This book provides a comprehensive review of the dynamic field of geographic naming through the eyes of an expert; it is a vital addition to any library's collection of up-to-date research materials. After showing the political importance of place names for military and diplomatic reasons, with special reference to U.S. experiences, Randall concludes with a survey of name disputes and examines an assortment of unusual and controversial location names.
Recensie(s)
Written by a geographer who was executive secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) for 20 years, this book serves as a useful introduction to naming conventions, sources, and disputes. * Zentralblatt fur Geologie und Palaontologie *
Richard Randall has written a very valuable and readable review about international toponymy...It is a worthy addition to both public libraries and personal book collections with an emphasis on place name study...Randall's Place Names deserves much praise, and the nation that leads the world in names programs has reason to be justly proud of his sterling efforts in producing it. * Names: A Journal of Onomastics *
Randall not only has impeccable credentials to address this subject but draws upon a wealth of experience....as a bonus, he concludes the volume with amusing chapters listing 'names in dispute' and 'unusual and unacceptable names'....Place Names is a useful and interesting book. * Foreign Service Journal *
Author(s): Richard Randall
Edition: First
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Year: 2001
Language: English
Commentary: Bookmarked, OCR (Clearscan)
Pages: 203
City: Lanham
Tags: Place Names, History, Nomenclature
Front Cover
Front Flap
Full Title Page
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Shortened Versions of Organization Names
Part I: The Nature of a Place Name
1. What Is a Place Name?
DEFINITION AND FUNCTION
ORIGINS OF PLACE NAMES
CATEGORIES OF PLACE NAMES
NOTES
2. Regional Names
INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL NAMES
REGIONAL NAMES WITHIN COUNTRIES
LARGE BODIES OF WATER
NOTES
3. Maps Say Little without Place Names
PURPOSES OF A MAP
MAP CHARACTERISTICS
MAPPING TECHNIQUES
U.S. MAPPING AGENCIES
COMMERCIAL MAPS
ECOLOGY AND MAPS
NOTES
Part II: How Place Names Affect Us
4. How Place Names Communicate
INFORM US ABOUT OUR WORLD
IDENTIFY ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES
PROVIDE HISTORICAL INFORMATION
DESCRIBE THE NATURE OF TERRAIN
COMMON WORDS
ANIMAL NAMES
FAMILY NAMES
AUTOMOBILE NAMES
FOOD AND BEVERAGE NAMES
RAILROAD NAMES
MINERAL NAMES
NOTES
5. Place Names and the Arts
LITERATURE
Poetry
Plays
MUSIC
Classical Music
Popular Music
Special Music
Patriotic Songs
Religious Songs
Songs in Areas without Written Languages
PAINTINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
NOTES
Part III: Place Names Are Not Permanent
6. Where in the World Is That Place?
NAMES IN THE HEADLINES
THE IRON CURTAIN IS LIFTED
THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
OTHER COUNTRIES CHANGED NAMES
NAMES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
NAMES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
My Lai, Vietnam - Was It My Lai 1, My Lai 2, My Lai 3, My Lai 4,My Lai 5, or My Lai 6?
THE PERSIAN GULF OR THE ARABIAN GULF
A CASE OF NAMES IN HEADLINES OF THE PAST
NAMES IN FUTURE HEADLINES
NOTES
7. Names in Multilingual Countries
DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, DIFFERENT NAMES
HOW MANY LANGUAGES ARE THERE?
EXAMPLES OF DIFFERING PLACE NAMES
NOTES
Part IV: Efforts to End the Confusion
8. Countries Recognize the Problem
THE SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES
CREATION O F THE U. S. BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
THE UNITED STATES ADDRESSES WRITING SYSTEMS OF FOREIGN NAMES
MILITARY NEEDS REQUIRED THE REESTABLISHMENT OF THE BOARD
THE BOARD IS REORGANIZED
OTHER NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BODIES
NOTES
9. The United Nations Joins the Effort
THE UNITED NATIONS LOOKS AT PLACE NAMES
U.N. GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
HOW U.N. PROGRAMS WORK
FUTURE U.N. EFFORTS
NOTES
10. A Need for Place Names Where People Don't Live
UNDERSEA FEATURES
ANTARCTICAN FEATURES
EXTRATERRESTRIAL FEATURES
11. The Terminology of Names
WHY IS TERMINOLOGY NEEDED?
IS IT A PLACE NAME, A GEOGRAPHIC NAME, A GEOGRAPHICAL NAME, OR A TOPONYM?
