[tied] Re: <>-abad?

It's from the Iranian *sta:na- "place, location, position"
from the Proto-Indo-European root *steh²- "to stand". It's
a productive suffix in the Iranian languages especially in
the formation of place names and is also seen in Pers. gol-
estân "rose garden" < gol "rose", Oss. ærdy-ston "container
for onions" < ærdyn "onion".
-David

--- In cybalist@..., Harald Hammarstrom <haha2581@...> wrote:
> Speaking of which, what about -stan both in the
Afghanistan/Pakistan area
> and in many country names in turkish like yunanistan etc what's
> the etymology?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Harald