Place Names: How They Define the World And More

by Richard R. Randall

Overview

Geographic features are relatively stable—but their names are not. This fact has been brought home with the advent of television, the Internet, and other technological advancements.

Randall has drawn upon his global knowledge of geographic names accumulated by professional experiences in the fields of geography and cartography followed by a career with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, creating a comprehensive study of place names from a variety of perspectives. He discusses how place names influence many aspects of people's lives and shape the way people view the world around them, from a broad look at large countries to an analysis of the origins of river names, to an appreciation of how place names can indicate the historical nature of areas. He also demonstrates how place names have become essential elements of our every day vocabulary and are ingredients of music and literature. Placing particular emphasis on the political importance of place names for military and diplomatic matters, the author concludes with a survey of name disputes and examines an assortment of unusual and controversial location names.

This book provides a comprehensive view of the dynamic field of geographic names through the eyes of an expert. It is a vital resource for anyone seeking information about this important element of our world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810839069
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/28/2001
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Richard R. Randall retired from his position as Executive Secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in 1993, after holding the position for twenty years. His interest in geography and place names stems to a significant degree from his middle name, Rainier; he is related to Admiral Peter Rainier, for whom Mt. Rainier was named.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Introduction	xiii
	Shortened Versions of Organization Names	xvii
Part I.	The Nature of a Place Name	1
1.	What Is a Place Name?	3
	Definition and Function	3
	Origins of Place Names	5
	Categories of Place Names	6
2.	Regional Names	11
	International Regional Names	11
	Regional Names within Countries	13
	Large Bodies of Water	15
3.	Maps Say Little without Place Names	17
	Purposes of a Map	17
	Map Characteristics	18
	Mapping Techniques	19
	U.S. Mapping Agencies	20
	Commercial Maps	23
	Ecology and Maps	23
Part II.	How Place Names Affect Us	25
4.	How Place Names Communicate	27
	Inform Us about Our World	27
	Identify Aspects of Our Lives	27
	Provide Historical Information	31
	Describe the Nature of Terrain	32
	Common Words	33
	Animal Names	34
	Family Names	34
	Automobile Names	35
	Food and Beverage Names	36
	Railroad Names	36
	Mineral Names	37
5.	Place Names and the Arts	41
	Literature	41
	Music	44
	Paintings and Photographs	49
Part III.	Place Names Are Not Permanent	53
6.	Where in the World Is That Place?	55
	Names in the Headlines	55
	The Iron Curtain Is Lifted	55
	The Former Yugoslavia	56
	Other Countries Changed Names	57
	Names in the Middle East	58
	Names in Southeast Asia	58
	The Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf	60
	A Case of Names in Headlines of the Past	60
	Names in Future Headlines	61
7.	Names in Multilingual Countries	63
	Different Languages, Different Names	63
	How Many Languages Are There?	64
	Examples of Differing Place Names	64
Part IV.	Efforts to End the Confusion	69
8.	Countries Recognize the Problem	71
	The Situation in the United States	71
	Creation of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names	72
	The United States Addresses Writing Systems of Foreign Names	73
	Military Needs Required the Reestablishment of the Board	73
	The Board Is Reorganized	74
	Other National and International Bodies	76
9.	The United Nations Joins the Effort	81
	The United Nations Looks at Place Names	81
	U.N. Group of Experts on Geographical Names	82
	How U.N. Programs Work	85
	Future U.N. Efforts	87
10.	A Need for Place Names Where People Don't Live	91
	Undersea Features	91
	Antarctican Features	93
	Extraterrestrial Features	94
11.	The Terminology of Names	97
	Why Is Terminology Needed?	97
	Is It a Place Name, a Geographic Name, a Geographical Name, or a Toponym?	98
	Specific and Generic Terms	99
	Names of Cities, Counties, States, and Countries	99
	Names Defined as "False Generics"	100
	Conventional Names	100
	Short and Long Forms of Names	101
	Standardization of Names	102
	Categorization of Place Names	102
	Designations	103
	Variations of Terminology	104
12.	If Your Language Is English, How Do You Write or Pronounce Arabic or Russian Names?	107
	Converting Names from One Language or Writing System to Others	107
	Languages and Writing Systems	108
	Translation, Romanization, Transliteration, and Transcription	109
	U.S. and U.K. Romanization Systems	110
	Pronunciation of Place Names	111
13.	Gazetteers	115
Part V.	U.S. and International Names Programs during and after the Cold War	119
14.	The Cold War	121
	The Cold War Impact on U.N. Names Programs	121
	Soviet Maps with Incorrect Names	122
15.	The U.S. Department of State	125
16.	U.S. Intelligence Agencies	127
17.	The North Atlantic Treaty Organization	129
18.	After the Cold War	133
Part VI.	Interesting and Unusual Names	135
19.	Names in Dispute	137
	Some Disputes in the United States	137
	Some Disputes in Foreign Areas	139
	Names Common to the United States and Canada	142
20.	Unusual and Unacceptable Names	145
	Long Names	145
	Short Names	146
	Names with Common Endings	146
	Names with Unusual Origins	147
	A Request for an Animal-Friendly Place Name	147
	How Many Great Lakes Are There?	147
	Common Names in the United States	148
	The Shortest River in the United States	148
	Where Is a Town Called Lake Wobegon?	148
	A Punctuation Mark Means a New Name?	149
	The Last Name in Any Gazetteer	149
	Unacceptable Names in the United States	150
	Afterword	153
Appendix A.	Common Words Derived from Place Names	155
Appendix B.	Independent States of the World	159
Appendix C.	Structure and Working Procedures of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names	167
Appendix D.	Excerpts from BGN Gazetteers of Undersea Features and Antarctic Names	175
Appendix E.	Examples of Conventional Names	177
Appendix F.	Selected Place Names from the BGN Digital Gazetteer of Austria	179
Appendix G.	Comparative Examples of Selected Russian Cyrillic	181
Appendix H.	BGN/PCGN Romanization System for Serbo-Croation Cyrillic	183
Appendix I.	Accessing Information about Foreign and U.S. Domestic Place Names Processed by the BGN	185
Appendix J.	U.S. and Other Sources of Information about Place Names	189
	Sources Cited	191
	Useful Published Sources	193
	Index	197
	About the Author	203

Editorial Reviews

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

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 für Geologie und Paläontologie

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

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 für Geologie und Paläontologie

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

From the Publisher

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 für Geologie und Paläontologie

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

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

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.

College & Research Libraries News

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

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 für Geologie und Paläontologie

Randall is a former CIA analyst who was executive secretary of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for some 20 years. His study of place names describes how the names of things influence the way people view the world around them. He also shows how place names have entered popular culture and how the lack of permanent place names has caused problems for military and government bodies. A short chapter on unusual and unacceptable names provides especially rich reading for followers of the trivial, quirky, and strange. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews