European toponymy. The ways of origin of the european geographical names.

The are a lot of European names of settlements, lakes, rivers, mountains and plains was enshrined in ancient chronicles and even on the geographic maps. Extant toponymic documents helped to clarify the history of the formation of a number of well-known names. However, historical documents cover a relatively short period of time, when the development of languages and the relations between peoples of the world had already long and complex history, even before the first written materials. Numerous migrations, the movement of peoples of the world in Western Europe also left its traces in the toponymy and the solution of them is very difficult. Close economic and cultural contacts of the peoples of Europe contributed to lexical borrowing for many centuries, that is why linguistic affiliation of individual names not always decoded. The languages of the peoples of Europe quite clearly divided into language groups, and layers allocated in the toponymy , occupying certain places in the stratigraphic column. The ancient names have their roots in prehistoric times and are not amenable to scrutiny, despite numerous attempts by toponymists to decipher their etymological value.

Such, for example, names of rivers the Tagus, the Oder, and the cities of London and Rome.

The oldest hydronyms on the territory of Europe from the Pyrenees to the Vistula and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean have a lot in common and can be attributed to the fact ancienteuropean (Indo-European) layer, the rise which took place somewhere in the middle of the second Millennium BC.

For later times some researchers allocate the individual language groups, which are conventionally referred to the Aegean, Illyrian, Baltic, Slavic, Celtic, Romanesque and others.

By Stashevsky: the oldest toponymic layers, amenable to allocation: — Finnish in the North, Indo-European in Central Europe, the Iberian-African — South-West, the Aegean-Etruscan — in the South-Eastern part of the European Mediterranean.

Toponymy of different parts of outside Europe is not differ only of the languages, but also the nature of the objects themselves a nomination.

That is why there are a lot of names of capes, bays, fjords, Islands and other coastal forms in Northern Europe. In Central Europe are typical elements in the names of settlements are the terms brucke, bridge, Furth, Brod. In the names of mountain systems often encounter the word Wald, view, forest. The Mediterranean is characterized by the ancient toponymy. The toponymic relation to Foreign Europe may be divided into several parts.

Northern Europe. The Scandinavian country. Finland

Toponymy in Scandinavia reflected the specific nature and language of the peoples inhabiting it. Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic) are close to each other and belong to the group of Germanic languages. The peoples of Scandinavia since ancient times living on its territory, and therefore, toponymy is everywhere the root. Only in the northernmost part of Scandinavia noticeable influence of the Finnish language (sámi place names). Many of them transformed. Scandinavian topone-Misto found that many of the names arose even before the Viking era.

The Scandinavian names of most rivers, landforms and settlements are distinguished by a deep antiquity. The very name of Scandinavia was known to Pliny, it was the southern part of the Peninsula and entrenched historically in the southern part of Sweden — skåne (the semantic value is "harmful, inhospitable land"). In V century, and possibly earlier appeared in Norwegian, Swedish settlement names in -vin, which subsequently transformed into -in, -en: Bjorgvin Bergen, as well as in -Heim, -ham, Danish and Swedish names in -ing and others. Based on the names on wines is viewed Norse viniya (pasture). Settlements with such names arose in the place of the pasture and got their names.

Names in -Heim (-hem) and relate mainly to the pre-literate period, i.e. up to the X century and come from the German term with the meaning "abode". But later, it became the typical of toponymic model, such names appeared in Germany. Later (XI—XII century) origin formant ores (Ridning, which means "clearing"). Names with this element indicate the process of clearing of forests and agricultural development of the territory.

Sometimes terms ores indicate the profession of the founder of the settlement: Collared (yard Turner), Skinna-Rud (the yard of a Tanner), Starosud (court shoemaker), Chambraud (court of tamarisk), etc.

For the Swedish toponymy is characterized by such words and geographical terms like elv (river, water), holmium (island), a fjord (Bay), Borg (castle), stud (settlement), Sund (Strait), Vic (Bay, Bay), force (waterfall): for example, Lines älv, the Property västervik, Arneson, Moosung, Iggesund, Grebbestad, Mariestad, Winesburg, Westerford, Soderfors, Tidaholm, Stockholm (Post on the island).

Norwegian geographical terms are very similar to Swedish: soon (Strait), Berg (mountain), Dahl (valley), field (field), Vik (Bay), sted (settlement). In turn, the place-names of Norway is very similar to Swedish: Malselv, Lenvik, Tuvik, Harstad, Solstad, Saltdal, Ordel etc. a Characteristic feature of the toponyms of Scandinavia — its stability and conservatism. This is due not only to the peculiarities of the development of Scandinavian-ing languages, but some common features of history, relatively slow economic development, weakness of migration processes, lack of conquests and invasions within Scandinavia other Nations.

In the North of the Peninsula meet and Finnish names: Linearly, Haparanda, Parahaki, Gällivare. Now there is a single state form of geographical names, and the Swedish-Finnish border becomes a border is also toponymic. Border river is called in Finland, Torniojoki, and in Sweden, Tornielli. Proper names of rivers, lakes in the far North Finnish. On toponymy conference in 1962 it was decided to keep the Finnish form of writing place names in the Scandinavian countries they are not met.

