Romanian Oikonyms and Hodonyms Mirroring the Great Union of 1918

Abstract

In the exploration of commemorative names, researchers’ attention has focused increasingly on the relationship between hodonyms and oikonyms, on the one hand, and history, geography, politics, ethnic, social, and cultural context, on the other. These significant aspects determine the authorities’ decision to (re)name public space. The aim of this study is to analyse hodonyms and oikonyms evocative of the Great Union of Romania of 1918, as well as their dissemination and occurrence in urban toponymic landscape. The end of World War I redrew the borders of Europe and led to the appearance of new states, the independence of certain countries, and the unification of others. In this respect, Romania was not an exception, as it joined the neighbouring countries in the reconfiguration of the political map of the old continent. The unification of the country took place on 1 December 1918, a date which has been celebrated since 1990 as the National Day of Romania. To compile the corpus used to investigate toponyms referring to the Great Union of 1918 throughout Romania, the author consulted the mass media and online maps, as they mirror the current state of affairs the best. Precepts from socio-, psycho-, ethnolinguistics, geography and history make up the methodological framework of the research. One of the conclusions of the article is that the Unification of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania is the greatest achievement of the Romanian political elite. Therefore, it had all the odds to become the most frequently encountered commemorative name in Romanian public space as a result of the major political changes of the twentieth century. The linguistic, geographical, religious or social motivation, related to the configuration of a place, loses prominence, as the centre of attention becomes the historical connection accepted by the majority of the population, local administration, and the ruling political class.