Toponomastics

Toponomastics: the study of place names.

Author: Admins

  • Noah’s Ark.. Piecing The Puzzle Together

    According to the bible, Noah’s Ark is the boat through which God spares Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from a global deluge. The Biblical account shares many details with earlier Mesopotamian stories, which demonstrates the existence of shared culture traits that spanned the ancient Near East both geographically and temporally,…

  • Toponymy Simplified

    Toponymy is the study of place-names, including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponymic research is based on etymological, historical, and geographical information concerning the place-name in question. A place-name (or toponym) is a word or words used to indicate, denote, or identify a geographic locality: town, city, river, mountain, etc. Toponymy divides toponyms, (placenames), into…

  • Ur of the Chaldees: Unlocking the mystery

    “Ur of the Chaldees” or “Ur Kasdim” is a place-name mentioned in the Bible as the birthplace of biblical Abraham.The original Hebrew name of this place is: “אוּר כַּשְׂדִּים”, usually transliterated in English as: (ʾŪr Kaśdīm) or (‘uwr Kašdīm). Contrary to the popular belief, the real etymology and the exact location of “ʾŪr Kaśdīm” is still debated…

  • Name typology

    In toponymy, it is important to highlight, on the one hand, the individual that uses language, and on the other hand, the language community’s perspective.

  • Intensive toponymy

    A research method introduced by Jan Tent.

  • Problems of interpretation

    Place names often need specialists to interpret their meanings. Some of the main problems are:Language: Sometimes the language used in the formation of a place name is unclear; for example, some names may be plausibly derived from either Old English or Celtic roots. In recent years there has been a tendency to seek Celtic origins…

  • REFERENCES_01

    Prominent works about Toponomastics.

  • Endonym & Exonym

    “exonym” is a common, external name for a place that is used only outside that particular place.“endonym” is a common, internal name for a place, coined and used by its local inhabitants.Examples: “Greece” and “Egypt”.“Greece” is a foreign name, the Greeks call their country: “Elláda”.“Egypt” is a foreign name, the Egyptians call their country: “Miṣr”.“Greece”…

  • Toponymic typology 01

    Types of place names.

  • A young discipline

    The study of names is both an old and a young discipline. Since Ancient Greece, names have been regarded as central to the study of language, throwing light on how humans communicate with each other and organize their world.