Whatareplacenames?Fromwheredotheyoriginate?Howaretheystructured?Whatdotheysignify?Howimportantaretheyinourlife?Thisgroundbreakingbookexploresthesecompellingquestionsandmorebyprovidingathoroughintroductiontotheassumptions,theories,terminology,andmethodsintoponymyandtoponomastics-thestudiesofplacenames,ortoponyms.Itisthefirstcomprehensiveresourceonthetopicinasinglevolume,andexploresthehistoryanddevelopmentoftoponyms,focusingontheconceptualandmethodologicalissuespertinenttothestudyofplacenamesaroundtheworld.Itpresentsawiderangeofexamplesandcasestudiesillustratingthestructure,function,andimportanceoftoponymsfromancienttimestothepresentday.Widerangingyetaccessible,itisanindispensablesourceofknowledgeforstudentsandscholarsinlinguistics,toponymyandtoponomastics,onomastics,etymology,andhistoricallinguistics.
