Onomastics

The illegal drug trade has recently found a new route: darknet cryptomarkets. On these Ebay-like marketplaces, located in an anonymous network, drug sellers and buyers from all over the world make deals without meeting each other in person. Drug vendors are known by their user names, and those names could have a huge financial significance for their owners. This study examines the characteristics of those vendor user names and contrasts them to both other types of user names as well as to real-life commercial names. The data for the study were collected from AlphaBay, the largest cryptomarket in early 2017. Many vendors share information of themselves through their user names, referring to their products, home country and whether they work alone or in a group. Names are also used to create various images of vendor's business. Some vendors try to create an image of a normal, legal business by using company and brand name vocabulary or by plagiarising famous real-life brand names. Other vendors, however, appear to even highlight their crim-inality, referring to illegal activities or well-known real-life or fictional drug criminals. Vendor names also include references to the desired effects of drugs and the high quality of products and service. One-third of names are not connected to drugs in any visible way. Overall, vendor names more closely resemble other user names, but they clearly have also been influenced by commercial names.

Political movements and personalities have been given nicknames in Zimbabwe.
Through an analysis of nicknames used on social and print media as well as in
popular music, this paper argues that nicknames describe physical appearances,
character traits and also utterances they make. Through a close examination of
nicknames given to several politicians and political movements from postindependent
Zimbabwe, this paper argues that these names and naming practices
achieve a certain number of objectives. Initially, it allows citizens to discuss
political figures particularly against the background where some politicians such
as the President cannot be easily spoken about. Moreover, the fluidity of nicknames
allows for a ridiculing of politicians especially when they do not live up to the
offices they hold. Drawing on Mehrabian and Piercy’s (1993) theoretical work on
nicknames, this paper concludes that nicknames can be viewed as what James
Scott (1985) terms “weapons of the weak” given that they have a “hidden
transcript” that make it possible for simple citizens to resist, oppose and challenge
those in power.

All parents wish to give a unique and meaningful name to their child.
In India, a Sanskrit name is mostly preferred. Often parents turn to
the Internet, which is replete with misinformation on Sanskrit names.
Popular name websites too mispresent meaning of many Sanskrit
words and sometimes even list names from other languages, presenting
them as Sanskrit names. Some bestselling books on Sanskrit names
also carry such mistakes. Parents are misled by such sources and end
up giving a kunāma (‘a bad name’) to their child.

Each Sanskrit sunāma—or ‘a good name’—has a mathematical
derivation (vyutpatti) and/or a mystical explanation (nirukti). This
work by Nityānanda Miśra is a wonderful collection of
more than 3,000 sunāmas, most of which are rare or unused today. He
studied more than 70,000 names in seventy-seven authentic Sanskrit
texts, including seven Vedic saṃhitās, ten Purāṇas, the Rāmāyaṇa,
the Mahābhārata, seven koṣas, three grammar works and thirty-eight
sahasranāmas for this compilation. Each name entry includes the
Devanagari and IAST spellings, gender, meaning, and the person or
deity to whom the name belongs.

As is common in many Bantu societies, Zambian names come from the natural environment, circumstances of birth and the social setting. Names from circumstances of birth include physical appearance, position of birth, place of birth, and so on. Those from the natural environment include names from plants, animals and other natural phenomena. Nevertheless, the broadest category in Zambian nomenclature is the socio-psychological environment. My recent unpublished quantitative analysis of selected publicly available school registers in Kitwe and Lusaka showed that between 2013 and 2017, 71% of the 13 thousand students sampled used foreign first names-the remaining meagre percentage used local language based first names. This chapter is, however, descriptive rather than structural, of traditional Zambian anthroponyms as they exist at present.

Статья, во-первых, знакомит с общей спецификой новгородских старинных надписей, нанесенных на погребальные памятники эпохи существования Новгородской губернии и, во-вторых, обращается к краткому анализу фамилий, содержащихся в этих текстах. Рассматриваются фамилии духовенства, дворянства, купечества и крестьянства.

