Zurich - Name

Name

The Swiss standard German pronunciation of the name is . In Zurich German without the final consonant, Züri, although the adjective remains Zürcher . The city is called Zurich in French, Zurigo in Italian, and Turitg in Romansh.

In English, the name is usually written Zurich, without the umlaut. It is pronounced /ˈzjʊərɪk/ (ZEWR-ik) or /ˈzʊərɪk/ (ZOOR-ik); more recently sometimes also with /ts/ as in German.

The earliest known form of the city's name is Turicum, attested on a tombstone of the late 2nd century AD in the form STA(tio) TURICEN(sis) ("Turicum tax post"). Neither the name's linguistic origin (most likely Rhaetic or Celtic) nor its meaning can be determined with certainty. A possibility is derivation from *Turīcon, from the Gaulish personal name Tūros. The stress on the long vowel of the Gaulish name, was lost in German but is preserved in Italian Zurigo .

A first development towards its later, Germanic form is attested as early as the 6th century with the form Ziurichi. From the 10th century onward, the name has more or less clearly been established as Zürich (Zurih (857), Zurich (924)).

Zurich is sometimes referred to as "Downtown Switzerland" for publicity reasons.