r/Toponymy Nov 15 '23

Toponymy question

6 Upvotes

I'm writing a story and I need to know when place names in Britain changed from Latin to what they are today. For example, when did Londinium become London?


r/Toponymy Nov 16 '23

Dictionary of British Place Names Companion Website - Oxford Reference

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2 Upvotes

For all.


r/Toponymy Sep 14 '23

Bil‘īn, Palestine pronunciation

2 Upvotes

I understand, or at least think I understand, the Semitic consonant ‘ayn. It's a voiced h. Or the consonant equivalent of the vowel a, similar to the relationship between w and u. It's an open glottis, in contrast to a glottal stop. Practicing it in the mirror, I figured out it's using the muscles attached to my hyoid bone and thyroid, to pull down the back of my tongue. And really no other voluntary muscle movement.

Whilst learning beginning Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic, I've gotten used to ‘ayn between two vowels. But I still struggle with consonant clusters, for lack of a better term, involving (C + ‘ayn) + V.

When I see a place name like Bil‘īn (بلعين), my feeling is that I should be dropping the root of my tongue during, or immediately following, pronouncing the l, which then turns the following long i into almost a nasalized e sound. I imagine someone from Limerick, Ireland saying "I'd be lyin'...", except without the "I'd".

Do I have it about right?


r/Toponymy Aug 23 '23

What is the name of suffix in romance languages(?) used to create toponyms from personal names like Mariana, Louisiana and Philippines?

7 Upvotes

The title, many European colony names were derived from monarchs and personal names and -ana(or something like that) seems to be a common suffix, at least in romance languages. Terra Mariana from Latin, Louisiana from French, Philippines from Spanish etc.

When I try to google it just shows me which names those toponyms are derived from (Mary, Louis, Felipe) and doesn't say anything about the suffix. Was it just random? Does it have a name? How would I even do it If I wanted to make up something similar from Fernando or Carlos? Fernandona? Carlosana?

I am aware of the "-ana" suffix as in "related to, shout out to" suffix as in (Mozartiana, Ottomana, Americana) but its wikipedia page doesn't even mention toponyms nor none of the examples I listed. Are they related or something? Cognates? Same suffix that I misunderstood?


r/Toponymy Aug 15 '23

Find 丹绒芸林 on map

11 Upvotes

My friend's grandma (Chinese) says she used to live in "丹绒芸林" in Sumatra, Indonesia. She couldn't provide further information. "丹绒芸林" sounds similar to "Tanjong Yunlin" in English, but I couldn't find anything related on Google. The only guess I can make is that this place might be a "", which means "port" or Chinese immigration center.

My friend and I are super curious as to where this place is. Plz help!


r/Toponymy Jul 26 '23

Moss' 'A History of English Placenames and Where They Came From': A Book Review

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6 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Jul 16 '23

Fun Fact: In India, there are 247 cities named Raipur

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19 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Jul 15 '23

Spanish Toponym Sources?

5 Upvotes

Hi, I’m looking for any good sources of Spanish Toponym lists/charts. Websites, diagrams, charts, books, etc. I’m trying to expand my list of toponymic suffixes and prefixes. Preferably not sources focusing on The west coast of the USA, as saints and Christianity in general take up such a large percentage of Spanish names in those areas. Thank you so much!


r/Toponymy May 26 '23

Coast Salish Place Names of The San Juan Islands

17 Upvotes

I'm going to be officiating a wedding in the San Juan Islands this summer and was asked by the couple to include a land acknowledgement as part of the ceremony.

As part of my research I came across this story map. I was surprised that this information wasn't as easily find-able as I would have expected and I may have some Wikipedia editing to do.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9b0f86b51e054ba78b83ab39c4d0b1a6


r/Toponymy May 12 '23

Brazil States Names Translated in Chinese According to Etymology

13 Upvotes

Idk it that it the right place to post this


r/Toponymy May 10 '23

Polish toponymy commission recommends Kaliningrad be called by the exonym Królewiec

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9 Upvotes

r/Toponymy May 06 '23

Inaccessible Island's coast is comprised mostly of sheer cliff walls, with only one small beach. As its name suggests, this makes landing on the island notoriously difficult and accessing the interior of the island even more so. Coordinates Lat: -37.300390° Long: -12.676989°. Link in the comments.

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25 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Apr 26 '23

Places that have a meaning related to 1

5 Upvotes

What place names do you know that had something relating to 1 in its name history, I'm mainly interested in the UK, but other places are nice too

I know in the UK there's many Twyford's w/ Twy meaning 2, and some Sevenoaks, but much less 1 related names

I'll allow anything relating to unity, union, as well as loneness and singularness, or unit, or an stretch you think will fit

Here's what I found so far

Countries: UK, US, UAE all start with United, Monaco which is "single house"

Others:

UK:

County Antrim, NI (Lone ridge)

Aintree, (Lonely tree)

Onehouse (Lone house)

Onecote (Lonely cottages)

Outside the UK:

Een, Netherlands

Einhaus, Germany

Union City, various US cities

Unionville, Canada


r/Toponymy Feb 23 '23

Distribution of common place-name patterns in Great Britain (map by Steven Kay)

21 Upvotes


r/Toponymy Feb 23 '23

Combe , Coombe, Cumbe, Cwm

6 Upvotes

Do we know how this toponym entered (Old) English? It's often said to be from Welsh cwm but it's also seen in France. The word is rare in Cornish (komm) and the equivalents are usually nans ( valley, W nant) or glen glynn, yet it is the dominant toponym in adjacent west Devon and found all over southern England.


r/Toponymy Feb 14 '23

US State nickname map (Uninspired by a map showing official nicknames like 'Treasure State', 'Prairie State' etc.)

6 Upvotes


r/Toponymy Feb 04 '23

Map of UK placenames translated into modern English

17 Upvotes

I swear I'd seen one, but now I can't find it, we're looking for a map that shows UK (or just England) place names, but translated into modern English. So Brighton would be Beorhthelm's farmstead, Liverpool would be Muddy Creek.. does such a thing exist?


r/Toponymy Feb 01 '23

American state nicknames, 1884

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17 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Jan 24 '23

The Open Etymology Map(s)

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5 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Jan 06 '23

Slang map of Spain

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26 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Dec 22 '22

Coptic place names in Egypt

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25 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Dec 17 '22

Michigan name origin

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3 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Dec 09 '22

Etymology of Ohio

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6 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Dec 08 '22

Origin of Vermont's name

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5 Upvotes

r/Toponymy Dec 01 '22

Where Did New Hampshire Get Its Name From?

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0 Upvotes