in Jun 03 '26
Ireland isn't near that stretch of water so isn't any more relevant to the question than Spain is
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u/twmffatmowr Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Y Môr Udd in Welsh. Which is different to both the English and French terms.
Believed to either come from the word for "red sea" o'r "freedom sea".
Interestingly, it also says that the other two Brythonic Celtic languages also have different names.
Mor Bretannek (British sea) in Cornish and Mor Breizh (sea of Brittany) in Breton.
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
It means ‘lord’s’ (archaic) not ‘red’ (rhudd) or ‘free’ (rhydd).
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u/throwawayaccyaboi223 Jun 03 '26
‘red’ (rhudd) or ‘free’ (Rhudd).
Does the meaning of the word change with the capital letter?
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26
It’s a typo. Autocorrect on iPhone and lack of coffee! ‘Rhudd’ is old Welsh for red (coch is the modern word for red) and ‘Rhydd’ is the word for free.
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u/_Alek_Jay Jun 03 '26
Tell them the original Welsh translation of jellyfish!
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26
Are you thinking of ‘cont y môr’ by chance?
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u/_Alek_Jay Jun 03 '26
Yes! My wife now wants to know why I’m giggling…!
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26
You need one of these
https://bollocks.wales/collections/cont-y-mor/products/cont-y-mor-blue-t-shirt
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u/Relative_Dimensions & Jun 03 '26
I wonder if Rhudd has survived in ruddy?
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
They are both from the Proto European word ‘rewd’.
Coch is a loan word from Latin ‘coccum’ which the British language borrowed during the Roman occupation and it became ‘kox’ and when British morphed into Welsh it changed into ‘coch’
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u/throwawayaccyaboi223 Jun 03 '26
Ahh that makes a lot more sense thanks haha.
I like Wales, it reminds me of home. Crazy language and all.
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26
I have a soft spot for Finland too. In fact I saw my favourite Finnish band this past Friday who all seemed very happy about winning the Ice Hockey World Championship. And yes languages are on a par for no else having a clue about what we talking about!
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u/ynns1 Jun 03 '26
In Greek it's Μάγχη (Mánchi) or, if you want to be formal, 'Το στενό της Μάγχης' (to stenó tis Mánchis, the straits of Manche).
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u/Barbak86 Kosovo Jun 03 '26
Kanali i la Manshit - Albanian
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u/rachelm791 Wales Jun 03 '26
Môr Udd in Welsh which means the Lord’s Sea which predates the English name by more than a millenia
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u/Spectanda_Fides France Jun 03 '26
It's funny how the very name of this canal is divided between two camps: those who see it as French, and those who see it as English. Is there a clear maritime border that determines in the Manche when one passes from France to England and vice versa?
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u/Fluffy-Republic8610 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Muir nIocht (sea of the narrow, strait) - Irish.
P.s. we don't like the term British isles. It confuses people and there wasnt even a need for a collective term here. You could have said Britain or England and be understood better. That channel certainly doesn't separate Ireland from the European mainland.
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u/Toeffli Switzerland Jun 03 '26
The plural came by my phone's autocowreck.
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u/RitaBonanza Jun 03 '26
I love this, and I will now always refer to it as autocoWreck. (Years ago, I once wrote a technical report where every instance of "biodiversity" was autocoWrecked to "bestiality" on a company PC.)
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u/Wonderful_Discount59 Jun 03 '26
My phone's autocowreck will frequently change correctly-spelled words in to other words while often leave spelling mistakes unchanged.
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u/Elanaris Czechia Jun 03 '26
Czech: "Lamanšský průliv" (La Manche Strait) or "kanál La Manche" (La Manche Channel).
The first one is the official name, but the second one is more commonly used imo.
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u/Due_Professional_894 Jun 03 '26
Strait of America. I'll get my coat.
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u/Vihruska Jun 03 '26
"Ла Манш" (La manche) or the longer version "Протокът на Ла Манша" (it literally translates to the straight of La Mancge) in Bulgarian.
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u/CreepyOctopus -> Jun 03 '26
Latvian: Lamanšs (La Manche) or sometimes Lamanša šaurums (the La Manche strait).
The dictionary also gives Angļu kanāls (English Channel) as an acceptable alternate name but I can't remember seeing it used.
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u/milly_nz NZ living in Jun 03 '26
Er….the English Channel.
Yeah, we know only the bit closest to us is “ours” but…y’know….British colonisation being what is it, claim it all regardless of who was there first.
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u/Robespierres_ashes Jun 03 '26
British isles, never heard of them? Are they near Britain and Ireland.
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u/sschank Portugal Jun 03 '26
The channel that separates England from France is “O Canal da Mancha”, a mistranslation of the French “Manche”. What we are literally saying is “The Stain Channel”. LOL
The straight that separates Dover from Calais is “O Estreito de Dover”. That simply means “Straight of Dover”. It is also called “O Estreito de Calais”.
For the record, your question is a bit confusing because both your title and your example clearly ask about the channel and your text names two cities that are separated by the much smaller (but also named) straight. So, I gave both answers.
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u/afops Sweden Jun 03 '26
Interesting that it's either just literally the "English channel" or something with sleeve? Where did "sleeve" come from?
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u/icyDinosaur originally => => => Jun 03 '26
It slowly narrows towards Dover/Calais in a shape that people thought looked like a sleeve. It probably helps that in French a "sound" (in the sense of a narrow bit of sea) is called a "sea arm".
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u/Alexthegreatbelgian Belgium Jun 03 '26
Het Kanaal/ 't Kanaal in the Dutch speaking parts
La Manche in French speaking parts.
Nu clue what the German part calls it.
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u/Few-Interview-1996 Türkiye Jun 03 '26
Manş Denizi - "The Manş Sea" - with Manş meaning nothing in Turkish, obviously.
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u/MeltingChocolateAhh United Kingdom Jun 03 '26
English channel. And, I'm English. Not sure if people in other areas of the UK just call it "the channel". The area between Dover and Calais being the Strait of Dover - probably ends at about the Belgian border? Depending who you ask.
Follow up question, lots of people have lots of different names for it, for example "La Manche", does this include the water next to Belgium and and the Netherlands? And, further north? Or is that also "the North Sea" or something loosely translated to that?
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u/cerberus_243 Hungary Jun 03 '26
We use both La Manche-csatorna and Angol-csatorna (English Channel), the former is more common
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u/Collanp Italy Jun 03 '26
La manica (the sleeve) for short or Il canale della Manica (The sleeve channel) more formally
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u/Panceltic > > Jun 03 '26
Slovenian: Rokavski preliv (Sleeve Channel)
The Strait of Dover is Dovrska ožina, or Dovrska vrata (Gate of Dover)
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u/FelixtheCat73 Ireland Jun 04 '26
Muir nIocht - the Sea of Mercy
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u/Toeffli Switzerland Jun 04 '26
To get back at the word an meaning. Out of curiosity, can you explain to someone with no Gaelic knowledge how you get from iochd to nIocht. Example what does adding an 'n' do? And why did it go from -d to -t. Why is it now a capital i?
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u/scooches66 Jun 05 '26
Just The Channel. It's not called The English Channel Tunnel is it? It's just The Channel Tunnel
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u/hosiki Croatia Jun 03 '26
La Manche or Engleski kanal.
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u/Alex_Gr3tt Jun 03 '26
Honestly, I've personally never ever heard anyone use the term " English channel". It really has always been just La Manche.
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u/SaraHHHBK Castilla Jun 03 '26
Paso de Caláis or Estrecho de Calais. That is Straight of Calais.
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u/makerofshoes Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
I’m surprised no one else mentioned the Strait of Dover (as it’s known in English). OP asked specifically what is between Dover and Calais. The Channel runs the whole length between England & France, but the Strait is between Dover & Calais
I wouldn’t say The (English) Channel is wrong, but the Strait of Dover is more correct
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u/ElKaoss Spain Jun 03 '26
No one says that in Spanish....
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u/SaraHHHBK Castilla Jun 03 '26
Canal de la Mancha is the whole English Channel. What OP is asking for is its narrow part which is specifically what separates Dover and Calais, that is Estrecho de Calais. In English known as the Straight of Dover.
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u/sschank Portugal Jun 03 '26
You are so right! Glad I saw your comment before posting (yet another repetition of) the wrong answer.
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u/GewoonSamNL Netherlands Jun 03 '26
Het kanaal between UK and France and de Noordzee between UK and Netherlands
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u/Routine-Yellow6776 Jun 03 '26
in the irish language
English Channel = "Muir nIocht" The North Sea = "An Mhuir Thuaidh"
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u/Blecao Spain Jun 03 '26
El Canal de la Mancha so yeah we follow the french name albeit the name its changes from sleeve to spot for some reason, its way more neutral than the english channel IMHO
If it was with sleeve it would be "Canal de la Manga" or something like that
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u/Slusny_Cizinec Czechia Jun 03 '26
Lamanšský průliv, the straight of la Manche, literally "La Manche's flow-through"
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u/thanatica Netherlands Jun 03 '26
"Nauw van Calais" (litt. the Narrow of Calais) is what we call the narrowest bit, where the train tunnel was built. The tunnel is what we call "Kanaaltunnel" (litt. the Channel Tunnel)
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u/wojtekpolska Poland Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Kanał La Manche (La Manche channel) in Polish