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Ask for help > Town and village
Town and village
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atsitab
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Town and village
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Good evening dear colleagues, Would you please tell me what �s the difference between a village and a town? Thank you, Ana
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16 May 2011
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treasure0911
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the size!
A town is much bigger than a village.
Hope it helps!
A.
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16 May 2011
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atsitab
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Yes, I know that. I have translated the Portuguese word "Vila" as "small town", but someone has told me I was wrong and that I should have written village instead, but for me village is a small place. I thought that there should be a way of distinguish them. Thank you anyway for having answered so soon! Ana |
16 May 2011
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moravc
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You may use these terms:
city - millions of citizens, very large, tall buildings, modern skyscrapers, eg. New York City
town - thousands of inhabitants, several churches, sometimes a castle, many shops...
township = market town = borough -- small town / large village, hundreds, a few thousands inhabitants
village = old or new houses + at least one shop and a church, a few hundreds villagers, originally a rural village
hamlet = small cluster of rural houses (round the mill/farm/harbour/mine for example), with no church, maybe a parish
colony = a small new village, a small new settlement (eg collonisation of America)
PS: villa is originally a Roman country house, now a (upper-class) summer house, a bungalow, a house with a ground floor only (no first floor)
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16 May 2011
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douglas
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Usage: In England, a hamlet denotes a collection of houses, too small to have a parish church. A village has a church, but no market. A town has both a market and a church or churches. A city is, in the legal sense, an incorporated borough town, which is, or has been, the place of a bishop �s see. In the United States these distinctions do not hold. [1913 Webster]
I like this definition the best. In England it is more defined, we Americans use the terms loosely. (i.e.: My hometown is Los Angeles.) |
17 May 2011
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spinney
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In the UK, a city, strictly speaking, has a cathedral. So, Douglas is most definitely right. For example, the City of Ely in Cambridgeshire only has a population of about 20 thousand! I would say that the American version of city could be described as a "bloody enourmous town" by us Brits. I was born in a hamlet which I usually explain to my students as a very small village. Once again Douglas is right in that a hamlet has no church. It often has a chapel though, as the hamlet I was born in used to have (it �s now a very cool private house next to a field of medical marihuana crops!!!). The definition Douglas gives is 100% correct - for us Brits! When it comes to Americans, Australians, Canadians etc. I would say, to simplify things, the following:
1. A hamlet = very, very small (population from about fifty to the hundreds)
2. A village = very small (population from the hundreds the thousands)
3. A town = bigger than a village (population in the tens of thousands)
4. A city = bloody enourmous town!
Well, that �s what I normally tell them anyway. How do the Irish define this? Is it the same rules as the Brits or is it different in a Catholic country?
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17 May 2011
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Jayho
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Hi Spinney
Actually, downunder we don�t really have hamlets or villages. We really just have towns and cities and these are in regions. Sometimes towns, especially small ones, are called townships. It�s all quite simplistic whereas in Britain it is quaint and typically British.
This is one of my favourite Australian townships with a village-like atmosphere.
Cheers
Jayho |
17 May 2011
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spinney
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Thanks for that Jayho!
I had no idea! I suppose "township" is a word from the colonial days. I know the word is used in South Africa, also. As for Milton, it looks like England with Sunshine! I wonder if Ryanair will every get there? Actually, looking up the names of unusual villages in the UK is always good for a laugh. I was born very close to a place called "Grunty Fen" and when I was in the forces, our training camp was very close to two villages called "Upper Ting Tong" and "Lower Ting Tong" in Devon.
Cheers |
17 May 2011
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Jayho
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Yes Spinney, it is England with Sunshine and no, Ryan air will not get you there but it is a lovely 3 hour coastal scenic drive from Sydney passing through picturesque village-like townships that you �ll simply fall in love with.
I know what you mean about unusual names - we have plenty of those and you can check some out here and here.
Cheers
Jayho
P.S. and of course as Murphy�s law would have it, the first example uses the word hamlet. Others are referred to as settlement but really that is not used anymore unless referring to historical roots. |
17 May 2011
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