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Toponymy is the scientific study of place-names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology
Typology

"Typology" is the study of types. More specifically, it may refer to:*Typology , division of culture by races*Typology , classification of things according to their characteristics...
. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 tópos (t?p??), place; followed by ónoma (???µa), meaning name. It is itself a branch of onomastics
Onomastics

Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The word is Greek language: ????at?????a . toponymy, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of onomastics....
, the study of names of all kinds.

A toponym is a name
Name

A name is a label for a noun, , normally used to distinguish one from another. Names can identify a class or Category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given wiktionary:context....
 of a locality, region, or some other part of Earth's surface, including natural features, such as streams (whose names are studied as hydronym
Hydronym

A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history....
s) and artificial ones (such as cities).






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Encyclopedia


Toponymy is the scientific study of place-names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology
Typology

"Typology" is the study of types. More specifically, it may refer to:*Typology , division of culture by races*Typology , classification of things according to their characteristics...
. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 tópos (t?p??), place; followed by ónoma (???µa), meaning name. It is itself a branch of onomastics
Onomastics

Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The word is Greek language: ????at?????a . toponymy, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of onomastics....
, the study of names of all kinds.

A toponym is a name
Name

A name is a label for a noun, , normally used to distinguish one from another. Names can identify a class or Category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given wiktionary:context....
 of a locality, region, or some other part of Earth's surface, including natural features, such as streams (whose names are studied as hydronym
Hydronym

A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history....
s) and artificial ones (such as cities). Where toponyms have not been invented they are highly conservative and give insight into the buried human history of a region. For example Moses I. Finley
Moses I. Finley

Sir Moses I. Finley Order of the British Empire was an United States and England classics. His most notable work is The Ancient Economy , where he argued that status and civic ideology governed the economy in antiquity rather than rational economic motivations....
 observed, "it is significant that the bulk of the towns and districts in Greece in historical times retained their pre-Greek names"; viewed with archaeological remains, the conclusion is that speakers of proto-Greek infiltrated the region by degrees, rather than in a massive invasion, and that they found already in place a comparatively highly-developed culture.

In ethnology
Ethnology

Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnicity, Race , and/or national divisions of humanity....
, a toponym is a name derived from a place or a region. In anatomy
Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology that is the consideration of the body plan. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy and plant anatomy ....
, a toponym is a name of a region of the body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
, as distinguished from the name of an organ
Organ (anatomy)

In biology, an organ is a biological tissue that performs a specific function or group of functions. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues....
. In biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
, a toponym is a binomial name
Binomial nomenclature

In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is called binominal nomenclature , binary nomenclature , or the binomial classification system....
 of a plant.

Toponymists

A toponymist is one who studies toponymy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
, the word toponymy first appears in English in 1876; since then, toponym has come to replace "place-name" in professional discourse among toponymists. 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 etiological
Etiology

Etiology is the study of Causality. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek , aitiologia, "giving a reason for" .The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psy...
 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. Thus, the toponym of Hellespont
Hellespont

Hellespont was the ancient name of the narrow strait, now known by the modern European term 'Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle , the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece....
 was explained by Greek poets as being named after Helle
Helle (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Helle figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. Phrixus, son of Athamus and Nephele, along with his twin sister, Helle, were hated by their stepmother, Ino....
, daughter of Athamas
Athamas

The king of Orchomenus in Greek mythology, Athamas , was married first to the goddess Nephele with whom he had the twins Phrixus and Helle . He later divorced Nephele and married Ino , daughter of Cadmus....
, who drowned here as she crossed it with her brother Phrixus
Phrixus

File:Phrixos und Helle.jpgIn Greek mythology, Phrixus was the son of Athamus, king of Boeotia and Nephele . His twin sister Helle and him were hated by their stepmother, Ino....
 on a flying golden ram. The name, however, most likely is derived from an older language, such as Pelasgian, which was unknown to those who explained its origin. George R. Stewart
George R. Stewart

George Rippey Stewart was an United States toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley....
 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
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
, and by extension, for the sea itself.

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
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
" is popularly claimed to mean "Father of Waters" (though it may mean simply "Big River"), and the state name "Idaho
Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
" was said to mean "Gem of the Mountains" (though it is merely an invented name).

Scholars have found that toponyms provide valuable insight into the historical geography of a particular region. As long ago as 1954 F. M. Powicke said of place-name study that it "uses, enriches and tests the discoveries of archaeology and history and the rules of the philologists." Toponyms not only illustrate ethnic settlement patterns, but they can also help identify discrete periods of immigration.

