Study Of Place Names Research Articles

Named after Nelson: Tracing the threads of graphic heritage in Gauteng, South Africa

Places named after prominent figures like Nelson Mandela symbolise their legacies and shared values, offering an opportunity to learn about their lives and impact on society. In this article, we explore the concept of "graphic heritage" - a term that extends beyond physical markers to include theoretical understandings that enhance our knowledge of and experience with these places. Employing a "constructionist" perspective, we view the meanings associated with these places as constructed through individual interpretations. Working alongside the Nelson Mandela Foundation, our research focuses on six locations named after Nelson Mandela in Gauteng, South Africa. These sites are part of the Nelson Mandela Foundation's mission to promote a just society by preserving Mandela's legacy and fostering dialogue on social issues. Using photographic documentation inspired by Zeisel's "Design by Inquiry" framework, we examine the dynamic interplay between graphic heritage, toponymy (the study of place names), and topophilia (the emotional bond between people and places). The narrative weaves through the historical contexts and temporal dimensions of these places, enriching our understanding of Mandela's extensive influence. It identifies thematic threads that link graphic heritage with place names and emotional connections to places, concluding that an in-depth study of graphic heritage illuminates what is present and absent, revealing the profound layers of storytelling in design.

Minority identity and place-name use in a Slovak–Hungarian bilingual settlement

AbstractThis paper discusses the relationship between minority identity and place-name use in Hrušov/Körtvélyes. The research location is in the Rožňava/Rozsnyó district of the Košice/Kassa region, near Slovakia's border with Hungary. 79% of the village's population belong to the Hungarian national minority, while 20% of the population identifies as Slovak. The community can be described as bilingual, as they use both Hungarian and Slovak, depending on the situation and context. Most of the settlement's place name stock consists of toponyms in Hungarian, with Slovak toponyms mainly appearing only on maps from the second half of the 20th century. However, even the residents who claim Slovak nationality and/or Slovak mother tongue hardly know and use the Slovak toponyms. This sociological study of place names, including 10% of the population (34 people), proves this. The strong minority identity is reflected in the fact that the community of Hrušov/Körtvélyes uses Hungarian toponyms and has not adopted the artificially created Slovak toponyms. In this context, it is safe to conclude that learning and revisiting the use of toponyms can strengthen identity, as it strengthens the ties to the community.

원주이씨 해남문중의 『용하도록』과 지역사 정보

In this article, we analyzed the 『Yonghadorok(用下都錄)』 owned by WonjuLee clan(原州李氏) and examined the area of Durak(斗落) in the Haenam region , the problem of place names, the opening of Mokpo Port and the rice crop house, and the drought in the Haenam region during the Japanese colonial period. The average area of 1 durak in 『Yonghadorok』 is 214 pyeong(坪), which is larger than the average of 200 pyeong in Haenam Country. And out of the 12 places analyzed, there are as many as 4 places that deviate from 200 pyeong to 10% error of 180~220 pyeong, and among them, 2 places are close to 300 pyeong. Thus, it can be seen that even within the same municipality there was a great deviation in the area of 1 durak. 『Yonghadorok』 conveys micro-place names that have not been recorded in the existing research. Accordingly, the analysis of Yonghagi(用下記) can be said to be local history information that can supplement the study of place names at dong(洞) levels. On the other hand, if you look at the 『Yonghadorok』, the same place name is written in different Chinese characters depending on the writer, which shows that even the local literate class was not well versed in the origin of the place names in their own region. The Haenam(海南) area belongs to the Mokpo cultural area, where Mokpo Port can be easily accessed by ship. With the opening of the port of Mokpo Port, the price of rice skyrocketed. Specifically, the price of rice in Haenam and Yeongam(靈巖) region soared 2 times and 2.42 times, respectively. The crop status of Yonghagi is an indirect data that can grasp the drought at the city and county level as a time series. As a result of the analysis, through in 1901, 1912, 1938, and 1942~1943, when droughts occurred in Jeolla Province(全羅道), in Haenam region the average or abundant crops were harvested. As a result, it was possible to specifically observe that the weather-related information at the Province(道) level cannot be applied to the city and county level as it is.

