Geographical Names

Abstract

THE vexed problem of geographical place names is raised again in an article in the Geographical Journal for October in which the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names of the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington Gore, S.W.7, enumerates certain principles which are offered for criticism. The whole memorandum is too long for extensive quotation but some of the main principles may be noted. Generally speaking, names should be those used by the responsible government or official survey of the country concerned, in the case of countries that use a Roman alphabet. In names of features or places in lands not using a Roman alphabet, transliteration, with certain qualifications, is recommended. But exceptions to these general rules are allowed. In popular, text and small-scale maps, English names of conventional usage are allowed ; in learned works and large-scale maps conventional English names are allowed for marine features outside territorial limits and features of international interest, with the recommendation that the foreign official name, if it differs markedly from the English, should be given in brackets. Other exceptions are in favour of English or international postal names of important places that differ markedly from official names, and, in historical context, the use, either of the name or narrow transliteration of the name that prevailed at the time under consideration, or the name conventionally known to English scholars. It is emphasized that these principles do not necessarily represent the considered views of the committee but are put forward as a basis for discussion.