In zwei- oder mehrsprachigen Gebieten kann der Gebrauch von Ortsnamen in der einen oder anderen Namensform eine subjektive Entscheidung sein, die eine ideologische Positionierung des Sprechers mit sich führt. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, die Sprachkonfliktsituationen im Bereich der Toponymie in Mexiko, wo zahlreiche Ortsnamen im Laufe der Kolonisations- und Dekolonisationsprozesse geändert wurden und in Galicien, wo sich der Sprachkonflikt zwischen dem Galicischen und dem Spanischen auch in den Kastilianisierungen und Regalicisierungen der Ortsnamen widerspiegelt, zu vergleichen.
Für beide Fälle sollen die historische Entwicklung und die Standardisierungsprozesse im Bereich der Ortsnamen und die sich daraus ergebenden Konflikte dargestellt werden. Die Wahl von Galicien und Mexiko für diesen Vergleich verspricht dabei besonders fruchtbar zu sein: In beiden Fällen ist Spanisch die einzige landesweite Amtssprache, die sich im Kontakt mit regionalen Minderheitensprachen befindet. Dies ermöglicht eine Vergleichbarkeit der sprachlichen Phänomene, die in der historischen Entwicklung der Ortsnamen zu beobachten sind. Andererseits sind die politischen und gesellschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen in Galicien und Mexiko jedoch völlig unterschiedlich, so dass die Untersuchung differenzierte und aufschlussreiche Ergebnisse in diesem Bereich erwarten lässt. Dieser Ansatz soll es ermöglichen, allgemeingültige Phänomene in mehrsprachigen Regionen von solchen regionalspezifischer Natur zu unterscheiden.
In einem zweiten Schritt wird die Übersetzung der Ortsnamen beider Regionen ins Deutsche anhand einer Korpusanalyse untersucht, um herauszufinden, ob sich allgemeine Tendenzen feststellen lassen, die mit den beschriebenen Konflikten in Zusammenhang stehen.

The paper reviews and complements existing knowledge about the acquisition of proper names. On the basis of research into children's language, it seems obvious today that the process of acquisition of proper names (anthroponyms) is simultaneous to the acquisition of common nouns. However, the underlying mechanisms explaining the separation of the two groups of nouns are controversial. Compared to the case of anthroponyms, learning toponyms is a more complicated and a longer-lasting process. In connection with this topic, researchers dealing with spatial cognition are focusing on spatial orientation, on the localisation of spatial information in the brain and on spatial language. They study neither the way children get to know the wider geographical environment, nor the way they acquire toponyms. The author seeks to obtain more information about the beginning of this process based on the study of two small children's toponymic knowledge in connection with their acquisition of geographical common nouns and the development of spatial orientation. This makes it possible to draw preliminary conclusions about the specificity of the cognitive mechanisms ensuring the knowledge of geographical environment. The author suggests that the meaning of early toponyms is typically under-generalised — children tend to interpret the names of cities/towns or streets by restricting them to a certain house. It has also been made evident that, at the age of 2–4 years, the relationship between places and persons is very tight (for instance, children connect the names of places to specific persons). The semantic contingencies can be explained by the fact that, in the case of children, the place concepts themselves (what is a city/town?, what is a street?, etc.) have not been fully constructed yet, and that the elements of space are still not distinct entities.

Вопросы ономастики. 2016. Т. 13. № 2. С. 7–22

The names of Saul’s descendants appear in a different form in the books of Chronicles (1 Chr 8:33-34; 9:39-40) as compared to those in the books of Samuel (2 Sam 2-4; 9; 19; 21). In Chronicles the name Eshbaal is used instead of Ishbosheth, and Meribaal instead of Mephibosheth. This article describes the differences between these names in the context of early Hebrew epigraphy. The recalling of the original names of the first Judaean royal dynasty in the books of Chronicles could be explained not only with reference to the original version of the books of Samuel, but also from the oral tradition of Judea or from some documents of the royal archives that survived the Babylonian conquest.

В современной России возрос интерес к лингвокраеведческим исследованиям, о чем свидетельствует большое количество соответствующих научных публикаций. В статье дается краткий обзор основных источников и литературы по топонимии Воронежского края, приводится рекомендуемый механизм проведения региональных топонимических исследований в образовательных организациях, реализующих основные и дополнительные образовательные программы.
In modern Russia increased interest in linguo-regional studies, as evidenced by a large number of relevant scientific publications. The article gives a brief overview of the main sources and literature on toponymy of the Voronezh region, provides a recommended mechanism for regional toponymic research in educational institutions that implement basic and additional educational programs.

