Central Europe

The toponymy of the Middle Europe is complex and multilingual. The toponymy of Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic have much in common. This community is primarily due to the proximity of languages. Polish, Czech and Slovak languages belong to West-Slavic language group. The toponymy of these countries is quite close to the toponymy of their neighboring countries, Ukraine and Belarus. This similarity is also explained not only by the territorial neighboring, but also by relativity of the languages. The toponymy of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia is well studied.

Mostly Slavic types represent the toponymy of these countries, but there are also foreign-language titles. Like in neighboring Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, here hydronyms are more ancient comparing to the names of settlements. Among the foreign-language toponyms prominent place, mostly in Poland, belongs to the Baltic names, approximately along the Gdansk-Torun-Mlawa-Bialystok line. Baltic (Yotvingian) names are often transformed under the influence of the Polish language. However, the territory of the Baltic place names is small. Very seldom names of German origin are met in these countries. Most of them are transformed and are recognized only by a very thorough linguistic analysis. These elements are very typical for them: -sztyn, -vald, -bark: Firvald, Grunwald, Olsztyn, Szymbark. Vjst part of Polish and Czech hydronyms belong to the Slavic type: Wisla, Hnilec, Shklo, Vshernya, Pilica, Varta, Brenna and others. Carpathians oronyms are mainly Slavic: Babia Hora, Zamkova Hora, Lysa Hora, Bystra, Javorniky, etc.

Hungary toponymic regard differs significantly from the neighboring states. Hungarian (Magyar) language belongs to the Ugric group, which is a subgroup of the Finnish-Ugric languages group. The languages of Khanty and Mansi and also Udmurt language are the closest to it.

The Romanian toponymy is determined by the features, nature and the complex history of the country. Place names were formed on the basis of Vulgar Latin, Dacian dialects and dialects of other ethnoses, who lived here in the era of the Roman Empire. Romanian names constitute the basis background of the entire country. Least of all the Romanian language is imprinted in hydronyms (Matru, Clare, Krishullab), a little more in oronyms (Arama, Fagarash, Oash, Kaliman, Gurshu).

A large percentage of titles in the Romanian belong to settlements (Focsani, Ploiesti, Medias, Botosani, Baiada-Aram). Romanian hydronymy is dominated by Slavic elements (Kholod, Bistritsa, Yalomnitsa, Dymbrovitsa, Krasna, Cherna). Slavic names are also met in oronymy (Cherna, Predial, Semenik) and oikonymy (Bukovets, Sukha, Ploska, Resitsa). The names of the Hungarian origin are met in Transylvania. Many of them are Romanized: Timisoara, Arad, Tirgul-Lepushuruy. Turkic names are unit (Oltul, Teleorman, etc.).

Geografical names in Germany and Austria are studied quite particularly. The following toponymical layers are well distinguished here: 1) Celtic (Thun, Solothurn, Marmogeth, Werms, etc.), 2) Roman (Latin) (Kassel, Cologne, Constance, Trier, etc. Slavic origin is very evident in many names in the eastern part of Germany: Gustrow, Teterev, Grabow, Turov, Grybow, Rybnits (Рыбниц). One of the best German experts in the Slavic toponymy R. Troutman collected more than 2000 names of settlements and tracts of Slavic origin in the territory of Mecklenburg, Lubeck and Holstein. In purely German names very special toponymical types have formed. They clearly manifest themselves in oikonyms.

The most common terms that form the German place names are: burg (castle), brucke (bridge), dorf (village), gough (yard), gausen (home), au (locality, outskirts of a village), kirche (church), berg ( mountain, hill), werder (island, water meadow), gafen (harbor), furt (ford), rode (clearing), wald (forest), stein (stone), game, gaym (abode, shelter) , stadt (city), feld (field), munde (estuary). For example, Teutoburg, Magdeburg, Nordgauzen, Alfeld, Rengeym, Osnabruck, Erfurt, Wittenberg, Dusseldorf, Zwickau.

German toponymic names are also manifested in general in Austria: Salzburg, Achenkirch, Kreuzberg, Kolberg.

