Indigenous place names in toponymical strata on the Turtle Island

Yaïves Ferland

doi:10.5194/ica-abs-3-76-2021

Abstract

Indigenous place names in toponymical strata on the Turtle Island

Highlights

The problematic question of the degree of real correspondence between place names and the geographical features or entities has formal interest only about the capability of the name to represent the multiple levels of meaning in the structuration process of a place for the concerned people
Our deep and longstanding interest on territorial organisation of toponymical strata that spread across North America over five centuries provided a methodological framework for comprehension of the place naming practices
In many parts of North America, we see the dawn of a new toponymical stratum that will correspond to an ancient conception of the land we live on

Summary

Introduction

Abstract: The problematic question of the degree of real correspondence between place names and the geographical features or entities has formal interest only about the capability of the name to represent the multiple levels of meaning in the structuration process of a place for the concerned people. Possessive, narrative, allusive, evocative or commemorative (in terms of anthroponyms or hagionyms), most placenames stands as metonyms, metaphors, or connotations without clear link to the place neither to the spatial relationships among the area.

Results

Conclusion