Ономастика Горње Топлице / Onomastics of Gornja Toplica

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The 79th book within the onomastic series has been published by Prof. Golub Jašović (University of Pristina, Kosovo)

Промоција књиге проф. др Голуба Јашовића у Куршумлији 

– У сали куршумлијске општине вечерас је одржана промоција књиге проф. др Голуба Јашовића, под називом "Ономастика Горње Топлице“ која је седамдесет и девета књига по реду овог професора Филозофског факултета приштинског универзитета са седиштем у Косовској Митровици.

Према речима аутора, проучавањем Куршумлије бави се последњих десетак година јер на подручју Горње Топлице, како истиче, живе три групе становника.

- Једна група су стороседеоци у селима око Луковске бање, друга група су становници из источне Црне Горе из Горњег Полимља а трећа из северне Метохије и са Косова и Метохије. То су три говорна типа и ја сам тим истраживањима желео да видим каква је симбиоза тих народа , шта су попримили једни од других а шта су сачували своје - рекао је "Новостима" после промоције професор Јашовић, додајући да је у књизи обухватио буквално читаво становништво последња два века на овом подручју.

Ово је друга књига о Топлици, док ће трећа књига бити његова докторска дисертација одбрањена на седам стотина страна. Четврту ће да чине реферати које је говорио на научним скуповима.

- Ово су рубна подручја, општина Куршумлија је ослоњена на Косво и Метохију и становници Куршумлије су се до 1999 године буквално ослањали на суседну општину Подујево на Косову и Метохији. Књига је драгоцена свима који желе да се баве овим крајем, историчарима, етнолозима... јер ту је уложен заиста велики труд и ја сам радио и за потребе одељења за ономастику САНУ , сваки податак који сам записао на терену налази се у архиви одбора за ономастику САНУ - наводи проф. др Голуб Јашовић и додаје да ће се промоције ове књиге одржати и у Прокупљу и Косовској Митровици.

President Zelenskyy considers petition calling for Russia to be renamed 'Moscovia'

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy announced he will look into a petition - which has received over 25,000 signatures - calling for Russia to be renamed 'Moscovia'

REFERENCE DICTIONARY OF UKRAINIAN NAMES

 

Mondonomo has published a special dictionary edition devoted to the Ukrainian given names, their transliteration and etymology. The work can be considered as the very first Reference Dictionary of Ukrainian Names. This is the definitive scholarly reference for a new generation of Ukraine-centred researchers and amateurs. The dictionary is a celebration of Ukraine’s rich cultural heritage bringing to light the country’s most important names from prehistory to the present. It chronicles the naming patterns within Ukraine at a time when the country’s people, culture, and language are facing destruction and devastation.

This is a compelling account of Ukraine’s cultural history, told through the prism of a carefully curated selection of key names arguing for a distinctly Ukrainian cultural identity. Organized thematically across nine chapters, the Reference Dictionary contains more than 6.000 Ukrainian given names with their corresponding English pairs, while accompanying information reveal the origin and significance behind the names. About 2.000 pet forms of names weave Ukraine’s dynamic and inextinguishable folk traditions through the dictionary, providing naming texture as well as a sense of the nation’s living history. All in all, it includes over 8.000 up-to-date dictionary entries with Ukrainian script, official Romanized form and non-standard spellings; a guide to Ukrainian pronunciation; and a section on menu terms. This reference is an invaluable tool for researchers, travellers, students, name-givers and businesspersons.

The content of the Dictionary suggests opportunities for further efforts, making it an exceptional starting point both for academics looking for innovative ideas and common people willing to learn something new about an unfamiliar culture.

 

A portion of proceeds from the sale of the Dictionary will be donated to help Ukrainian refugees in need.

Prof. Ivan Petrov Chobanov (1949-2023)

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On February 17, 2023, at the age of 73, Prof. Dr. Ivan Petrov Chobanov left us - an outstanding linguist, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Plovdiv University "Paisii Hilendarski", a thorough and highly qualified scientist, a wonderful colleague and friend. During his lectureship in Poland and his studies in Russia, Chobanov discovered his greatest vocation in linguistics - anthroponymy. This topic is the subject of the most significant part of his scientific production. Ivan Chobanov himself personifies the idea of an emblematic Plovdiv onomast - for him there are no secrets in the anthroponymy of the Slavic world.

На 17.02.2023 г. на 73-годишна възраст ни напусна проф. д-р Иван Петров Чобанов – един изключителен лингвист, задълбочен и високоерудиран учен, прекрасен колега и приятел.

