THE CITIES OF THE AMERICAS IN MODERN TIMES: A CASE STUDY ON TOPONYMY

Cosimo Palagiano,University Of Rome, Italy

doi:10.15356/2071-9388_01v09_2016_03

Cosimo Palagiano, University Of Rome, Italy

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.15356/2071-9388_01v09_2016_03

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Abstract

During the 19th and 20th centuries many Italian migrants set out for the Americas, where peoples from other European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, England, Ireland etc. had already established themselves. We have to make a distinction between the migration typology North and South America. In North America the origin the migrants was predominantly England and France, while in South America the first migrants were mainly Spanish and Portuguese. Different reasons should explain place names in the United States America: (i) early presence tribes and villages (a) Loan Translations, (b) Folk-etymologies; (c) Terms associated with Native American Culture and History, etc. (ii)place names referring to saints and religious sites, and names distinguished persons (San Francisco, Washington respectively; (iii) the languages the colonists and their place origin (English, Spanish, French etc); (iv) classical and literary references (we can mention Athens in Georgia (a university city), Athens in Ohio (another university city); (v) mangling European city names (in Maryland a patent was made out early as 1677 for a place to be called by the common English name Burleigh. Later it was spelled Berlin, although still accented on the first syllable); (vi) artificial assemblages (The name Losantville derives from L (Delaware-English Licking), os the Latin “mouth”, anti, the Greek άντί, in front of and ville, the French town).

Highlights

During the 19th and 20thcenturies many Italian migrants set out for the Americas, where peoples from other European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, England, Ireland etc., had already established themselves
We have to make a distinction between the migration typology of North and of South
The French occupied some territories of the North America, Canada (Québec) and of the Southern United States (Louisiana).Due to the common origins of their language, many Italian migrants preferred to settle in South America, many of them settled in Canada and in the United States

Summary

INTRODUCTION

During the 19th and 20thcenturies many Italian migrants set out for the Americas, where peoples from other European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, England, Ireland etc., had already established themselves. These first migrants founded several towns and villages and established themselves in sites, which had been inhabited for many centuries by local populations. The treaty of Tordesillas (7th June 1494) divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Castile (Spain) along a meridian of 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands Later this line was changed a little. The Portuguese occupied the present Brazil and the Spanish the other parts of

Palagiano

CONCLUSION

Findings

41 ENVIRONMENT