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 recording of new names into databases and topographical
Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, Natural satellite, and asteroids. It is also the description of such surface shapes and features ....
 maps.

Noted toponymists

  • Andrew Breeze
  • Richard Coates
    Richard Coates

    Richard Coates is professor of linguistics at the University of the West of England in Bristol. He was formerly professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex, where he served as Dean of the School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences from 1998-2003....
  • John McNeil Dodgson
  • Eilert Ekwall
    Eilert Ekwall

    Eilert Ekwall was a Sweden who was Professor of English at Lund University from 1909 to 1942. He studied the toponymy of England, and wrote English River Names and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names ....
  • Margaret Gelling
    Margaret Gelling

    Dr Margaret Gelling 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 and the British Academy....
  • Gillian Fellows Jensen
  • Oliver Padel
    Oliver Padel

    Oliver James Padel, an authority on the origin and meaning of Toponymy, currently Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic in the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor of Celtic at the University of the West of England....
  • Robert L. Ramsay
    Robert L. Ramsay

    Robert Lee Ramsay , professor of English at the University of Missouri?Columbia from 1907 to 1952. Starting in the mid-1920s, Ramsay started to develop a dictionary of Missouri placenames, creating a methodology and overseeing graduate research on the topic....
  • Henry Schoolcraft
    Henry Schoolcraft

    Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was an United States geography, geologist, and ethnology, noted for his early studies of Native Americans in the United States cultures, as well as for his discovery in 1832 of the source of the Mississippi River....
  • Albert Hugh Smith
    Albert Hugh Smith

    Albert Hugh Smith Order of the British Empire was a scholar of Old English language and North Germanic languages and played a major part in the study and publication of British toponymy....
  • George R. Stewart
    George R. Stewart

    George Rippey Stewart was an United States toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley....
  • Isaac Taylor
    Isaac Taylor (canon)

    Isaac Taylor , son of Isaac Taylor, was a philology, toponymist, and Anglicanism canon of York ....
  • William J. Watson
    William J. Watson

    Professor William J. Watson was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scotland scholars of the twentieth century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis....
  • Craig Weatherhill
    Craig Weatherhill

    Craig Weatherhill is a long standing author both of fiction and non-fiction works about Cornwall. Raised in St Just in Penwith and then in Falmouth, Cornwall, after serving in the forces he developed a career in conservation and architecture....


See also


Related concepts

  • Etymology
    Etymology

    Etymology is the study of the roots and history of words; and how their form and meaning have changed over time.In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time....
  • Onomastics
    Onomastics

    Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The word is Greek language: ????at?????a . toponymy, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of onomastics....
  • Demonymy
    Demonym

    A demonym, also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality which is derived from the name of the particular locality....
  • Ethnonymy
    Ethnonym

    An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for the ethnically dominant group in Germany is the Germans....


Toponymy

NB for 'etymology' in below links, read 'toponymy'
  • Place name origins
    Place name origins

    The study of place names is called toponymy and is distinct from etymology, the study of the origins of words. Rather than describing toponymy itself, this article examines the origins of place names themselves, with particular emphasis on settlements....
  • Planetary Nomenclature
    Planetary nomenclature

    Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed....
  • List of continent name etymologies
  • List of country name etymologies
    List of country name etymologies

    This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. Some of these include notes on indigenous names and their etymologies. Countries in italics no longer exist as sovereign political entities....
  • List of etymologies of country subdivision names
  • Hydronymy
    • List of river name etymologies
      List of river name etymologies

      This page lists the various etymologies of the names of rivers around the world....
    • Old European hydronymy
      Old European hydronymy

      Old European is the term used by Hans Krahe for the language of the oldest reconstructed stratum of European hydronymy in Central and Western Europe....
    • Latin names of European rivers
    • Latin names of rivers
      Latin names of rivers

      Following is a list of rivers stating the Latin and equivalent English language name.? - Latinized spelling of a Greek name....


