 The language in the movie is Bergmans own creation, though it has a  Slavonic ring to it. The name of the city, which is indicated first  in the trains speaker, and then by Anna, as Timoka, is a real word  however. Bergman found it in a book in Estonian on the bookshelf of  his wife Käbi Laretei. When he asked what it meant, she replied  "belonging to the hangman".