Mechanisms of secondary toponymic nomination appearance

Abstract

It is devoted to the investigation of the process of the emergence of secondary nominations in toponymy. The term “secondary toponymic nomination” means a toponymic nickname, acting as an alternative name of a geographical object. The material of the study is the nicknames of the American states, obtained through a targeted selection from modern lexicographic, linguistic, toponymic, explanatory dictionaries and guidebooks (428 units). The formation of secondary toponymic nominations can be carried out by various figurative means: metaphor, metonymy, periphrasis and etc., the most productive of which is a logical periphrasis. In metaphorical toponyms, the following types of similarity of the initial and secondary denotational situations were revealed: internal and external similarity, similarity in the evaluative presentation, actions or behavior, and similarity of functions. In toponymic nominations, formed by metonymic transfer, the following models were found: place ← person, place ← social group, place ← ethnic group, place ← geographic object in this place, place ← item. Other ways and mechanisms of formation of toponymic secondary nominations are also explored. All the conclusions drawn in the course of the study are illustrated by numerous examples and are confirmed by the results of the quantitative analysis.