Проф. Чобанов е роден на 26 март 1949 г. в град Съединение. След 7. клас е приет в елитната Руска езикова гимназия “Иван Вазов” в Пловдив, която завършва през 1967 г.
Иван Чобанов следва специалност “Руска филология” във Великотърновския университет “Св. Св. Кирил и Методий”, където след това работи и като преподавател. В края на 1977 г. амбициозният учен защитава дисертация на тема “Семантика мотивированных однозначных глаголов в современном русском литературном языке”, с която ВАК при Държавния комитет за наука и технически прогрес го избира за кандидат на науките. През 1979 г. става старши асистент по руски език в споменатото висше учебно заведение.  В края на 1980 г. Чобанов печели конкурс за редовен асистент по увод в езикознанието към катедра “Български език” на тогавашния Физико-филологически факултет на Пловдивския университет “Паисий Хилендарски”. 

От 1982 до 1986 г. е лектор по български език в Познанския университет “Адам Мицкевич”. Верен на Хумболтовата максима “Нов език – нов свят”, Иван Чобанов безпроблемно овладява и полския език. 
През 1990 г. неуморимият езиковед е избран за заместник-декан по учебната работа на Филологическия факултет към ПУ. Две години по-късно получава и своето свидетелство за научното звание “доцент”. През 1993 г. е зачислен като редовен член на Катедрата по общо и славянско езикознание и история на българския език.
На 3 юни 1996 доц. д-р Иван Чобанов оглавява Филологическия факултет. Като декан е доста строг, но изключително принципен и справедлив. Така ръководи и Катедрата по славянска филология през периода 2000 – 2003 г. В края на 2003 г. лингвистът Чобанов е избран отново за декан на Филологически факултет. От края на 2007 г. става научен секретар по учебната дейност във Филологическия факултет, а няколко месеца по-късно е избран и за директор на Филиала на ПУ в Смолян, който ръководи в два последователни мандата.
Към своя професионален просперитет Иван Чобанов се отнася изключително грижливо и отговорно. Научното му развитие извън България е от голямо значение, чете лекции не само в Полша, но и в Чехия, Словакия, Германия, Русия. Участва в работни срещи, семинари и юбилейни тържества в Белгия, Великобритания, Португалия, Франция, Гърция, Финландия, Чехия и др. 
По време на лектората в Полша и специализациите си в Русия Чобанов открива своето най-голямо призвание в лингвистиката – антропонимията. Тази тема е обект на най-значимата част от научната му продукция, а самият Иван Чобанов въплъщава идеята за емблематичен пловдивски ономаст – за него няма тайни в антропонимията на славянския свят.
През 2013 г. Иван Чобанов е избран за професор. Под негово научно ръководство десетки студенти и докторанти защитават успешно своите дипломни работи и дисертации. 
До края на жизнения си път проф. Чобанов беше отдаден на Филологическия факултет при ПУ “Паисий Хилендарски” и работеше за неговия просперитет.

Последно сбогом, скъпи Професоре!

С дълбок поклон,
От академичната филологическа общност

L’expérience onomastique : un dictionnaire des noms de personne dans la parémiologie espagnole

The lecture series Onomastics Online continued on 23 March 2023 with a presentation given by Ángel Iglesias Ovejero (Universidad de Orleáns) with the title "L’expérience onomastique : un dictionnaire des noms de personne dans la parémiologie espagnole". 0:00 - 6:01 Introduction 6:01 - 51:30 Presentation 51:30 - 1:12:22 Discussion

Cross-Cultural Universals & Differences in American & Russian Nicknaming Patterns

ANS 2023, January 20, 2023 "Cross-Cultural Universals and Differences in American and Russian Nicknaming Patterns" by Anna Tsepkova (Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Russia) The paper aims at analysing the results of a cross-cultural research of anthroponymic nicknames collected from students of Eastern Washington University (the USA) and Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University (Russia) for the project “A Cross-Cultural Dictionary of American and Russian Nicknames of Persons”. Comparative analysis of the American and Russian samples shows that macro patterns in both linguocultures are represented by nominations, motivated by external characteristics of a nominee (characterizing nicknames) and nicknames derived from a nominee’s personal name (linguistically motivated nicknames). Within these macro patterns the following quantitative differences are observed: a) in the American sample linguistically motivated nicknames significantly prevail over characterizing nicknames (49% vs 24 % nicknames respectively); in the Russian sample the two macro patterns are almost equal in proportion (48% characterizing vs 44% linguistically motivated nicknames); b) the majority of linguistically motivated nicknames, as reported by the American subjects, derive from first names (96%), whereas in the Russian sample nicknames from last names are more numerous (69% as compared to 25% nicknames from first names); c) the majority of characterising nicknames in the American sample are motivated by personality traits (29%) or appearance (24%), while in the Russian sample characterizing nicknames refer mostly to appearance (50%). Quantitative disproportions are determined by the differences in interpreting the concepts nickname / прозвище (prozvishshe) in corresponding linguocultures and the impact of political correctness and privacy on the native speakers’ verbal behavior (specifically, restrictions concerning naming and nicknaming practices). ANNA TSEPKOVA comes from Novosibirsk (Siberian region of Russia). She is Associate Professor of the English Language Department (Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University), holding a degree of the Candidate (PhD) in Philology. She is a member of ICOS and a vice-chair of the Siberian Association of Foreign Language Teachers.