Este novedoso libro aborda la historia del proceso de identificación de las personas. Los autores subrayan en la introducción que se proponen tratar la dimensión histórica de la identificación, un concepto para el que resulta difícil dar una definición, como también lo es para el concepto de identidad, y que no ha sido hasta ahora objeto de atención por parte de los historiadores. Sin embargo, en el viaje en el tiempo que realizan About y Denis con su libro, ponen de manifiesto el interés del concepto y sus múltiples implicaciones en un terreno donde confluyen otras ciencias sociales como la sociología, la politología o la antropología. Los autores reconocen los méritos de quienes ya se han acercado anteriormente al problema de la identificación de individuos, como Natalie Z. Davis en El regreso de Martin Guerre o Carlo Ginzburg en “Signes, traces, pistes. Racines d ́un paradigma de l ́indice”, Le Débat, no 6, p. 3-44; sin embargo, en tales trabajos no se invoca de modo explícito la noción de identificación. Se trata, por tanto, de un sector nuevo en el campo de los estudios históricos y que se ha venido desarrollando en los últimos quince años.

The article deals with peculiarities of toponyms' lexicographical description in the "Dictionary of the Regional Arkhangelsk Dialect" by Podvysotsky A.O. published in 1855. Since the compiler of the dictionary did not seek to fully and systematically describe the proper names functioning on the territory of the Arkhangelsk region (the main dictionary body is appellative vocabulary), toponyms and katoikonyms are presented by separate lexemes. The author of this publication examines the following types of dictionary entries: 1) entries with a heading word-toponym, 2) entries with a heading word-appellative where a toponym is cited (more frequent-toponym-phrase) which contains the appellative described (in entries like this one toponyms are given as a separate meaning of a polysemantic word), 3) entries with a heading word-katoikonym or word-toponym by describing of which a katoikonym is presented. A set of structural lexicographical components is also revealed in the article (either for totality of dictionary entries containing toponyms, or regarding every type of entry), the attempt is made to structure detached dictionary entries in order to reveal the toponym lexicographical model construction algorithm in the given source.

The paper defines the role of airlines’ names in nation branding. The author describes the types of identity (territorial, political, ethnic) in airlines’ names and the main types of onyms communicating these identities.
Key words: country’s identity, airlines’ name, nation branding, brand, onym.

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/486729/la-lignee-tremblay-ou-l-aventure-nord-americaine-d-une-signature-adn
Premier nom au Québec avec plus de 80 000 porteurs, Tremblay fait figure de symbole. Plus de 100 000 personnes portent le nom en Amérique du Nord. Ce statut peut justifier qu’on s’y intéresse plus particulièrement pour illustrer comment se combinent aujourd’hui généalogie et génétique. Le regard offert ici porte sur la dimension scientifique de ce savoir plutôt que sur son industrie.Le discours sur le comportement humain a l’habitude d’opposer nature et culture. L’intuition nous conduit à séparer biologie et nom de famille de la même façon. La recherche en anthropologie et généalogie génétique révèle cependant l’existence d’une étroite corrélation qu’on peut pratiquement qualifier de
« biologie du nom ».

Майданова Л. М., Макарова С. В. Гидронимический ареал им, ым в Северном Приуралье. С. 3.
Марадудна Т. В. Рефлексы сингармонизма в севернорусской субстратной топонимике. С. 7.
Шаламова Г. Я. Некоторые результаты структурно-фонетического анализа севернорусских топонимов на озеро. С. 15.
Ледовская Г. И. Из наблюдений над консонантизмом субстратной топонимики Подмосковья. С. 17.
Житников В. Ф. Древнерусская лексика подсечно-огневого земледелия в топонимике Архангельской и Вологодской областей. С. 19.
Рудных Е. И. Предложные конструкции в русской микротопонимике бассейна верхней Устьи. С. 23.
Костина Н. П. Из наблюдений над определительными конструкциями в русской топонимике (по материалам деловой письменности XVII в.) С. 28.
Падерин А. А. Некоторые результаты статистического изучения названий населенных пунктов. С. 30.
Матвеев А. К. Новые данные о камасинском языке и камасинской топонимике. С. 32.
Майданова Л. М. Из опыта работы севернорусской топонимической экспедиции. С. 38.