SPECIFIC AND GENERIC TERMS
NAMES OF CITIES, COUNTIES, STATES, AND COUNTRIES
NAMES DEFINED AS "FALSE GENERICS"
CONVENTIONAL NAMES
SHORT AND LONG FORMS OF NAMES
STANDARDIZATION OF NAMES
CATEGORIZATION OF PLACE NAMES
DESIGNATIONS
VARIATIONS OF TERMINOLOGY
VARIATIONS IN MEANING
ALLONYM
EXONYM
HYDRONYM
NOTES
12. If Your Language Is English, How Do You Write or Pronounce Arabic or Russian Names?
CONVERTING NAMES FROM ONE LANGUAGE OR WRITING SYSTEM TO OTHERS
LANGUAGES AND WRITING SYSTEMS
TRANSLATION, ROMANIZATION, TRANSLITERATION, AND TRANSCRIPTION
U.S. AND U.K. ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS
PRONUNCIATION OF PLACE NAMES
NOTES
13 Gazetteers
NOTES
Part V. U.S. and International Names Programs during and after the Cold War
14. The Cold War
THE COLD WAR IMPACT ON U.N. NAMES PROGRAMS
SOVIET MAPS WITH INCORRECT NAMES
NOTES
15. The U.S. Department of State
NOTES
16. U.S. Intelligence Agencies
NOTE
17. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NOTES
18. After the Cold War
Part VI. Interesting and Unusual Names
19. Names in Dispute
SOME DISPUTES IN THE UNITED STATES
Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska
Mount Rainier or Tacoma in the State of Washington
Cape Canaveral or Cape Kennedy in Florida
Daugherty or Dougherty in Texas
SOME DISPUTE S IN FOREIGN AREAS
The Sea of Japan, the East Sea, the Sea of Korea, or East Sea/Sea of Japan
Names in Israel and Countries of the Middle East
West Bank or Judea and Samaria
Cyprus
NAMES COMMON TO THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
NOTES
20. Unusual and Unacceptable Names
LONG NAMES
SHORT NAMES
NAMES WITH COMMON ENDINGS
NAMES WITH UNUSUAL ORIGINS
A REQUEST FOR AN ANIMAL-FRIENDLY PLACE NAME
HOW MANY GREAT LAKES ARE THERE?
COMMON NAMES IN THE UNITED STATES
THE SHORTEST RIVER IN UNITED STATES
WHERE IS A TOWN CALLED LAKE WOBEGON?
A PUNCTUATION MARK MEANS A NEW NAME?
THE LAST NAME IN ANY GAZETTEER
UNACCEPTABLE NAMES IN THE UNITED STATES
NOTES
Afterword
Appendix A: Common Words Derived from Place Names
Appendix B: Independent States of the World
NOTES
Appendix C: Structure and Working Procedures of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names
STRUCTURE
Agencies Responsible for Board Membership
Committees
Advisory Committees
WORKING PROCEDURES
The Board
The Domestic Names Committee
Samples of Actions on Proposals for New Names Submitted to the Domestic Names Committee
Foreign Names Committee
Excerpt from Minutes of the 306th Quarterly Meeting of the Foreign Names Committee, January 29, 1997 (comments rewritten to provide full description)
Appendix D: Excerpts from BGN Gazetteers of Undersea Features and Antarctic Names
UNDERSEA FEATURES
ANTARCTIC NAMES
Appendix E: Examples of Conventional Names
NOTE
Appendix F: Selected Place Names from the BGN Digital Gazetteer of Austria
COLUMN HEADINGS
Appendix G: Comparative Examples of Selected Russian Cyrillic
NAMES ACCORDING TO THE OFFICIAL RUSSIAN SYSTEM (GOST 1983) AND THE BGN/PCGN SYSTEM
Appendix H: BGN /PCGN Romanization System for Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic
NOTE
Appendix I: Accessing Information about Foreign and Domestic Place Names Processed by the BGN
ACCESS VIA THE INTERNET
DIGITAL INTERIM GEOGRAPHIC NAMES DATA ON CD-ROM
HARD-COPY GAZETTEERS
RECENT CHANGES IN FOREIGN PLACE NAMES
FOREIGN NAMES INQUIRY SERVICE
INFORMATION ABOUT STANDARDIZING FOREIGN AND UNDERSEA NAMES
INFORMATION ABOUT DOMESTIC AND ANTARCTIC NAMES
PRINCIPAL PERSONS INVOLVED WITH BGN NAMES PROGRAMS
Domestic U.S. Names and Antarctic Names
Foreign Names
Internet Access to Agencies Involved with BGN Programs
Appendix J: U.S. and Other Sources of Information about Place Names
THE U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
THE WEB
THE UNITED NATIONS
Sources Cited
Useful Published Sources
SOURCES CITED IN ENDNOTES
OTHER SOURCES RELATED TO PLACE NAMES
Index
About the Author
Back Flap
Back Cover