The Swiss population speaks German, French and Italian. Depending on the districts of the country, geographical names in Switzerland are similar to the corresponding toponyms of countries of a particular language.

The toponymy of the Netherlands seems quite simple. The Dutch language dominates all over the country. It belongs to the West Germanic language group. On our maps, the Dutch names are transmitted in forms peculiar to the German reading rules. The toponymy of the Netherlands is characterized by the antiquity of the most part of widely known names. Typical toponym-making forms in the Netherlands resemble German ones: burg (castle), chede (heath), heysen (gome, farm), kerk (church), dorp (village), hem (shelter, abode), mond (estuary, brok (bridge), wolde (forest): Ryutenbrok, Enschede, Hovdorp, Nijkerk, Tilburg, Eyselmonde, Voorburg, Gornihem. The names of the settlements reflect peculiarities of natural conditions of the Netherlands. Settlement names often end with –dam, what means embankment, dam: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Schiedam, Zaandam, Edam. The Dutch term “dam” has become firmly established in our speech. The word dam (embankment) is widely used in our terminology. Dutch names often end with –hafen (harbour), -zand (sand): Brauwershafen, Cadzand, etc. The peculiarity of the Dutch landscapes is depicted in the typical terms established on the shores of the North Sea: polders, marshes, dunes, watts. They became common geographical terms.

The toponymy of Belgium and Luxembourg in comparison with the toponymy of the Netherlands appears to be more complex and diverse. This is explained by such fact, as here lies the border between German and Roman groups of languages. The types of the geographical names in Belgium are very close to the Netherlands’ ones in the north and to the French ones in the south of the country. As an example of the Flemish names in the north of Belgium one can see Beldy, Bruges, Kessel, Ostend, Ertvelde, Shtokgeym. The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have examples of all types of geographical names by meaning.

The toponymy of the British Isles is quite well studied. Major works of A. Smith, A. Equol and other famous British toponymists are dedicated to it. British Isles are a territory with clearly defined natural boundaries. There are two states on the British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland) and Great Britain has English as a national language, but Celtic languages had also preserved – Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Manx (the isle of Maine). When speaking Celtic languages are disappearing, the toponymy traces of them express quite clearly. Because of thar the British Isles have two toponymic layers: English (Saxon) and Celtic. The most characteristic of the types of English place-names of settlements end with -gham, -ton, -by, -berry (-borough, -brough) -chester, -stock, -wick: Brighton, Birmingham, Broughton, Boston, Southampton, Derby, Woodstock, Chester, Chichester, Middlesbrough. In complicated names that characterize the topography of the terrain, the typical terms are: bridge, don (mountain), town, Field, wood, brook, ford, market, dorp (village), house, land, church and others. Examples of such names can be Bridgestock, Cambridge, Crighton, Claydon, Puddletown, Oakfield, Lockwood, Sharnbrook, Orford, Statford, Woodhouse, Swelland, Dimchurch, Christchurch and many others.

Among the names of Celtic origin, most place names characterize the type of terrain. Especially complex Celtic toponymy is in Scotland. Hydronymy of the British Isles is very ancient, apparently, it’s also of Celtic origin. Examples of Celtic hydronyms can be: Avon, Shannon, Don, Caledon, Lag, Severn. Widespread hydronyms on -avon, -afon, -kuon, -ebon with a common meaning of the river. Among the names of lakes there is a widespread term loch, which means sea bay or lake in the Celtic languages of Scotland and Ireland, e. g.: Loch-Tay, Loch-Neigh, Loch-Ree, etc.

The toponymy of France is well studied in the fundamental work of A. Dose "The toponymy of France." The French language belongs to the Roman group languages. It was formed by the interaction of the Latin language with dialects of Gaul, whose inhabitants spoke a Celtic language. However, in modern French language Celtic elements are negligible. A characteristic feature of the French - the presence of the ancient place names that appeared before the modern French language formed. Among them are such well-known names such as Paris, Marseille, Corsica, Rhone, and several others. According to A. Dose, the names of the largest rivers and some mountains are predominantly pre-Gaul and pre-Celtic. Among the ancient place names, we often meet names, which are ethnonyms of Gaulish tribes. Celtic terms are often found in old French names: -dunum (city) -magos (field), suffixes -akos, -akun, -anum, -anikum. These features make it possible to identify the individual in their Celtic place-names beginning. Younger age is a form of -ville.