Onomastics of the “Chanson de Roland”

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• Gustav A. Beckmann
• translated by: Linda Archibald

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764468

This ambitious study of all proper names in the Chanson de Roland is based for the first time on a systematic survey of the whole geographical and historical literature from antiquity to after 1100 for the Geographica, and on working through (almost) the entire documentary tradition of France and its neighbouring regions from 778 to the early 12th century for the personal names. The overall result is clear: the surviving song is more tightly and profoundly structured, even in smaller scenes, than generally assumed, it is also richer in depicting reality, and it has a very long prehistory, which can be traced in outline, albeit with decreasing certainty, (almost) back to the Frankish defeat of 778.

Here are some individual results: for the first time, a detailed (and ultimately simple!) explanation not only of the ‘pagan’ catalogue of peoples, but also of the overarching structure of Baligant’s empire, the organisation of North Africa, the corpus of the Twelve Anti-Pairs as well as the ‘pagan’ gods are given, and individual names such as Bramimunde and Jurfaret, toponyms such as Marbrise and Marbrose are explained. From Roland’s Spanish conquests (v. 196–200), the course of the elapsed set anz toz pleins is reconstructed. Even the names of the weapons prove to be a small structured group, in that they are very discreetly adapted to their respective ‘pagan’ or Christian owner. On the Christian side, the small list of relics in Roland’s sword is also carefully devised, not least in what is left out: a relic of the Lord; this is reserved for Charlemagne’s Joiuse.

The author explains for example, why from the archangel triad only Michael and Gabriel descend to the dying Roland, whereas ‘the’ angel Cherubin descends in Rafael’s place. Munjoie requires extensive discussion, because here a (hitherto insufficiently recorded) toponym has been secondarily charged by the poet with traditional theological associations. The term Ter(e) major is attested for the first time in reality, namely in the late 11th century in Norman usage. For the core of France, the fourth cornerstone – along with Besançon, Wissant and Mont-Saint-Michel – is Xanten, and its centre is Aachen. The poet’s artful equilibration of Charles’s ten eschieles and their leaders is traced. The "Capetian barrier" emerges as a basic fact of epic geography. Approximatively, the last quarter of the study is devoted to the prehistory of the song, going backwards in time: still quite clearly visible is an Angevin Song of Roland from around 1050, in which Marsilĭe, Olivier, Roland, Ganelon, Turpin and Naimes already have roles similar to those in the preserved Song. Behind it, between about 970 and shortly after 1000, is the Girart de Vienne from the Middle Rhône, already recognised by Aebischer, with the newly invented Olivier contra Roland. Finally, in faint outlines, an oldest attainable, also Middle Rhône adaptation of the Roland material from shortly after 870 emerges.

For the Chanson de Roland, Gaston Paris and Joseph Bédier were thus each right on the main point that was close to their hearts: the surviving song has both the thoroughly sophisticated structure of great art that Bédier recognised in it, and the imposingly long prehistory that Paris conjectured.

Place Names: Approaches and Perspectives in Toponymy and Toponomastics

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• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
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• Online publication date: March 2023 
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• Online ISBN: 9781108780384
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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108780384 

Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China, Francesco Cavallaro, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

What are place names? From where do they originate? How are they structured? What do they signify? How important are they in our life? This groundbreaking book explores these compelling questions and more by providing a thorough introduction to the assumptions, theories, terminology, and methods in toponymy and toponomastics – the studies of place names, or toponyms. It is the first comprehensive resource on the topic in a single volume, and explores the history and development of toponyms, focusing on the conceptual and methodological issues pertinent to the study of place names around the world. It presents a wide range of examples and case studies illustrating the structure, function, and importance of toponyms from ancient times to the present day. Wide ranging yet accessible, it is an indispensable source of knowledge for students and scholars in linguistics, toponymy and toponomastics, onomastics, etymology, and historical linguistics.

Call for Papers for the Annual Meeting of Canadian Society for the Study of Names

 

The Canadian Society for the Study of Names (CSSN) will hold its 57th Annual Meeting at York University from Sunday, May 28, to Monday, May 29, 2023, in conjunction with the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada. 

The theme of the 2023 Congress is: “Reckonings & Re-Imaginings,” but papers on any onomastic topic are welcome. We also welcome papers to this year’s special panel, Names in Contact: Honouring the Legacy of Wolfgang Ahrens. 

