Island Placenaming and Insular Toponymies

Abstract

Islands as distinct research sites have been given little specific attention by toponymists. The physical segregation, distinctness, and isolation of islands from continental environments may provide linguists and onomasticians with significant micro case studies for examining the role of toponyms as proper names. This article outlines the possibility of how the cultural and ecological nature of the toponymy of (small) island situations contributes to a place’s onomasticon. It is claimed the principal difference which distinguishes island people from non-island people is island people’s self-perceived difference. It is speculated this difference and awareness can be observed and demonstrated in island toponymies, both through distinction based on belonging to an island-specific language group and through knowledge and use of locally peculiar eponymous toponyms. The argument concludes by suggesting that a description of a place and culture based in the self-perceived awareness of the holders of island placenaming history and knowledge — an island’s toponymic ethnography — is an apt descriptor for future work into islotoponomastics.

Toponymy and nissology: an approach to defining the Balearic Islands’ geographical and cultural character

“…Furthermore, there is a tradition on Majorca of conserving, throughout centuries and generations, the indicative toponyms given to large rural properties (possessions), which generally come from the family names 8 of ancient owners. This bears a certain resemblance to the situation described by Nash (2015) on the island of Norfolk. Similarly, the names of actual houses survive their owners, and on the Pityusic Islands (Ibiza, Formentera, S'Espalmador, and other small surrounding islets), as a consequence of their disperse populations, it is particularly common to assign place names to houses based on the anthroponym 9 of its current or historical owner (Ordinas, 1994).…”

“…In line with McCall's (1994) fourth assertion, this mainly corresponds to Balearic hunting grounds, mushroom breeding grounds, ancient hiding places for contraband, and fishing grounds. A study of Majorcan thalassonyms (maritime toponymy) (Lucas & Ordinas, 2013) confirmed that the methods for locating and creating place-names is the same in Majorca as in other distant places (Forman, 1967;Nash, 2015). From a linguistic point of view, the Balearic Islands show clear toponymic differences with respect to non-island territories.…”

“…On top of this, non-natives bring with them different languages and cultures, which produce an imbalance that leads to diglossic societies and has repercussions on toponymy, mainly via the appearance of new place-names and the adaptation of old ones into the new language. Furthermore, considering the introduction of an originally urban group of people (tourists) or any people who are unconnected to the traditional land uses where they settle (Ordinas & Binimelis, 2002), new place names reveal their origins (Nash, 2015). This gives way to a clear dichotomy 3 between the traditional toponymy and that which is introduced suddenly via signs and billboards.…”

“…4 It is thus important to delve deeper into the different perceptions of islanders and mainlanders, or rather the islanders' self-perception as being different (Nash, 2015) with respect to geographical sizes and distances, which on the islands are deformed and enlarged. This prompts the perception of a unique system of longitudinal measurements that is not applicable to the outside world despite the introduction of the metric system, as it could lead to a phobia of islands in visitors who feel trapped 5 on islands (Espínola & Cravidao, 2014).…”

“…Thus, to the intrinsic perception associated with place names, we must also consider the perception of islanders with respect to their reality of living on an island, which affects multiple aspects of toponymy, including the obvious geographic and economic ones, but also cultural, sociological, anthropological, and linguistic aspects. Thus, Nash (2015) rightly proposes the concept of toponymic ethnography, where cultural and ecological contexts get entangled with the study of the toponymy of the islands and the relationship between names, and the characterization of the landscape becomes a topic of interest for future research. In fact, this has been addressed in a study of the island of Minorca (Ordinas & Binimelis, 2013).…”