Homeland on Foreign Maps: Toponymy of Western Ukraine on Austrian, Interwar-Polish, and Soviet Topographic Maps with Special Focus on Toponymy of the Carpathian Mountains

Abstract

The goal of this research was to examine the linguistic properties of Western Ukraine’s toponymy as presented on Austrian, interwar-Polish, and Soviet topographic maps from the late 18th century to the 1980s. The research question was, “To what extent does this toponymy include languages other than Ukrainian?” As this article demonstrates, the changing toponymy corresponds with general language policies implemented in Western Ukraine by foreign states. The analysis in this work comprises 1,741 toponymic forms that refer to 207 geographical features on nine multi-sheet topographic maps. The toponyms examined are mainly oikonyms. The data collection was limited to the districts of eastern Galicia where Ukrainian speakers outnumbered Polish speakers by at least three to one. Given that linguistic context, it comes as no surprise that examples of non-vernacular “polonized” toponym forms were found to be especially prevalent in this examination. The general finding of this research is that the toponymies of Austrian and Polish maps comprise a mixture of Ukrainian and Polish/Polonized forms. The toponymic “polonization” was quite inconsistent and may reflect the diverse periods and forms of Polish policies.