The name that displays features of nature, received in Scandinavia widespread. These, for example, include: Bergen (mountain) Ozum (long sand hills), Helsing (the isthmus), Aarhus (drevnerusskoe — the mouth of the river), of Olum (drevnerusskoe — river valley), Hachem (cuckoo), Haslum (hazel), Fåborg (drevnerusskoe — Lisitsina), Haldol (slope), Engum (meadow), Stoning (stone) etc.

In the ancient toponymy of the Scandinavian countries occupy a significant place names, reflecting the nature of primitive economy: malmö (the old Norse name of iron ore), Yelped (the old Norse name of the forest used for smelting ore), Cornum (grain, bread). n Scandinavian countries a lot of names of religious origin: Trollhattan (trolls — the mythical dwarfs), Jotunheimen (Jotun — a mythical giant), Oslo (according to one version of the OS — the God of a tribe of the Aesir, Loo — "glade"). But about the etymology of Oslo there is another opinion (os — "mouth"; Loo — the name of the river, i.e. the mouth of the river Looe); Viborg (vi — sanctuary), Lund (sacred grove). The Scandinavian countries have enriched geographical literature such well-known terms as the fjord, the oldest in Geilo, skerries, oz. All these terms are quite clearly entered into the literature of other countries to denote the same natural phenomena.

Toponymy Denmark has a number of its features: there are many names that came from old Russian language, and perhaps of many dialects of the German language.

In the names of settlement there are a lot of names with the term -Borg (fortress): Aalborg, Viborg, Silkeborg, Skanderborg and others.

Some names close to Norwegian and Swedish: Ebeltoft, Receving fjord. The word "fjord", as in Norway, refers to the sea, but from the point of view of physico-geographical these concepts in Danish and Norwegian is not quite equivalent. Along with the word fjord used the word, bugt (Bay) is wider and shallow Bay: the Aarhus-Bought, Aalborg, Bought, Ålbæk, Bought, Jammer-Bugt. Hydronyms in Denmark get an extra particle "o" (in Russian transcription) instead of the Swedish elv : Konge-o, Sus-o, Stor – o, Ome- o, Varde – o and others.

The toponymy of Island is very different. Its founders were immigrants from Western Norway. Writing Iceland's conservative and almost does not take into account changes that have occurred in the phonetics of the language, especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, so tracing the geographical names transmitted in modern transcription. Geographical terminology of Iceland is very close to Norwegian. There are frequent names with terms -fjord-Vik, -FOS, but there are new names, has become in geographical literature household name: geyser (hot periodically gushing source); less frequently used terms jokull (ice dome), Grund (stranded), quilted (lake of glacier water). Typical titles glaciers: Vatnajokull, Asiacell, Mirdala-okul etc. most of the place-names of Iceland pose for a toponymist is especially of great interest for several reasons. First of all toponymic system was developed here to a completely pure place, because till the arrival of the first settlers, immigrants from Western Scandinavia, the island was uninhabited, or at least had its toponymy. At the same time, almost the entire history of the formation of Icelandic toponymy refers to the written period. Finally, along with the conservatism of written language, Icelandic is a conservative language forms and derivation. The name Surt (Surtsey), the island emerged in 1963 off the southern coast of Iceland due to the eruption of an underwater volcano, is no different from other titles of similar shape that occurred 300-400 years ago. Transformation of geographical names in Iceland small: Reykjavik (Bay of smokes), Jokulsa (glacial river), Inducil (duck Bay), etc.

The territory of Finland in the toponymic relation is very different from other regions of Northern Europe primarily by features of the language, what many say toponymists. Here have developed their own toponymic models, which are characterized by the compound name. In Finnish the names of the nomenclature, the term has never dropped, and always accompanied by their own geographical names. For example, the names of rivers consist of proper names and the word joki (river): Eval-yockey, Komi-yockey, Simo-joki. For the Finnish toponymy typical terms such as Vuori (mountain), joki (river), Joensuu (mouth), Kallio (rock), Kula (village), Lahti (Bay, Bay), Koski (rapids), Linn (castle, fortress), mA (country, land), mäki (hill, hill), ranta (shore), Salmi (Strait), Sari (island), Celica (ridge), suo (swamp), järvi (lake). From these terms there are many geographical names in Finland: Lappeenranta, elimäki, Huhtamaki, Myrskyla, Artjarvi, Korpilahti, Vesilahti, Tomisari.

Along with Finnish in Finland and meet the Swedish names that were once distributed much more widely: Helsingfors, Tammerfors, Bjornborg, Oulu, Jakobstadt and others. After the formation of samostoyatelbnogo Finnish state the Swedish names were gradually replaced Finnish: Helsinki, Tampere, Pori, Oulu, Turku, Petersi. Finnish names often overlook the adjacent territory.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the Scandinavian countries stand out the best in the world toponymic knowledge.