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Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek topos (τόπος), place; followed by ōnoma (όνομα), meaning name. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly It is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds. Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper Names of all kinds and the origins of names

A toponym is a name of a locality, region, or some other part of Earth's surface, including natural features (such as streams) and artificial ones (such as cities). A name ( Etymology: from OE nama akin to OHG namo, Latin Nomen, and Greek όνομα (

In ethnology, a toponym is a name derived from a place or a region. Ethnology (from the Greek ἔθνος, ethnos meaning "habit custom convention" is the branch of Anthropology that compares and In anatomy, a toponym is a name of a region of the body, as distinguished from the name of an organ. Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual In Biology, an organ ( Latin: organum, "instrument tool" from Greek όργανον - organon "organ instrument In biology, a toponym is a binomial name of a plant. Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles

Contents

Toponymists

A toponymist is one who studies toponymy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word toponymist first appears somewhere towards the middle of the nineteenth century. The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED) published by the Oxford University Press (OUP is a comprehensive Dictionary of the English It can be argued that the first toponymists were the storytellers and poets who explained the origin of certain place names in order to elucidate their tales; sometimes place-names served as the basis for the legends themselves. The process of folk etymology usually took over, whereby a false meaning was extracted from a name based on its structure or sounds. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology. Thus, the toponym of Hellespont was explained by Greek poets as being named after Helle, daughter of Athamas, who drowned here as she crossed it with her brother Phrixus on a flying golden ram. See also Dardanelles Hellespont ( Turkish, Greek; ie "Sea of Helle" variously named in classical literature Hellespontium Pelagus In Greek mythology, Helle figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Athamas is also a genus of Jumping spiders. The king of Orchomenus in Greek mythology, Athamas ( Greek In Greek mythology Phrixus (also Phryxus) was the son of Athamus, king of Boiotia and Nephele (a goddess of Clouds The name, however, most likely is derived from an older language, such as Pelasgian, which was unknown to those who explained its origin. The name Pelasgians (from Ancient Greek grc Πελασγοί Pelasgoí, singular Πελασγός Pelasgós) was used by some ancient Greek George R. Stewart theorized, in his book Names on the Globe, that Hellespont originally meant something like "narrow Pontus" or "entrance to Pontus," "Pontus" being an ancient name for the region around the Black Sea, and by extension, for the sea itself. George Rippey Stewart ( May 31, 1895 – August 22, 1980) was an American Toponymist, a novelist and a professor of English The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey [1]

Toponymists attempt to approximate the original meaning of a place-name, their conclusions often competing with popular or spurious etymologies that may sound more poetic or attractive to tourists. Thus, the river-name "Mississippi" is popularly claimed to mean "Father of Waters" (though it may mean simply "Big River"), and the state name "Idaho" was said to mean "Gem of the Mountains" (though it is merely an invented name). The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The State of Idaho ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America.

Scholars have found that toponyms provide valuable insight into the historical geography of a particular region. Toponyms not only illustrate ethnic settlement patterns, but they can also help identify discrete periods of immigration. [2][3]

Toponymists are sometimes used by governments in order to verify the accuracy of certain names as used by cartographers, the media, researchers, publishers, and their duties also include the inputting of new names into databases and topographical maps. Topography ( topo-, "place" and graphia, "writing" is the study of Earth 's Surface features or those of Planets