Until the 1840s old spelling style prevailed in the Estonian language. In 1843 in his grammar Lutheran pastor Eduard Ahrens introduced a new spelling style which was inspired from the Finnish one. Spreading of new style was not rapid and in 1844 only four Lutheran pastors in North Estonia started to use it in their parish registers. In the 1850s only two more joined and in 1867 two first pastors from South Estonia accepted the new style. Lutheran pastors were almost entirely Baltic Germans until that time.
In South Estonia the first pastors to accept the new style were sympathetic to the national awakening of Estonians, which was stronger there and weaker in North Estonia. Also first pastors of Estonian ethnicity appeared in the 1870s in South Estonia and most of them (but not all) started to keep their parish registers in new spelling style.
By 1875 most of published books were already in new spelling style, but some clerical books still appeared in the old style. The New Testament was printed in the new style for the first time in 1888 and the whole bible in 1889.
Of the 110 analysed congregations 76 accepted the new spelling style by 1891. Mostly it was done in the 1880s (47 congregations), peak years were 1880–1881. Of the pastors who changed the spelling style, 32 were new to the congregation, 17 had worked there from 2–7 years, 13 from 8–15 years and 11 from 16–36 years. The number of changing congregations was quite equal in North and South Estonia (also in absolute numbers). The highest percentage of congregations who
accepted the new style was 100% in Viljandi county, 87% in Lääne county and 85% in Harju county. The smallest was 22% in Võru county, 43% in Järva county and 47% in Tartu county. In Võru and Tartu counties possibly the Southern dialect (“Tartu language”) was the factor of small style change ratio. Since 1892 parish registers were ordered to be kept in Russian/Cyrillic and not all pastors added names in Latin alphabet. Thus it is not possible to analyse the spelling change since 1892 in all of Estonia.
Keywords: Estonian language, language history, orthography, paleography, onomastics, language planning

Семантические микросистемы в топонимии — комплекс семан­ тически связанных названий смежных объектов. Рассмотрим это определение подробнее. Семантика топонима — понятие о данном географическом объ­ екте, включащее сведения о виде объекта и его местоположении. В то же время семантика — расширяющийся конус наших знаний об объекте, она неисчерпаема. Местоположение и вид объекта — вершина конуса, ближайшее значение топонима, обязательный ми­ нимум информации, необходимый для того, чтобы слово было для нас не лишенной смысла последовательностью звуков, а значимой единицей — топонимом. Апеллятив, положенный в основу назва­ ния, не всегда отражает местоположение и вид объекта, он может отражать и другие свойства объекта, знание о которых входит в объем дальнейшего (энциклопедического) значения топонима. Однако несомненно, что в случае, когда название формируется на основе изучения свойств объекта, семантика исходного апелляти­ ва входит в состав семантики топонима, причем является важней­ шим для лингвистов компонентом топонимической семантики. Не­ обходимо учитывать, что семантика исходного апеллятива и то зна­ чение апеллятива, которое закрепляется в названии, строго гово­ ря, не одно и то же. В топонимии, как и во всякой другой рече­ вой реализации языкового значения, функционирует специализи­ рованное значение исходного апеллятива: появляются новые смыс­ ловые оттенки, а какая-то часть исходной семантики может ре­ дуцироваться. Таким образом, корректнее было бы говорить об особом топонимическом значении апеллятива, однако это термино­ логически неудобно; кроме того, в ономастической литературе до­ статочно распространено определение семантики топонима как се­ мантики исходного апеллятива. Итак, под семантикой топонима мы понимаем семантику исходного апеллятива (с учетом сделанных выше оговорок). Семантическая связанность топонимов получает свое внешнее выражение в появлении номинативных комплексов, элементы ко­ торых объединены различными семантическими отношениями (ан­ тонимическими, синонимическими, эквонимическими и др.). Но, например, в отношениях антонимии (на уровне исходных апел­ лятивов) могут оказаться и названия удаленных объектов. Усло­ вие смежности объектов обеспечивает связь глубинную, сущно

The article aims to show what are the process of naming in the system of Pitzorno's characters, strongly modeled through onomastics. Names are opportunities for the identification of the characters; moreover they act as a reminder of the historical period, especially in historical novels. In the works dedicated to children the ways in which names are attributed are often prosaic or amusing. Pitzorno believes that children love to find peculiar and obsolete names in her books and she points out with satisfaction that they recognise themselves in her literary songs. Keywords: children's literature, naming strategies, historical novels, historical and literature names.