LEXICAL AND SEMANTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PLACE AND WATER NAMES OF THE ABAY DISTRICT

The article describes the place-names of the Abay region, the factors affecting the formation of regional toponymy, the ethno linguistic character of geographical names. Names of places and waters are a clear reflection of people's customs, way of life, history and culture.In this article, the issue of considering regional toponyms in close connection with the worldview of the nation is put forward.The continuity of the past and the present of any country is reflected through its place and water names - toponyms.The names of the places and waters of the Kazakh country reveal the centuries-old history of the people.For this reason, the study of place names has become one of the most urgent issues today due to the fact that many toponyms have been changed and forgotten in the "various" times of our country. In this regard, the fact that many toponyms in the mentioned region were created in connection with historical events and specific situations, the names of people, the animal world, the type and color of the geographical environment, and natural phenomena were analyzed and considered in detail with examples in the article.

Forest Reserves as Frontiers of Indigeneity: Semai Orang Asli Investments of Work, Cultural Use, and Identity in the Bukit Tapah Forest Reserve

ABSTRACT At less than one percent of Malaysia’s total population, the Orang Asli (Peninsular Malaysia’s Indigenous Peoples) lack political clout; state nonrecognition of their land rights constitutes a fundamental reason for the economic and social ills faced by their communities. This article examines the protection of Semai Orang Asli customary territories from a cultural heritage perspective. Drawing on a study of traditional place-names and oral history, it describes how forests, other than existing as the Semai ancestral domain, continue to be the lifeblood of Semai culture and economic production. The paper examines state-owned forest reserves and the role these play in Semai cultural continuity, including traditional livelihoods such as agroforestry and swidden agriculture. Forest reserves are on the frontier of resource extraction and forest conservation in Malaysia; however, because these comprise the customary territories of Orang Asli, they also signify the frontier of forest-dependent Indigeneity. The paper weaves a narrative of Semai forest dependence, and concludes with a discussion of the prospects for a World Heritage Cultural Landscape (WHCL) designation as a possible avenue for protecting Semai customary territories.

A study of place names recorded in the Yumongin's 「Yuduryusanrok」

A study of place names recorded in the Yumongin's 「Yuduryusanrok」

Historical geographies of place naming: Colonial practices and beyond

AbstractEuropean colonialism sought to inscribe order and meaning on non‐European landscapes through the process of place naming. Naming or renaming was fundamental to the extension of imperial control over physical and human environments. This article offers a brief overview of the ways critical place name studies has addressed these colonial practices. In particular, the paper examines the power relationships inherent in place naming, asks questions about authority and authenticity in place naming, highlights the importance of sound in the performance of place names, and explores decolonial mapping practices as an opportunity to challenge neocolonial cartographies. I suggest that critical place name studies has been insufficiently attentive to orthography and that addressing the spelling of place names more directly offers important ways to understand how power and authority intersected with authenticity and reproducibility in colonial naming practices. I conclude by identifying the potential benefits to geographers of prioritising decolonial research by collaborating with indigenous peoples and incorporating indigenous practices within research.

APPLYING METHOD OF DETERMINING CULTURAL ELEMENTS AND MIRROR METHOD IN STATISTICS AND DECODE PLACE-NAME (A case study in the Southwestern region, Vietnam)

Place-name is a complex research object because it contain the cultural, historical, linguistic and natural conditions of the land. Therefore, when approaching a thousands of place-names in a region, it is very difficult for researchers to classify and decode the origin of the place-names. The history of studying Vietnamese place-names show that, so far, the decryption of place-names by decoding each individual place-name, researchers have not paid attention to the relationship of place-names in a region. Thus, the study of place-names is quite sporadic, the study of place-names is not focusable and does not have a scientific basis to decode a series of place-names. By studying place-names of the Southwestern region, we have discovered method of determining elements of culture and method of mirroring in statistics and decode effectively place-names. As a result, we have classified and decoded the place-names systematically and scientifically, contributing to solving some practical and theoretical problems in researching place-names.

