The Historical Reality: Places, Place Names, and Ethnonyms in Written Sources

2018 ◽  
pp. 141-216
Keyword(s):  
Place Names ◽  
Historical Reality ◽  
Written Sources

Place Names as an Historical Source: An Introduction with Examples from Southern Senegambia and Germany

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 45-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Bühnen
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Egg Shells ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Written Sources

Written sources for the history of sub-Saharan Africa (with the exception of East Africa) only begin to appear with the inception of Arabic records from the ninth century onwards, and these are restricted to the Sahel and the northern part of the savanna belt. European sources begin in the mid-fifteenth century, first for Senegambia. They, in turn, confine themselves to the coast and its immediate hinterland, as well as the navigable courses of rivers, with few, and often vague, references to the interior. For the time before the early written sources and for those extensive areas which only much later entered the horizon of writing witnesses, other sources illuminating the past have to be traced and tapped. Among such non-written sources are the findings of anthropology and archeology, of research in oral tradition and place names. Because of their interdependence, working with different source types contributes to the reliability of results.So far little systematic use has been made of place names as a source for African history. Houis' 1958 dictum, “la toponymie ouest-africaine n'est pas encore sortie de l'oeuf,” has not yet been proven obsolete. In this paper I hope to stimulate the process of shedding the egg shells. It is intended as a short introduction to the potential historical treasures place names may yield, into their characteristics, and into some principles guiding their interpretation. With the aim at illustrating my arguments, I add examples of place names. These I have chosen from two areas which, at first sight, seem to have been selected rather randomly; southern Senegambia and Germany. In fact both areas share few features, both geographically and historically. Two reasons have led me to select them. First, they simply are the regions I know best. Secondly, the recourse to German place names is instructive, as research on place names has been undertaken there for more than a century, leading to a wide range of data and to the accumulation of rich research experience.

Assembly Research: Past and Present

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sanmark
Keyword(s):  
Research Methodology ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Landscape Archaeology ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
The People ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Assembly Site ◽  
Written Sources

This chapter sets out the aims of the book and examines the three main themes of landscape, time and memory and how they relate to Norse assembly sites. The importance of the recent developments in landscape archaeology as well as earlier thing site research for the results of this study is explained. Based on this work, a new interdisciplinary research methodology, drawingon archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, has been developed.Through this approach, the meaning and use of thingsites across the Norse world is explored. This book therefore moves beyond assembly site descriptions and analyses and also investigates the activities enacted at the assemblies, and how these were experienced by the people gathered. Other significant themes includeexplanations of chronology and the terminology used.

scholarly journals The Question of Ancient Scandinavian Cultic Buildings: with Particular Reference to Old Norse hof

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
OLOF SUNDQVIST
Keyword(s):  
General Concept ◽  
Old Norse ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Written Sources

The article focuses on the question of ancient Scandinavian cultic buildings, with particular reference to the concept Old Norse hof. I survey the semantics of this term in written sources, in poetic traditions, in the Sagas of the Icelanders and in place names. My hypothesis is that the term does not refer to a static phenomenon, but rather its meaning varies across different sources and contexts. It is therefore often difficult to apply it as a general concept, or to connect it with a specific type of archaeological find or structure, as has occasionally been the case in the archaeology of religion.

Introducing the Assembly Sites of Scandinavia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sanmark
Keyword(s):  
Place Names ◽  
Site Investigations ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Right ◽  
Assembly Site ◽  
Written Sources

Chapter 3 represents the starting point for the assembly site investigations by examining the layout and design of some of the most important thing sites across Scandinavia. It is demonstrated that these major assembly sites had many features and traits in common, albeit in ever-shifting patterns. When a thing site was first created, the location was carefully selected, as it needed to have the right topography, and often pre-existing anthropogenic features, such as burials. For the continued creation, or redesign of an existing assembly, a pool of features was available, from which a selection were added and presented in varying combinations. By bringing together archaeology, written sources and place-names, it is possible to characterise a range of features associated with assembly sites. This clearly demonstrates the most important result of this study: that a shared idea of what constituted an assembly site existed in the minds of the Norse. The detailed site investigations also show that the assemblies that were designated as top-level sites have the most striking monuments and design. The archaeology of these sites therefore reflects the hierarchy spelt out in the written sources.

scholarly journals Notau – the Hanseatic harbour at Avaldsnes, south-west Norway: written sources, maps and place-names

AmS-Skrifter ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 209-216
Author(s):  
Frode Fyllingsnes
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
The South ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
South West ◽  
German Origin ◽  
Written Sources

Written sources, mostly of German origin from the fifteenth century, mention Notau, a Hanseatic harbour somewhere in the south-western part of Norway. Ships from towns, including Lübeck, Danzig and Kampen, called here. Dutch maps from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries show that Notau was situated on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland county. The placename ‘Nottå’ has been used in modern times for locations at two islands belonging to the royal farm of Avaldsnes. Most probably one of these islands was called ‘Nautøy’ in the medieval period, becoming Notau in German. The written sources indicate that the Germans built houses in Notau, where the merchants are likely to have traded with the inhabitants of the  region.

scholarly journals Летописная ойконимия как источник реконструкции лексики древнерусского языка

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 103-114
Author(s):  
Максим [Maksim] Анатольевич [Anatol'evich] Ююкин [IUiukin]
Keyword(s):  
Volga Basin ◽  
Place Names ◽  
The West ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Slavic Languages ◽  
Middle Volga Basin ◽  
Middle Volga ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Written Sources