This article deals with the inscription on a rune-stone fragment discovered in 1985 at Igelsta in Östertälje parish in Södermanland, which according to the author commemorates a man named Øygrīmʀ. This name is very rare and is previously unrecorded in East Scandinavian
sources.

In this paper I argue that the Mio Cid epithet, most widely associated with the Castilian warrior exile Rodrigo Díaz and traditionally believed to have been bestowed upon him by Arabic speakers, is in fact an autochthonous Castilian formula closely related to equivalent hybrid formulas such as Mi Anaya and Mi Echa. Close attention to the charters of the Northern Meseta allows us to flesh out a small but significant corpus of such references and also observe such names being used in a second idiosyncratic way as generic witnesses. By framing the Mio Cid usage within this broader onomastic tradition, a more solid geography and chronology emerge and these in turn indicate a relatively widespread use of such terms in late eleventh and early twelfth-century Castile, initially in aristocratic circles, before the epithets morphed into personal names.

En este trabajo sugerimos que el epíteto Mio Cid, generalmente asociado con el exiliado Rodrigo Díaz y tradicionalmente considerado acuñado por los andalusíes, es en realidad una fórmula castellana, estrechamente asociada con combinaciones equivalentes como Mi Anaya o Mi Echa. El análisis de las colecciones diplomáticas de la Meseta Norte permite la construcción de un pequeño pero significativo dossier de referencias de este tipo, y además se observa que estos nombres vuelven a coin-cidir en su empleo como testigos genéricos. Situando Mio Cid dentro de este marco onomástico más amplio nos permite consolidar tanto la cronología como la geografía del fenómeno, y así se revela un uso extendido en Castilla a finales del siglo XI y principios del siglo XII, inicialmente como epítetos honoríficos aristocráticos, antes de transformarse en nombres propios de persona a final de dicho siglo.

Onomastics (or onomatology) refers to the study of proper names of any kind including the names of people (anthroponyms) and places (toponyms). The purpose of this article is to explain different aspects of onomastics and its related knowledge, as well as its necessity and importance. Scrutinizing onomastics research background and the status of this knowledge in scientific studies of Iran is the other purpose of this article. Since names change with geography, language, religion, and time, studying the process of these changes at different historical periods and geographical areas can answer many questions. In fact, the importance of Onomastics is its secondary functions, such as cultural, social, political, and historical ones, which can have important results. For instance, it can determine the reasons for the changes in the names of people and places in different historical periods as well as the extent of the influence of different languages ​​in a particular geographical area. It is important to consider that onomastics in Iran requires further research in various branches; because most of the studies on names are devoted to the contemporary period and the names before this period have been given less attention.

This article analyses the male personal names of the Volzhsk Mari in the Bol’shoy Karamas Volost (nowadays territory of the Karamas and Sotnur rural settlements). The research was carried out on the basis of the census book of the Galitskiy doroga, 1678. The structure of anthroponymic formulas in the census book and linguistic origin of names of the inhabitants of Bol’shoy Karamas are examined in the article. The author also explores how the principle of naming children with the initial or final element identical to a parent’s name is reflected in the anthroponymy of Bol’shoy Karamas Volost.

El estudio de la historia familiar y la onomástica proporciona una perspectiva esclarecedora sobre las estructuras sociales y la transmisión del patrimonio en las sociedades del Antiguo Régimen. La dificultad para identificar sujetos en el pasado, señalada ya por E.A. Wrigley, radica en la escasez de información disponible, especialmente sobre los estratos más bajos y las mujeres. En el caso particular de la Navarra pirenaica de los siglos XVI y XVII, de rasgos matrilineales, la información sobre las familias está principalmente en documentos notariales y procesales.