Celtic names appeared in France in the era of the river stage naming. They assimilated and adapted in relation to the rules of language itself, but the names of settlements appeared already in Celtic soil. In the middle of this century, there have been numerous names of settlements with the values of the "lock", "monastery", "temple", "saint": Rochefort, Saint-Denis. Hundreds of French objects have the same name: Saint-Germain - 125 names, Saint-Jacques - 168, Saint-Martin - 227. In the south-west of France, there are the remains of Basque names. In the north noticeable influence Scandinavian toponymy. For Norman toponymy characterized by elements that are not typical of the French toponymy. Widespread terms: -gem, -gard, -holm, -klif, -lund, -holt. Many well-known French names belong to a variety of toponymic formations. For example, close to the modern Massilia (Marseille), the Pyrenees Mountains were called so in the days of ancient Rome, Morvan plateau got its name from the Celtic Morvan (black). A more recent origin the name of Boulogne (in imitation of the Italian Bologna). The name Dunkirk associated with the Englo-German Kirk (kirka - "church"). The ancient Gallic Brive meant "bridge" from him was the name Karobrias, Salebrias. The composition of the French titles include the terms: Ville (village, town), sen (saint), Petit (small), Grand (large), Nuovo Neuve (new), Vieux (old), ba (bottom) of the (high) , ans (bay), Valle (valley), il, Ilya (island), since (the pass), not (Cape), Mont (Mount) blanc (white). For example, Saint-Geoirs, Saint-Julien, Saint-Gervaise, Bonneville, Albertoil, La Rochette, La Schembri, La Roche. Toponymic landscapes of France fairly uniform in all parts of the country. Local geographical terms, is widely known in France, became the general geographic (Bocage, garrigue, Mackay (maquis) In France, the south-east with the natural conditions associated names, describing the terrain: Le Monde d'Aigle (Eagle Mountain), names with the word Fosse (ravine) - Rouge-Fosse, Fosse-de-Loup Some names characterize the composition and color of the soil: Cayeux (pebbles), Patyur-bleu (blue grass) Many names characterize the features of vegetation: Le Boucher (woods), La. Petit-Garenne (bushes). Many French names, especially the southern regions of the country, do not give in to the etymology of the modern position of the French language, as are the ancient linguistic forms, which have been transformed beyond recognition.

The toponymy of Ukraine was formed in the course of a complex historical development. Dnieper and the northeast has long been inextricably linked with the center of the Russian state and saved in its territory in the form of pure Slavic toponymic formation. In the western part of Ukraine, toponymy has influenced her long stay in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, here Slavic names not only prevail, but sometimes they are the oldest. The southern part of the republic and the Black Sea region has its own characteristics, making them closer to the Azov-Black Sea coast. Very unique and complex is the toponymy of Crimea. Traces of foreign-language titles on the territory of Ukraine are scarce. These include the Iranian (Scythian) the names of rivers, Turkic and unit elements of different origin (Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, and a number of others.). In Slavic toponymy there are many features that are common with the toponymy of adjacent areas of Russia and Belarus.

In today's Moldova Moldovan names are most widely represented. Certain centers are also found outside of Moldova - Chernivtsi and Izmailovskaya regions of Ukraine.

The ancestors of Moldovans settled on the territory of modern Moldova in XI-XII centuries. There they met Slavic names, which were assimilated. The share of Moldovan toponyms in settlements names is significantly higher than in river names, and is already about 60%. A significant percentage are Turkic names. As examples of typical Moldovan settlement names we can use Boldureşti, Doibani, Falesti and other ones with suffix -esti. Place-names of settlements of Slavic origin make up about 25%.