Origin and semantics of Canadian toponyms

Abstract

The article deals with the study of Canada’s place names and the features of revealing their linguistic and cultural specificity. The relevance of such research is determined by the lack of comprehensive studies of Canada's toponymic system, and the need to delineate the creation and origin of such names. The author traces the individual place names and analyzes the place names that are typologically united on the basis of the lexical-semantic meaning of the structural-morphological system and investigated within one area.Based on historical and linguistic classifications it is determined that the development and transformation of place-names in contemporary Canada is done according with the strict principles. Analyzing the form and the content, we can identify the source of the origin of the place name as well as ththe nature of the occupations of the people who created it. The main features of the Canadian toponymic system – descriptiveness and transparency – were laid by the indigenous population, the Indians of the North American continent. The names transferred from Europe reflect the religious beliefs of the newcomers, their loyalty to their nobles and patrons, the type of their occupation and preferences. According to the classification proposed by Yaroslav Rudnitsky, it is stated that the historical, geographical, ethnographic conditions characterise different place names.Transparency and descriptiveness of names derived from the autochthonous toponymic landscape; a large number of redefined geographical terms in place names, which provides a clear distinction in place names; a considerable number of anthropotonyms and transposed names formed by emigrants help to trace and understand the patterns of habitats nation distribution across the territory of modern Canada.