(Mis)Leading Approaches in Toponomastics. Review of the book: Perono Cacciafoco, F., & Cavallaro, F. (2023). Place Names. Approaches and Perspectives in Toponymy and Toponomastics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xxiii + 298 p.

The paper provides a critical review of a ten-chapter volume dealing with various aspects of the study of place names. Conceived as a concise but comprehensive reference source for students in toponomastics, the book has two distinct focuses, namely historical toponomastics (i.e. the study of place names within the framework of historical linguistics and contact language theory) and social toponomastics, but also covers the study of toponymy in the context of historical geography, language documentation, and cartography. Despite the fact that the book presents a good survey of some topics and contains relevant references to scholarly publications, which may be useful for students, it displays numerous issues in the chapters related to etymology, language change, and historical linguistics, which may give the readers a distorted idea of the research practices normally used in the corresponding sub-fields of toponomastics. In some cases, the analysis proposed in the book lacks arguments and further explanations, while in others, it is simply based on an a priori fallacy.

Актуальные топонимические проблемы (по материалам двух научных мероприятий 2021 г. в Симферополе и~Москве)

Employees of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and members of the Toponymical Commission of the Moscow City Branch of the Russian Geographical Society took part and acted as co-organizers of two important scientific events in 2021 dedicated to the study of toponymic problems – the scientific and practical conference “Historical toponyms are our common heritage” on July 28 in Simferopol, and the Moscow Onomastic Seminar on October 7 in Moscow. These events highlighted the range of the most pressing issues related to both the functioning of geographic names and the tasks that scientists, politicians and officials face in this respect, those being the preservation of historical place names of Crimea; place names in multinational regions; the consequences of toponymic repressions; the use of well-known toponymic bases when naming other objects; the importance of microtoponymy for landscape research; the dependence of a toponym spelling on the status of a geographical object; the choice between parallel names of one settlement; the difference in connotations of the same toponyms;
 toponymic expeditions as a tool for solving etymological problems. On the one hand, the problems discussed determine the vector of modern place-name study development, on the other hand, they affect the adoption of successful state decisions.

Lebak Larang: Analisis Toponimi

The study of place names is very interesting to research. This happens because the names of these places have different origins. The study of place names can add to our cultural and social insight. Giving place names in some areas of Cibeunying Landeuh cannot be separated from the stories that develop in the community. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative with place names as data. This study will describe the origin of place names in Cibeunying Landeuh.

Urbanonyms in small settlements: terra incognita of (Czech) place name studies

Urbanonyms in small settlements: terra incognita of (Czech) place name studies

Gendering Urban Namescapes

The gender relations of power embedded within the urban landscape and materialized in street nomenclature remain an underexplored topic in place-name studies. This paper situates the gendered spaces of street names within the broader investigation of identity politics played out in the public space. Drawing on scholarship from “critical toponymies”, this article diachronically examines the gender patterning of urban nomenclature in a city from Eastern Europe (Sibiu, formerly Hermannstadt, Romania). For this purpose, a dataset was compiled from the entire street nomenclature of the city across seven successive historical periods, from 1875 to 2020 (n = 2,766). The statistical analyses performed on this dataset revealed a “masculine default” as a structuring principle underpinning Sibiu’s urban namescape for the two centuries investigated. As this analysis demonstrates, contrary to the overall democratization of the Romanian post-socialist society, Sibiu’s streetscape continues to tell a patriarchal story informed by hegemonic masculinity.

