Toponyms: definition and examples

In Spanish they exist different types of nouns depending on the reality they name. Thus, we have common nouns when their referent is an object, animal, thought or thing belonging to the same class or group, or nouns own, which are those that, compared to the previous ones, designate a single being or elements, with innate characteristics that differentiate it from the rest. In this last group we find a subtype of noun: the place name.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we will study carefully what are place names, its definition, its main characteristics and we will also see some examples that complement the explanation.

The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) defines the word place name as a "proper place name". Etymologically, moles- comes from the Greek and means 'place' and -onym means 'name', therefore, the word itself gives us a clue. Similarly, the place names It is the science that studies toponyms or proper place names.

One of the most important characteristics of place names

is that, in most cases, they come from some particularity of the place they name that is unique to said sites. For example, "Ocotlán" is the name of a city that is in Jalisco (Mexico), which means 'place where there are many pines'.

However, on some occasions, place names also have their origin in people's own names or even surnames. On the other hand, some place names have an unknown origin since they come from names in ancient languages ​​that, due to problems of tradition or linguistic change in the evolution of linguistic systems, we do not know very well what they mean or what they can do reference.

For this reason, toponymy faces phonetic and semantic changes that make it extremely difficult to know the etymological origin of proper place names.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the differences between place names and anthroponyms.

The place names are born, in general, linked to some characteristic geographical feature of the place to be designated; for example, the orography, the water, the vegetation, the animals, the type of stone, the colors, the cultivation, the path, etc. Thus, all place names are usually directly linked to the geographical and physical conditions of the place.

Thus, we find place names related to water (hydronyms) such as Guadiana, Duero, Guadalquivir, Tajo orEbro, all of them names of Spanish rivers. There are also place names related to seas and oceans, such as, Mediterranean, Cantabrian, Pacific, Atlantic, Dead Sea or Indian.

As for land and rock formations, we also find all those place names that name realities such as mountain ranges, mountains, hills, mountain ranges, peaks, etc. Some examples are the following: Pyrenees, Picos de Europa, Alto Campoo, Sierra Morena, Andes or The Teide, among others.

In the same way, the proper names of towns, cities, autonomous communities, regions, provinces and countries are also place names, such as the following examples: Solar, Comillas, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Toledo, Castilla y León, Andalusia, Catalonia, Mérida, Badajoz, Asturias, Tarragona, Alicante, Murcia, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia or Ecuador, among many other names.

We hope that with these examples of place names in Spanish You have understood the lesson well and we encourage you to add some more place names that you know in comments. Go ahead and share it with us!