Los escribanos reales, como mediadores entre el pasado y el presente, traducían la cultura popular a formas escritas, aunque a menudo esto implicaba una traducción literal del vasco al castellano. La adaptación del derecho consuetudinario regional también era crucial y reflejaba las irregularidades en los documentos. Uno de los desafíos principales era la identificación de sujetos en el pasado a través de los apellidos, ya que la transmisión matrilineal y la falta de uniformidad en su uso complicaban la tarea.

En la segunda mitad del siglo XVI, se observa una transición hacia la transmisión patrilineal del apellido, especialmente entre la nobleza, lo que sugiere una influencia aristocrática en las prácticas familiares. Sin embargo, en áreas rurales como la Navarra pirenaica, la preferencia por la herencia matrilineal persistió más tiempo, influenciada por la estabilidad y el control femenino sobre el hogar.

Los ejemplos de familias como la de Leyún ilustran las complejidades en la transmisión de apellidos y la importancia de los solares en la identidad familiar. La vacilación en los apellidos utilizados refleja la interconexión entre la pertenencia a una casa y el apellido oficial. Esta investigación revela cómo la historia de las familias y la onomástica proporcionan una comprensión más profunda de las estructuras sociales y las dinámicas de poder en las sociedades premodernas.

This article investigates the important role dreams have played in name-giving practices in Arabic culture through classical, modern, and contemporary sources. Given that our topic is related to public beliefs and that printed sources do not provide us with sufficient information on it, especially in our present time, the investigation is basically based on online sources (blogs and fatwa websites). The study distinguishes two types of name-giving dreams: (1) figurative name-giving dreams, where the child could be named after a dreamt-of object, and (2) direct name-giving dreams, where the child could be given a name directly received in a dream. Both types, mostly involving a mediator (i.e. a dream interpreter), reflect the essential concept of names as omens in Arabic; the latter type shows a stronger impact of Islamic instructions through the involvement of a religious personage (imam, mufti, or dervish).

Рассматриваются имена, которыми в календарном обрядовом фольклоре обозначается Масленица, воспринимаемая антропоморфно. Оба основных имени – Авдотья (Дуня) и Прасковея – восходят к календарным олицетворениям христианских святых: св. Евдокии и св. Параскевы-Пятницы. В простонародном восприятии Евдокия, Параскева-Пятница, Масленица имеют много общего.

Latyshi and Chukhontsy: locals and strangers in
Estonia and Latvia during the Livonian War (1558–1582)
The medieval and early modern society in Estonia and Latvia was multilingual.
The language of the people of higher social status was (Middle
Low) German, while the peasants and lower urban classes spoke Estonian,
Latvian, Livic, and other local languages. Latvian and Estonian were not
the languages of office in the sixteenth century. The common language of
oral contact between different strata of society was, probably, the language
of the majority. Different contact situations, however, definitely required
the use of different languages.
During the Livonian War (1558–1582/83), a large part of medieval Livonia
was conquered by Muscovy. Russians introduced their administration
there and shared manors with pomeshchiki (serving nobles) of Russian origin.
Ivan the Terrible deployed his garrisons in the towns and castles of
Estonia and Latvia. At the same time the Russian contingent also included
Tatars and members of other ethnicities of the Muscovy, and it remained
very mobile. The Russian administrative records, on the one hand, did not
care for the details of the ethnic situation in the occupied land. The words
Latyshi (Latvians) and Chukhontsy (Estonians) became widely used as
synonyms for local common people, denoting no ethnic difference. Nevertheless,
the Livonian peasants were of economic and military importance
for Russians. A number of reports survive indicating the use of Estonians
and Latvians as messengers and spies between areas of different political
control. The role of the local population as intermediators of information
manifested also the importance of Livonian “non-German” languages in
the communication between areas under various rulers. This hypothesis
can be proven by the usage of Livonian place names in Russian sources of
18 Ajalooline Ajakiri, 2010, 1 (131)
the time. Albeit some towns and castles in Estonia and Latvia had original
Old Russian place names (Kolyvan, Rugodiv, Yur’ev), the Russian toponymy
of Livonia in the 1550s–1580s were based as a rule on Estonian and Latvian
names, sometimes even when the original Old Russian name existed.
Probably, the persons involved in the Russian military and civic administration
were eventually unfamiliar with the earlier Old Russian names or
came from remote areas where no pre-war contacts with Livonia existed.
The records of diplomatic negotiations and treaties often registered
several multilingual forms of a place name at the same time to indicate a
locality in a clearly identifiable way. Significantly, sometimes the originally
Estonian toponyms are referred to as “Russian” ones, juxtaposing them
with German names. When in diplomacy and politics Russian had contact
mainly with Germans, the languages of rural and everyday life were the
languages of local peasants. For example, according to existing directions,
all areas subjugated by Russians should be described by including the names
of farms and peasants, and the amount of agricultural areas. This kind of
inquisition could pass only using local languages and became recorded
in Russian administrative documents. Due to the mobility of the Russian
military contingent, the translators were members of the local population.