Regional toponymy

  • Historical African place names
    Historical African place names

    This is a list of historical African place names. The names on the left are linked to the corresponding subregion from History of Africa.* Ethiopia - History of Ethiopia...
  • Names of European cities in different languages
    Names of European cities in different languages

    Many cities in Europe have different names in different languages. Some cities have also undergone Geographical renaming for political or other reasons....
  • List of Latin place names in Europe
  • Roman place names
  • British toponymy
    British toponymy

    British toponymy is the study of place names in Great Britain, their origins and trends in naming. Toponymy is distinct from the study of etymology, which is concerned mainly with the origin of the words themselves....
    • List of generic forms in British place names
      List of generic forms in British place names

      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
      Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom

      Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom is a list of the origins of the names of Counties of the United Kingdom of the United Kingdom....
    • List of places in the United Kingdom
      List of places in the United Kingdom

      CitiesThere are 66 settlements in the UK with official city status.* List of cities in the United Kingdom...
    • List of Roman place names in Britain
      List of Roman place names in Britain

      A partial list of Roman place names in Great Britain.This list includes only names documented from Roman times. For a more complete list including later Latin names, see List of Latin place names in the British Isles....
    • List of British places with Latin names
      List of British places with Latin names

      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 when studying the history of a period when many documents were written in Latin....
    • Welsh placenames
      Welsh placenames

      The placenames of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have in many cases also been influenced by English language. The toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of the country's history and geography, as well as showing the development of the Welsh language....
    • Place names in Irish
      Place names in Irish

      Many place names in Ireland in the English language are either anglicisations of those in the Irish language, or completely different, such as the name for the capital of Republic of Ireland, which in English is Dublin, but in Irish is Baile ?tha Cliath....
  • Japanese place names
    Japanese place names

    Japanese place names include Toponym for geographic features, present and former administrative divisions, transportation facilities such as railroad stations, and historic sites in Japan....
  • Korean toponymy and list of place names
    Korean toponymy and list of place names

    Most Korean place names derive either from the Korean language and its predecessors on the Korean peninsula, or from Chinese language....
  • Maghreb toponymy
    Maghreb toponymy

    The place names of the Maghreb come from a variety of origins, mostly Arabic language and Berber language, but including a few derived from Phoenician languages, Latin, and several other languages....
  • New Zealand place names
    New Zealand place names

    New Zealand place-names derive mostly from [Maori] and from United Kingdom sources. Maori named most of New Zealand's natural features, often after heroes or events involving ancestors....
  • Place names in Sri Lanka
  • List of English exonyms for German toponyms
    List of English exonyms for German toponyms

    This list is a compilation of German toponyms that have traditional English exonym and endonym. The names of federal states are not included unless they are coterminous with geographical regions....
  • List of U.S. state name etymologies
    List of U.S. state name etymologies

    This is a list of the origins of the names of U.S. states.The fifty U.S. states have taken their names from a wide variety of languages....
  • List of U.S. state nicknames
    List of U.S. state nicknames

    The following is a table of U.S. state nicknames, including officially adopted nicknames and other traditional nicknames for individual U.S. states of the United States....
  • List of U.S. place names connected to Sweden
    List of U.S. place names connected to Sweden

    Delaware*New Sweden...
  • Toponyms of Finland
    Toponyms of Finland

    The toponyms of Finland result mainly from the legacy left by three linguistic heritages: the Finnish language , the Finland Swedish and Sami languages ....


Other

  • List of political entities named after people
  • List of places named after peace
    List of places named after peace

    *An Binh, Vietnam*An-p?ng, town near Tainan City*Beja, Portugal *Brunei Darussalam *Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania*Echota, the old center of the Cherokee nation...
  • List of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations
  • List of adjectival forms of place names
    List of adjectival forms of place names

    The following is a partial list of adjectival forms of place names in English and their demonymic equivalents, which denote the people or the inhabitants of these places....
  • List of double placenames
    List of double placenames

    Double placenames prominently feature the placenames of two or more constituent geopolitical entities.Such placenames are often created when two cities, provinces or other territories are amalgamation or merged, and a decision is taken to preserve the old names in Double-barrelled name form rather than invent a new name....
  • List of words derived from toponyms
    List of words derived from toponyms

    This is a list of words derived from Toponymy, followed by the place name it is derived from....
  • List of tautological place names
    List of tautological place names

    A place name is tautological if two parts of it are synonymous. This often occurs when a name from one language is imported into another and a standard descriptor is added on from the second language....
  • List of places named for their units of production
  • List of places named after Lenin
    List of places named after Lenin

    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 Lenin....
  • List of places named after Stalin
    List of places named after Stalin

    During Joseph Stalins rule , many places, mostly cities, in the Soviet Union and other communist countries were named or renamed in honor of him as part of the cult of personality....
  • Long place names and Short place names


External links

  • Cartographica 41/2 2006
  • Cartographica 42/2 2007