Annalistic oikonymy as a source for reconstruction of the Old Russian vocabularyAmong about 1,000 place names mentioned in the Old Russian chronicles (within the borders of contemporary Russia), there are 19 ones that are derived from stems non-attested as apellatives in the Old Russian written sources. The vast majority of them can be reconstructed by comparison with words of modern East Slavic languages or their dialects, but several are not known in the East Slavic zone, and have parallels in the West and (or) South Slavic languages only. Almost all of these words are geographical terms. The places in whose names they are preserved are located mostly in Novgorod Ruthenia and the Upper and Middle Volga basin. Ojkonimia latopisów jako źródło dla rekonstrukcji słownictwa języka staroruskiegoWśród około 1000 nazw miejscowych wymienionych w staroruskich kronikach (w granicach dzisiejszego państwa rosyjskiego) jest 19 pochodzących od podstaw, które nie są apelatywnie poświadczone w źródłach staroruskich. Zdecydowaną większość z nich można zrekonstruować na podstawie wyrazów należących do zasobu leksykalnego współczesnych języków wschodniosłowiańskich lub ich dialektów, ale kilka z nich ma analogie tylko w językach zachodnio- i południowosłowiańskich. Prawie wszystkie te słowa są terminami topograficznymi. Miejsca, w których nazwy są zachowane, znajdują się głównie w Rusi Nowogrodzkiej i dorzeczu Górnej i Środkowej Wołgi.

scholarly journals The Etymology of Old Russian Place Names with the Suffix *-itji

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maksim A. Jujukin
Keyword(s):  
Place Names ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Written Sources

This article discusses the etymology of some toponyms with the suffix *-itji (e.g., Bobonichi, Vachenitsy, Vlanitsi, Volbovichi, Narudichi, Shemenichi, Yazhelbitsy, and others) mentioned in Old Russian written sources.

scholarly journals Improving Reliability of Onomastic Etymology (with Reference to the Southeastern Lake Onega Region)

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-40
Author(s):  
Anton I. Sobolev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Lake Onega ◽  
Complex Approach ◽  
The Village ◽  
Spring Sowing ◽  
Written Sources

The paper addresses the problem of improving reliability of onomastic etymologies using the example of historical and modern personal and place names of southeastern Lake Onega region. The issue is pertinent, as specialists form other fields (c.f. historians and ethnologists) take little account of onomastic research where serious studies and quasi-scientific works presenting unverified data are sometimes difficult to separate. The paper provides examples of erroneous etymologies of personal and place names. Wrong etymologization can occur due to the neglect of written sources (the person named Shestak living in the village of Shestovo, or Terenty living in Terovo) or processes of phonetic adaptation in language contacts (Tyug- from Vepsian tühj ‘empty,’ not from tuug ‘spring sowing’). Another cause is the use of unverified written sources that might include invalid variants of names due to their misspelling or incorrect rendering (Kosach instead of Kagach, Saminskoye instead of Salminskoye). Tangly ethnic and linguistic contexts, such as heterogeneity of topobases (Goik-) or the widespread prevalence of appellatives (Kubas), can also result in etymological mistakes as some name variants may be underinformative and misleading. The author offers a complex approach for improving reliability of onomastic etymologies based on 1) expanding the source base and making comparative research of the collected data, 2) using the data of historical phonetics and phonetic adaptation in contacting languages, 3) emphasizing the so-called “exact” etymologies, 4) comparing local toponymic and anthroponymic data with onomastic evidence from other regions, 5) identifying toponyms with a greater differentiating linguistic potential, 6) eliminating bias which include etymologies accommodated to a specific language.

EPITAFIES OF THE RELATIVES OF HADJI IBRAHIM AL-URADI AS A SOURCE ON THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE SCIENTIST AND ON THE HISTORY OF GIDATL

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Sh M Khapizov ◽  
M G Shekhmagomedov
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Culture ◽  
The Look ◽  
Cultural Monuments ◽  
Written Sources

The article is devoted to the study of inscriptions on the gravestones of Haji Ibrahim al-Uradi, his father, brothers and other relatives. The information revealed during the translation of these inscriptions allows one to date important events from the history of Highland Dagestan. Also we can reconsider the look at some important events from the past of Hidatl. Epitaphs are interesting in and of themselves, as historical and cultural monuments that needed to be studied and attributed. Research of epigraphy data monuments clarifies periodization medieval epitaphs mountain Dagestan using record templates and features of the Arabic script. We see the study of medieval epigraphy as one of the important tasks of contemporary Caucasian studies facing Dagestani researchers. Given the relatively weak illumination of the picture of events of that period in historical sources, comprehensive work in this direction can fill gaps in our knowledge of the medieval history of Dagestan. In addition, these epigraphs are of great importance for researchers of onomastics, linguistics, the history of culture and religion of Dagestan. The authors managed to clarify the date of death of Ibrahim-Haji al-Uradi, as well as his two sons. These data, the attraction of written sources and legends allowed the reconstruction of the events of the second half of the 18th century. For example, because of the epidemic of plague and the death of most of the population of Hidatl, this society noticeably weakened and could no longer maintain its influence on Akhvakh. The attraction of memorable records allowed us to specify the dates of the Ibrahim-Haji pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, as well as the route through which he traveled to these cities.

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