Mercurialul denumirilor stradale: restructurările spațiului simbolic în Sibiul postbelic, 1945-1948

In order to achieve their functional purpose – that of organizing the urban landscape and helping locating people and geographical objectives through an efficient addressing system – street names are bound to remain stable spatial landmarks. On the other hand, street names are also semiotic devices of signifying space with the political and commemorative agenda of the ruling power. This latter characteristic renders them vulnerable to successive renaming following important power-shifts and especially regime changes. What happens when the ideological imperative of politicizing the street nomenclature undermines its functional requirement of providing spatial orientation through extensive renaming? Such a tensional situation is examined in the case of postwar Sibiu between 1945 and 1948, when the city endured a thorough redefinition of its toponymy under the political regime of communist “popular democracy” in Romania. The paper quantifies the scope of toponymic revision and then evaluates the content of these street name changes in terms of three major concepts: class, ethnicity, and gender. Grounded on the results of this analysis, the paper advances the notion of “mercurial street names”. It concludes by arguing that such a concept should complement the existing metaphoricity underpinning the scholarship in place-name studies, which draw on “text”, “discourse”, and “palimpsest” to conceive of the processes of street (re)naming.

Russian School of Toponymical Cartography

Abstract. The development of toponymical cartography in Russia has a long history and rich practical experience. Cartographic methods have been used in toponymical research for many decades. Their great importance was noted by the founders of fundamental place-name study. This field is actively developing despite the considerable methodological complexity and labor intensity. Modern technologies in cartography make it possible to bring the scale and intensity of toponymic research to a new level and solve problems that have long been identified in science. This further increases the relevance of toponymic mapping and the active introduction of other techniques into the practice of local and regional toponymic research.

Street Names through Sociological Lenses. Part II: Constructionism and Utilitarianism

Abstract As toponymic means of inscribing urban space, street names have been addressed mainly by human geographers, who have articulated the field of critical place-name studies. In this paper, I continue the endeavor started in the previous issue published in Social Change Review of reading street names through sociological lenses. Whereas in the first part of this two-part contribution the analysis was made from functionalist and conflictualist perspectives, this second and final part employs social constructionism and the utilitarian theoretical tradition in making sociological sense of street nomenclatures. First, conceiving of street names as forming discursively constructed linguistic landscapes, the paper shows how urban namescapes – the “city-text” – are written, erased, and rewritten to reflect the shifting political powers. Second, the paper examines the neoliberal processes of place branding and toponymic commodification by which street names are turned into sought-after urban commodities with transactional value on the real estate market. The paper concludes by inviting sociologists to join the conversation on street names, which should become an important topic of sociological reflection.

Buddhist Indian Loanwords in Sogdian and the Development of Sogdian Buddhism


 Buddhist Sogdian texts contain about 300 loanwords of Indian origin excluding the ones that are known also in Manichaean, secular, or Christian Sogdian texts. About sixty percent of these can easily be seen to be borrowed from Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. A further twenty percent or so are not so easily recognized as from that source because they also reflect linguistic developments within Sogdian. Another twenty percent are from a Prakrit or show the intermediation of another language, such as Parthian (probably including pwty ‘Buddha’), Tocharian, or Chinese. About one percent has unclear sources. The Indian loanwords in Manichean, Christian and secular Sogdian texts, in contrast, are in the majority from a Middle Indian source. In Buddhist Sogdian, the narrative texts like the Vessantara Jātaka feature more of the less regular loan shapes, which suggests a different path of transmission and probably an earlier date. An appendix discusses the role of Buddism in Sogdiana from finds there: personal names reflect the divinity of the Buddha; a wooden plaque with a devotional scene was recently discovered in Panjakent; a seal from Kafir-kala depicts a Turkish noblewoman rather than a Boddhisatva. A study of place names indicates the presence of Vihāras (Nawbahār, Farxār) at the gates of several main cities in and around Sogdiana.

