Thursday, December 18, 2008

toponym vs place name

PLACE NAMES AND TOPONYMS
In the six Versions of the Sya’ir Awang Simawn, there are many place names and
toponyms. By ‘place name’ is meant the linguistic label used to designate some particular point
in the landscape. By ‘toponym’ is meant the linguistic label composed of a ‘specifier’ plus a
place name (TOPONYM = SPECIFIER + PLACE_NAME). A specifier is one, of a limited
number in a set of terms, which labels a characteristic feature of a landscape, seascape, or
airscape, which—when combined with a place name—designates some particular spot in a
landscape, seascape or airscape. A place name can be considered to be a toponym with a zerospecifier. Thus, all place names are toponyms, but the reverse is not true. Some examples of
toponyms, utilizing the place name brunay (i.e.,) are:

specifier + place_name ‘meaning’
Ø + Barunay ‘Brunei’
bandar + Barunay ‘the city of Brunei’
kwala + Barunay ‘the mouth of the Brunei River’
nagri + Barunay ‘the country of Brunei’
pulaw + Barunay 'the “island” of Brunei’
sungay + Barunay ‘ ‘the Brunei River’
Table 3. Toponyms Utilizing the Place Name Barunay.

source:

Assessing the Epic Status of the Brunei Malay Sya’ir Awang Simawn: Place Names and Toponyms
Allen R. Maxwell
The University of Alabama

http://www.sil.org/asia/philippines/ical/papers/maxwell-Assessing%20the%20Epic%20Status.pdf

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