Noted toponymists

See also

Regional

Other

Related terms

Notes

  1. ^ Stewart, George Rippey (1975). Eilert Ekwall ( 8 January 1877 – 23 November 1964) was a Swede who was Professor of English at Lund University from 1909 Dr Margaret Gelling (born 1924 is an English Toponymist. She is a Fellow of St Hilda's College Oxford and a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London Oliver James Padel, an authority on the origin and meaning of place-names, currently Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic in the Robert Lee Ramsay ( December 14, 1880 - December 14, 1953) professor of English at the University of Missouri from 1907 to 1952 Henry Rowe Schoolcraft ( March 28, 1793 &ndash December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, Geologist, Albert Hugh Smith OBE ( 24 February 1903 - 11 May 1967) was a scholar of Old English and Scandinavian languages George Rippey Stewart ( May 31, 1895 – August 22, 1980) was an American Toponymist, a novelist and a professor of English Isaac Taylor (1829-1901 son of Isaac Taylor, was a philologist, Toponymist, and Anglican canon of York (from 1885 Professor William J Watson, 1865-1948 was a Toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time This is a list of the etymologies of Continent names. Africa The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra --- "land This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. This is a list of places mostly in the former Soviet Union or other formerly communist countries named or renamed in honor of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as During Joseph Stalin ' s rule ( 1922 – 1953) many places mostly cities in the Soviet Union and other communist countries were named or renamed This article provides a collection of the Etymology of the Names of Subnational entities. This is a list of words derived from toponyms, followed by the place name it is derived from A hydronym (from Greek hudor, "water" and onuma, "name" is a proper name of a body of water Following is a list of Rivers stating the Latin and equivalent English name This page lists the various etymologies (origins of the names of rivers around the world Old European ( alteuropäisch) is the term used by Hans Krahe (1964 for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of Indo-European Hydronymy This is a list of historical African place names. The names on the left are linked to the corresponding subregion(s from History of Africa. Many cities in Europe have different names in different languages This list includes Continental European Countries and Regions that were part of the Roman Empire, or that were given Latin place names in Following is a list of Rivers stating the Latin and equivalent English name British toponymy is the study of British place names their origins and trends in naming The study of place names is called Toponymy; for a more detailed examination of this subject in relation to British place names please refer to British toponymy. Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom is a list of the origins of the names of counties of the United Kingdom. List of places --> Cities There are 66 settlements in the UK with official city status A partial list of Roman place names in Great Britain. This list includes only names documented from Roman times This is a list of British places with Latin names. During the Middle Ages many places in Great Britain acquired Latin names knowledge of which is important placenames of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have in many cases also been influenced by English. Japanese place names include names for geographic features present and former administrative divisions transportation facilities such as railroad stations and historic sites Most Korean place names derive either from the Korean language and its predecessors on the Korean peninsula, or from Chinese. The place names of the Maghreb come from a variety of origins mostly Arabic and Berber, but including a few derived from Phoenician, Latin, This is a list of Towns in New Zealand. The term "town" has no current statutory meaning in New Zealand the few "Town Districts" having been abolished Sri Lankan place name etymology is characterized by the linguistic and ethnic diversity of the island of Sri Lanka through the ages and the position of the country in the centre This list is a compilation of German Toponyms (ie names of cities regions rivers mountains and other geographical features situated in a German -speaking area that have Wikipedia_talkFeatured_lists#Proposed_change_to_all_featured_lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This is a list of the This is a list of US state nicknames, including officially adopted Nicknames and other traditional nicknames for individual states of the United States. Idaho New Sweden Illinois Bishop Hill Indiana Nora The Toponyms of Finland result mainly from the legacy left by three linguistic heritages the Finnish language (spoken by about 93% of the population the Swedish There are a number of places named after famous people. For more on the general etymology of place names see Toponomy. An Binh, Vietnam An-pêng, town near Tainan Taiwan Beja, Portugal (from Latin This is a set of lists of English personal and place names whose pronunciations are counter-intuitive to their spelling, either because the pronunciation does not correspond to the spelling Double placenames prominently feature the Placenames of two or more constituent geopolitical entities This is a list of words derived from toponyms, followed by the place name it is derived from A place name is tautological if two parts of it are synonymous There are many unusual place names throughout the world The study of placenames is known as Toponymy. A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place An ethnonym ( Gk έθνος ethnos, 'tribe' + όνομα onoma, 'name' is the name applied to a given Ethnic group. Names on the Globe.  
  2. ^ McDavid, R. I. (1958). "Linguistic Geographic and Toponymic Research". Names (6): pp. 65-73.  
  3. ^ Kaups, M. (1966). "Finnish Place Names in Minnesota: A Study in Cultural Transfe". The Geographical Review (56): pp. 377-397.  
  4. ^ http://www.george-broderick.de/iom_docs/iom_introduction-to-celtic-studies.htm Retrieved Mar 05 2008 Isle of Man toponyms

External links

Dictionary

toponymy

-noun

  1. lexicological study of place names; a branch of onomastics
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