Toponyms in an anthropological linguistic perspective

The paper investigates names of settlements, of parts of settlements, and in some cases names of institutions, exploring some aspects of the anatomy of place-names (i.e., the process of their coming into being and the changes they undergo). These aspects are as follows: (1) collective toponyms (common names for groups of places), (2) abbreviated place-names (name distortions), (3) form variants (name distortions), (4) giving new names, (5) folk-etymology (e.g., pejorativisation), and (6) coining variants for place-names (the poetry of toponymy). Recently collected data involve a growing number of new collective toponyms in the wake of regional cooperation; abbreviations and variants of existing place-names keep turning up, and new place-names and variants are generated for various administrative or individual reasons. Furthermore, there are examples of the pejorativisation of place-names (i.e., mockery), but toponyms also provide ground for poetry (poetic competitions or individual resourcefulness).