WORKS OF FOREIGN TOURISTS VISITING CENTRAL ASIA IN THE XIX CENTURY AS A SOURCE IN THE STUDY OF REGIONAL ETHNOTOPONYMS

This article classifies and analyzes the ethnotoponyms of the region, which are found in “travelogues” created based on travel memoirs of foreign tourists and officials of the countries who visited Central Asia in the XIX century. We know that ethnotoponyms are place names associated with "ethnos", which reflect the composition of the population of a particular area and the socio-economic processes associated with them, as well as traditions and values. One of the most important issues of historical toponymy is the comparative analysis of ethnotoponyms based on known sources, the study of the ethnic composition of the population of the region, demographic processes and factors influencing them in terms of sourceology and historiography. In this regard, the study of place names in the khanates based on travelogues of foreign tourists visiting the Central Asian khanates, which are planned to be disclosed in the article, serves to fill in some gaps not mentioned in local sources. The main purpose of the study is to recognize the source significance of travelogues in the study of Central Asian ethnotoponyms, and by determining the weight of ethnotoponyms in them, the general purpose of travelogues is to reveal their differences and similarities and to develop the principle of classification according to certain criteria. The article used research methods such as systematic analysis, chronology, problem-chronological, as well as toponymic stratification of place names, genetic analysis, used in historical research. As a result of the research, the role of travelogues as a common source and the total weight of ethnotoponyms of Central Asia in them were shown. The classification of existing ethnotoponyms, peculiarities of their emergence, theoretical and practical aspects of the study of ethnoponyms in the socio-economic and ethnic history of the khanate was analyzed.

A Convergence of Filipino Worlds: An Onomastic Reading of Edgar Calabia Samar’s Janus Silang Novels

Edgar Calabia Samar’s Janus Silang book series is a significant body of contemporary young adult fantasy novels in the Philippines. Samar’s ambitious series that successfully melds alternate online tech-worlds, everyday Filipino life, and ancient supernatural, god-inhabited worlds, is worthy of study. In creating this fantasy world, the Janus Silang series underscores the richness of Filipino mythology and lore by cohesively layering these lived worlds by way of spatial and temporal play. This paper wishes to study the value of this “world(s)-building”, entering this by way of the study of onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. Using both toponomastics and anthroponomastics, or the study of place names and human naming, respectively, this inventive, powerful focus on naming solidifies the Janus Silang series’ development of unique Filipino characters and narratives and its reintroduction of the cultures of its imaginary worlds for young, contemporary Filipino and global readers

Применение картографических методов в топонимике (история вопроса и современные исследования)

Cartographic methods have been used in toponymic research for many decades. The importance of these methods was noted by the founders of fundamental place-name study. This field keeps developing actively despite the considerable methodological complexity and labor intensity. Modern technologies in cartography make it possible to bring the scale and intensity of toponymic research to a new level, to solve problems that have long been identified in science. This further increases the relevance of toponymic mapping and the active introduction of other techniques into the practice of both local and regional toponymic research. The article presents the experience of creating regional toponymic maps and atlases, the general methodology and specific methodological developments of the authors in this field. The article provides examples of the latest practices of applying cartographic methods in domestic onomastics. The article presents the results of a poly-scale toponymic research in historical geography, based on the techniques of toponymic mapping in order to solve historic-geographical problems, and historic-cartographical analysis, aimed at solving toponymic problems. The geographical names of the Russian Plain and the Black Sea region serves as a rich factual data for the analysis of specific toponyms evolution. Historic-cartographical research provides invaluable data for place-name study, contributing to scientific advancement in related disciplines. Old maps serve as the most important sources of knowledge about toponymy and the formation of geographical representations in different eras. Place names are an integral part of the intangible cultural heritage, one of the most enduring and at the same time fragile. The modern desire to standardize toponymy at the national and international levels comes into conflict with the tasks of its preservation in the context of the protection of ethnocultural diversity.