English place names with sylvanic components as representatives of social-economic development in medieval England (based on the Anglo-Saxon Charters and the Domesday Book)
Abramova Elena Ivanovna
State University of Education
Submitted: 04.07.2024
Abstract. The aim of the paper is to determine the contribution of Old English sylvanic lexemes (wudu, hyrst, holt, lee, graf, wald) to the English toponymic system as conditioned by the socio-economic development of medieval England. The article discusses the semantics of the specified lexemes in the Old English period and its development as conditioned by social and economic processes and analyzes the toponyms of medieval England containing these lexemes as appellatives. The research is based on the material from the Anglo-Saxon Charters and toponymic dictionaries. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that toponyms with a sylvanic component from the Domesday Book are compared for the first time with the names of landmarks of previous centuries from the Anglo-Saxon Charters by their structure and semantics, which allows us to trace the dynamics of the formation of these toponyms. The results of the study showed that toponyms with the appellative wudu, hyrst, holt, lee, graf, wald are formed from free combinations of these terms with descriptors highlighting the distinctive features of the forest that were significant for medieval society (location, tree species, belonging, animals, vegetation, size, quality, color, function). The dynamics of the semantics of the lexemes-appellatives and the use of descriptors reflect changes in the categorization of space and the socio-economic development of medieval England. Active development of forest spaces during the medieval period was marked by a significant contribution of sylvanic lexemes to the toponymy of England (6% of toponyms found in dictionaries).
Key words and phrases: Англо-саксонские грамоты, Книга Судного дня, топонимия Англии, лексема со значением ‘лес’, англо-саксонский топоним, Anglo-Saxon Charters, Domesday Book, English toponymy, woodland term, Anglo-Saxon place name
Open the whole article in PDF format. Free PDF-files viewer can be downloaded here.
References:
Arkhipova D. A., Bryzhevatykh N. V. K voprosu ob izuchenii toponimov Velikobritanii vremen rannego Srednevekov'ya // Molodezhnyi vestnik IrGTU. 2020. T. 10. № 3.
Berezovich E. L. Russkaya toponimiya v etnolingvisticheskom aspekte: mifopoeticheskii obraz prostranstva / pod red. A. K. Matveeva. Izd-e 2-e, ispr. i dop. M.: KomKniga, 2010.
Bykanova V. I. Chelovek i ego mir (po dannym angliiskoi toponimiki) // Terra Linguistica. 2011. № 136.
Matveev A. K. Metody toponimicheskikh issledovanii: ucheb. posobie. Sverdlovsk: Tipolaboratoriya UrGU, 1986.
Minaeva V. V., Kharitonova E. Yu. Lingvokul'turnye kody v russkoi, angliiskoi i nemetskoi toponimike // Problemy lingvistiki i mezhkul'turnoi kommunikatsii / otv. red. N. A. Vapnik. M., 2022. Vyp. 23.
Murzaev E. M. O proiskhozhdenii geograficheskikh nazvanii // Priroda. 1956. № 7.
Nikonov V. A. Zakon ryada v geograficheskikh nazvaniyakh // Onomastica. 1958. No. 4.
Pentsova M. M. Toponimy Shotlandii kak predmet istoriko-semanticheskogo i strukturnogo issledovaniya // Inostrannye yazyki v vysshei shkole. 2023. № 2 (65).
Podol'skaya N. V. Kakuyu informatsiyu neset toponim // Printsipy toponimiki. Materialy soveshchaniya / pod red. V. A. Nikonova i O. N. Trubacheva. M., 1964.
Superanskaya A. V., Staltmane V. E., Podol'skaya N. V., Sultanov A. Kh. Teoriya i metodika onomasticheskikh issledovanii. M.: Nauka, 1986.
Khalatyan A. G. Leksiko-semanticheskie i strukturnye osobennosti angliiskikh oikonimov (v sravnenii s armyanskim): avtoref. diss. … k. filol. n. Erevan, 2018.
Dodgson J. McN. The Significance of the Distribution of the English Place-Name in -ingas, -inga- in South-East England // Medieval Archaeology. 1966. No. 10.
Eckwal E.Introduction to the Survey of English Place-Names. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1925.
Gelling M. The Effect of Man on the Landscape: The Place-Name Evidence in Berkshire // The Effect of Man on the Landscape: The Lowland Zone / ed. by S. Limbrey, J. G. Evans. L.: Council for British Archaeology, 1978.
Gelling M., Cole A. The Landscape of Place-Names. Stamford: Shaun Tyas, 2000.
Hooke D. The Woodland Landscape of Early Medieval England // Place-Names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape / ed. by N. J. Higham, M. J. Ryan. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2011.
Hooke D. Trees in Anglo-Saxon England: Literature, Lore and Landscape. Suffolk: Boydell, 2010.
Howe N. Writing the Map of Anglo-Saxon England: Essays in Cultural Geography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
McCann K. Anglo-Saxon Kingship and Political Power. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2018.
Mencken H. L. The American Language: A Preliminary Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States. Abridged Edition. N. Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 1919.
Rennick R. How to Study Placenames // Names: A Journal of Onomastics. 2005. No. 53.
Ryan M. J. Place-Names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape: Introduction // Place-Names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape / ed. by N. J. Higham, M. J. Ryan. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2011.