In den Buchenblättern vom 27.1.2007 findet sich ein langer Artikel von G. Büchner mit der Titelfrage "Ist die Buchonia ein Buchenland?" und dem Untertitel "Eine Namensdeutung auf sprachgeschichtlicher Grundlage". Er kann nicht unwidersprochen bleiben. Namensdeutung ist seit ältesten Zeiten ein beliebtes Thema, bei Laien wie bei Wissenschaftlern. Auf "sprachwissenschaftlicher Grundlage" kann sie allerdings erst seit ca. 200 Jahren stehen, seit nämlich die lautgesetzlichen Grundlagen der Sprachgeschichte erkannt wurden. Daneben mag eine rein folkloristische Namensdeutung, wie etwa in den Sagen vom Riesen Mils, nach dem die Milseburg benannt sei, eine gewisse sozialhistorische Berechtigung behalten. Hier geht aber nur um Sprachwissenschaft und Altertumskunde. Die Sprachgeschichte kann nämlich, richtig verstanden, wertvolle Beiträge zur Erschließung der Geschichte früher Zeiten beitragen. Büchner vertritt zwei Thesen, daß nämlich erstens "Buchonia" nicht von dem Baumnamen "Buche", sondern von einem kelt. Wort für "Hügel" abgeleitet sei, und zweitens, daß "Buchonia" mit dem aus römischen Geschichtsschreibern bekannten alemannischen Teilstamm der "Bucinobanten" zu tun habe. Beide Thesen sind inhaltlich nicht zwingend miteinander verbunden. Die erste wird von Büchner nur kurz behandelt, die zweite dagegen breit ausgeführt. Schon insofern ist der Untertitel seines Artikels irreführend. Es gibt aber noch wichtigere Einwände. Die traditionelle Ansicht, bei "Buchonia" handele es sich um eine lateinische Bildung in Anlehnung an ein alt-oder vor-deutsches "Buchen-(Land/Wald o.ä.)" wird durch eine alte, aber völlig abwegige keltische Etymologie zu ersetzen versucht. Vermutlich geht sie auf eine Publikation aus dem Jahr 1841 zurück, deren Verfasser noch nicht viel Gesichertes vom Keltischen gewußt hat, auch kaum wissen konnte. J.C. Zeuß' grundlegende "Grammatica Celtica" ist erst 1853 erschienen. Daß ein Heimatforscher noch 1933 die überholte Spekulation aufgewärmt hat, ist für eine "Namensdeutung aus sprachwissenschaftlicher Sicht" im Jahr 2007 belanglos. So alte Publikationen müssen immer unbedingt anhand neuerer Fachliteratur überprüft werdnen. Es ist sinnlos, wieder nur auf populäre Publikationen zurückzugreifen, die im Zweifelsfall nur die alten Fehler abgeschrieben haben. Der von Büchner (ohne Verfassernamen) genannte Museion-Artikel (Heft 2/1992) dürfte in diese Kategorie gehören und scheint eine eher trübe Quelle zu sein. Ein keltisches Wort "bok "Berg" gibt es nach dem gegenwärtigen Stand der Forschung nicht, weder in einer der altkeltischen Sprachen (Gallisch, Keltiberisch, Lepontisch), noch in einer

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.