AP Human Geography2014

Toponymy is the scientific study of place-names, along with their origins and meanings, based on etymological, historical, and geographical information

Toponym

The name given to a particular place

Toponym

Each place is• A unique location• A reflection of people’s ideas, and tangible

creations• Giving a place a name, gives the place

certain character,e.g. “Mount Prospect” and “Mount Misery”

• People make places; they do not exist in a vacuum

• A toponym can give us a quick glimpse into the history of a place

Toponymist George R. Stewart developed a classification system based on 10 basic categories of place-names: Descriptive Names (Rocky Mts) Associate Names (Mill Valley, CA) Incident Names (Battle Creek, MI) Possessive Names (Johnston City, TX) Commemorative Names (San Francisco, CA) Commendatory Names (Paradise Valley, AZ) Folk-Etymology Names (Plains, GA) Manufactured Names (Truth or Consequence, NM) Shift Names (Lancaster, PA; Alpine Mountain) Mistake names, involving historic errors in identification

or translation (Lasker, North Carolina); named after Alaska

Each category is directly associated with cultural geography.

Largest U.S. Cities Named After a Food

Orange, CACitrus Height, CAAppleton, WIWalnut Creek, CASugar Land, TXApple Valley, CAPort Orange, FLCoconut Creek, FLPearland, TX

Some Strange U.S. Toponyms

Accident, MarylandBetween, GeorgiaBingo, MaineBird in Hand, PennsylvaniaBlowout, TexasBlue Ball, PennsylvaniaBoring, OregonDing Dong, TexasCocked Hat, DelawareIntercourse, PennsylvaniaNo Name, OhioPoverty, Kentucky

Strange Toponyms (U.S.): Bodies of Water

Big Bone Lick, KentuckyFrying Pan Creek, WashingtonIdiot Creek, OregonMarijuana Tank, New MexicoPee Pee Creek, OhioMolasses River, Michigan

Strange Toponyms (U.S.): Mountains & Hills

Bad Marriage Mountain, MontanaBig Butt, North CarolinaBitch Mountain, New YorkHateful Hill, VermontKiller Mountain, Oklahoma

Toponym

Toponyms have their roots inMigrationMovementInteraction among people

Migrant Andover

Toponym and cartography

Some toponyms on maps depend on who produced the map

Some contested places have more than one name at the same time

Example: the Malvinas (Argentineans); Falkland Islands (British)

U.S. place names are governed by the United States Board of Geographic Names, established in 1890 by President Benjamin Harrison

Decides what toponyms appear on government produced maps

Toponym and cartography

Toponymy can also reveal the political parties and politicians in charge at the time or those who had influence in the past. This trend of naming cities, streets, and

monuments after those in charge was particularly present in totalitarian and/or dictatorial states.

In the former Soviet Union, at least 27 cities were named after Vladimir Lenin, in particular Leningrad, Russia’s 2nd largest city.

In addition, at least 12 cities were named after his successor Joseph Stalin.

The majority of these cities were renamed after the fall of the Soviet Union and communism itself.

Most place names in any culture contains two parts: the generic and the specific. The generic (classifying) and specific (modifying or particular)

is used to signify what entity is being described. In English, the specific comes first, e.g., Missouri River, Wall

Street, Hudson River, Bunker Hill, Long Island, etc. In the U.S., River Rouge or Isle Royale- evidence of French

settlement- French reverse naming order

Specific dialectical regions of the U.S. also have their own unique toponyms. In the North, there is a trend to add directional adjectives to

place-names (East Lansing, North Chicago, West Chester, etc.). This pattern is largely due to the planning of Northern towns

and cities in accordance with the compass.

Some Arabic Toponyms In Africa

Cairo- “victorious”Sudan- “land of the blacks”Sahara- “wasteland” or “wilderness”

The Geography of Swedish names reflects the immigration patterns of the 19th century.

Swedish toponyms in Minnesota: Kalmar Township, Karlstad, Malmo Township, Mora, New Sweden Township, Ronneby, Scandia, Stockholm Township

What are some English toponyms in the United States?

Australia – From Latin “terra australis incognita”, meaning Unknown Southern Land

Brazil – Named after the Portuguese name for the Brazilwood tree, “pau-brasil”

Greenland – An English name given by Eric the Red to attract settlers. Not very accurate.

Netherlands – Greek for Low Lands.

Palestine – Named for the ancient Philistines.

Peru – Unknown, most common theory is that it was derived from “biru”, a native word for river.

Liberia- from Latin- “Liber”(freedom)

Bolivia – Simon BolivarColombia – Christopher ColumbusEl Salvador – JesusAmerica – Amerigo Vespucci(Former) Rhodesia – Cecil RhodesPhilippines – King Philip II of SpainWashington, D.C. – George WashingtonGeorgia (US) – King George of EnglandBaltimore – Lord BaltimoreVietnam – Ho Chi Minh City- Self Explanatory

Connecticut: Constitution State

•Florida: Sunshine State•North Carolina: Tar

Heel State

•Georgia: Peach State

What is the nickname of Massachusetts?

La Paz, Bolivia

Jerusalem, Israel

Xi’an, China

There are a large amount of what Americans would deem as “unusual” toponyms, including: Turdy (Tajikistan) Kilkenny (Ireland) Condom (France) Shitagoo Lake (Quebec, Canada) Horni Police (Czech Republic) Dildo (Newfoundland, Canada) Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin

Mahinthara Ayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasit (Thailand)

These seemingly humorous place-names are due to language barriers as well as lack of cultural understanding.

Longest place (town) name

Given to a town in WalesTo preserve the Welsh language and

diminish the influence of the English language

Can you pronounce this name?Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllll

antysiliogogogochThe name means: “The Church of St. Mary

in the hollow of white hazel near the rapid whirlpool by the church of St. Tysilio of the red cave.”

Post-Colonial Toponyms

Upper Volta: Burkina FasoGold Coast: GhanaNyasaland: MalawiNorthern Rhodesia: ZambiaSouthern Rhodesia: ZimbabweSouthwest Africa: NamibiaEast Pakistan: BangladeshNetherlands East Indies: IndonesiaCeylon: Sri LankaBombay: Mumbai

Some places with Native American Names

“Mesconsing”(“the long river”)- recorded as “Quisconsing” by Lewis and Clark- later distorted into “Wisconsin”

MilwaukeeWinnipegMassachusettsPotomacNiagaraAdirondacksChesapeakeShenandoahYukon

Post-revolution Toponyms

Belgian Congo to Zaire and back to the Congo Democratic Republic

Leningrad to St. PetersburgStalingrad to Volgograd

Memorial Toponyms

Chosen to memorialize important historical figures

Example of street names in many parts of the U.S. particularly the South memorializing Martin Luther King, Jr.

Places named after George Washington, JFK, Abraham Lincoln, etc.

Commodification of Toponyms

Refers to the practice of buying, trading, and selling of place toponyms to promote popular culture

Some examples: Tokyo Disneyland, Paris Disneyland, and Disneyworld in the U.S.

In the area of sports, many arenas are named after corporations, e.g. Gillette Stadium, FedEx Field, MCI Center, Coors Field, BankNorth Garden, Staples Center, etc.

Sequent occupance (Derwent Whittlesey-1929)

The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape, e.g. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

European languages in Africa