Toponyms

in the background knowledge

What is a TOPOROMYS ?
Toponyms are proper names of geographical objects.

In accordance with the definition used by G. Tomakhin toponyms are

the facts of speech, which comprise country studies information and are
a valuable part of the historical background of nation and its language.
They are subdivided into five groups:
1. Proper names, which reflect physical and natural
characteristics of the objects - Long Island, Split rock.

Split Apple Rock, Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

2. PN, which are given to the geographical objects in
honor of the prominent persons, whose names are
associated with this or that place – Red Jacket.
3. PN borrowed from the other
countries – Brazil, Jerusalem.
4. PN which appeared as a result of
economical activity of people - Valley Forge.
5 . Changed former names or fantastic invented
names - Penn Yann.
While selecting toponymic units into dictionaries the
researchers take into consideration some factors –

• the peculiar features of toponyms

• their importance in society, history of nation

• frequency of their usage in communicative contacts.

In truth a toponym can name objects of a very different nature: seas, lands, continents
or regions, cities or islands.
The name can relate to a social and political reality, a city, an
administrative division, a state, or a natural feature such as a
mountain, river, or cape.
Islands, better than any other space, demonstrate most forcefully what is at stake with toponymy in
cartography. Island names are toponyms associated with a form and a surface; they often constitute the
only inscription within the island shape. An island is a toponym linked to a form.