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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 (ώνομα), meaning name. It is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds.

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).

In ethnology, a toponym is a name derived from a place or a region. In anatomy, a toponym is a name of a region of the body, as distinguished from the name of an organ. In biology, a toponym is a binomial name of a plant.

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. 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. 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. 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 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.[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).

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.

Noted toponymists

See also

Regional

Other

Related terms

Notes

1. ^ Stewart, George Rippey (1975). 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. 

External links

"Typology" literally means the study of types. More specifically, it may refer to:
  • Typology (anthropology), division of culture by races
  • Typology (archaeology), classification of things according to their characteristics

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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
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Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The word is derived from the Greek word όνομα (onoma), meaning name.
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name (etymology: from OE nama; akin to OHG namo, Latin nomen, nominis, and Greek όνομα, ultimately from PIE: *nomn- [1]
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Ethnology (from the Greek ethnos, meaning "people") is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyses the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the racial or national divisions of humanity.
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Anatomy (from the Greek ἀνατομία anatomia, from ἀνατέμνειν
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body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death. The study of the workings of the body is physiology.
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organ (Latin: organum, "instrument, tool") is a group of tissues that perform a specific function or group of functions. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues. The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ.
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Biology (from Greek: βίος, bio, "life"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge"), also referred to as the biological sciences, is the scientific study of life.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most comprehensive dictionary of the English language.
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Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways:
  • A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word, a false etymology.
  • "The popular perversion of the form of words in order to render it apparently significant"[1]

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Helespont/Dardanelles, a long narrow strait dividing the Balkans (Europe) along the Gallipoli peninsula from Asia Anatolia (Asia Minor).]] Hellespont (Greek Ἑλλήσποντοs; i.e.
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Helle may refer to:
  • Helle (mythology), a figure in Greek mythology
  • Helle, a village near Nuth, the Netherlands
  • Helle, a village near Gulpen, the Netherlands
  • Helle, a village in Norway, in Vaksdal municipality

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Athamas ("rich harvest") 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. With Ino, he had two children: Learches and Melicertes.
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In Greek mythology, Phrixus figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts.

Phrixus, son of Athamus and Nephele (a goddess of Clouds), along with his twin sister Helle, were hated by their stepmother, Ino.
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The name Pelasgians (Ancient Greek: Πελασγοί - Pelasgoí, s. Pelasgós) was used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to groups of people who preceded the Hellenes.
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George Rippey Stewart (May 31, 1895 – August 22, 1980) was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley (until 1962).
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Euxine Sea (Older name) redirects here.


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Mississippi River

Mississippi River in New Orleans.


Country | United States
States |
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State of Idaho

Flag of Idaho Seal
Nickname(s): Gem State, Spud State
Motto(s): Esto perpetua

Official language(s) English [1]

Capital Boise
Largest city Boise

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Cartography is the study of map making and cartographers are map makers.

Before 1400

  • Anaximander, Greek Anatolia, (610 BC-546 BC), first to attempt making a map of the (known) world

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Topography (Greek topos, "place", and graphia, "writing") is the study of Earth's surface features or those of planets, moons, and asteroids.

In a broader sense, topography is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief but also
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Eilert Ekwall (8 Jan 1877 – 23 Nov 1964) was a Swede who was Professor of English at Lund University from 1909 to 1942. He studied the toponymy of England, and wrote English River Names (1928) and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (1936).
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Dr Margaret Gelling (born 1924) is an English toponymist. She is a Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and OBE (1995, place names). She was formerly the President of the English Place-Name Society.
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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 University of Cambridge [1].
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Robert Lee Ramsay (December 14, 1880 - December 14, 1953), 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
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Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793–December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his "discovery" in 1832 of the source of the Mississippi River.
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Albert Hugh Smith OBE (24 February 1903-11 May 1967) was a scholar of Old English and Scandinavian languages and played a major part in the study and publication of English place names.

Smith was the son of A J and Anne Smith of Sowerby, West Yorkshire.
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George Rippey Stewart (May 31, 1895 – August 22, 1980) was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley (until 1962).
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