Presentations are allotted 20 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Remote presentations are welcome. 

The full call for papers can also be found at https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/oc/cssn-sco-2023 

Please email your abstract to: Sheila Embleton, PhD, FRSC embleton@yorku.ca by March 27, 2023, 11:59PM ET. 

Konrad Kunzes Namenkunde

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Seit November 2022 läuft eine neue Sendereihe „Konrad Kunzes Namenkunde“ wo die unterschiedlichsten Namengebungen in Südbaden im Fokus stehen. 

Erklärt werden diese vom emeritierten Sprachwissenschaftler Konrad Kunze. 

Names and Sources in Cymbeline by Grant Smith

ANS 2023, January 20, 2023 "Names and Sources in Cymbeline" by Grant Smith (Eastern Washington University, WA, USA) In most of his plays, Shakespeare’s central plots rely heavily on a primary source plot. For a new play, he usually modified the action of a source plot, often renamed characters, and added new characters. Thus, his use of source names compared to new names, the subject of my research, is at least one measure of his creativity, his relative reliance on source plots, and his presumption of their fictive status. In The Winter’s Tale, for example, Shakespeare follows the plot of Greene’s Pandosto very closely but changes all the names and radically transforms the tragic ending into a positive tale of remorse, faith, and redemption. Cymbeline, written very near in time, draws not on one but on at least four different source plots. From them Shakespeare interweaves four distinctive lines of action – 1) a banishment story, 2) a wager story, 3) a tribute story, and 4) a story of surprising victory and reconciliation. Two of these plot lines follow sources in Renaissance literature, and two follow historical sources. This paper will show that Shakespeare retains more of the names used in his historical sources than those in his literary sources and thereby treats them as less fictive. GRANT SMITH, Prof. Emeritus, Eastern Washington University, former president of ANS, vice president of ICOS, 34 years on the Washington Board on Geographic Names, host for many international scholars. Currently emphasizes literary onomastics and philosophy of language. His new book, Names as Metaphors in Shakespeare’s Comedies, available at Vernon Press.

Call for Papers: XXVI International Onomastics & Literature Symposium

Englisch  + Italian

21st Onomastica & Letteratura Syposium

Onomastics & Literature, the Italian Society for literary onomastics studies based at the University of Pisa, is issuing a Call for Papers for the XXVI International O&L Symposium to held at the University of Cagliari, 19-20-21 October 2023.

 

The topics it will focus on are the following:

• Names and memory
• Names and translation
• Other Proper Names: not only Names of person and place
• ‘Protected’ Names
• Regional literary onomastics

Those who intend to participate in the Conference or who wish to submit their article to the editorial staff of the journal “Il Nome nel Testo” are requested to send Donatella Bremer (donatella.bremer@unipi.it) no later than 30 June 2023 an abstract, not generic, but sufficiently indicative (about 2200 characters with spaces) of their contribution.

Please also attach a short resume.

The length of the articles to be submitted to the peer review process for a possible publication in the journal “Il Nome nel Testo” must be around 12 pages.

For more information see the O&L webpage http://oel.fileli.unipi.it/

or contact Giorgio Sale: giosale@uniss.it

Nei giorni 19, 20 e 21 ottobre 2023, presso l’Università di Cagliari si svolgerà il

XXVI Convegno Internazionale di O&L

Gli argomenti che sono stati scelti per le varie sezioni in cui si articolerà il convegno sono i seguenti:

Nomi e memoria

Ogni Nome Proprio può configurarsi in un testo letterario come portatore di memoria, di luoghi e di persone, sia che esso appartenga alla realtà o all’immaginazione, sia che sia frutto della creazione originale di un autore o funga piuttosto da vettore di intertestualità e di agnizioni di lettura. In casi più specifici, del resto, l’evocazione di alcuni Nomi ha l’effetto più diretto di sbloccare, nel personaggio o nell’autore stesso, un patrimonio memoriale rimosso e segreto, fornendo il decisivo déclic per il suo recupero. Archetipo di tale tipologia, largamente presente nella narrativa del Novecento (vengono alla mente La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana di Eco o Conversazione in Sicilia di Vittorini), Marcel Proust, con il suo Noms de Pays: le Nom.

Nomi e traduzione

Il tema è pressoché onnipresente in ogni edizione del convegno e ha alimentato negli anni un filone a sé stante di studi di interesse onomastico, specie per iniziativa peculiare di studiosi di letterature straniere e segnatamente di traduttologia. La proposta vale dunque come stimolo a concentrarsi nuovamente sull’argomento allo scopo di fornire un aggiornato status quaestionis, sia sul piano teorico sia su quello di casi specifici, anche relativamente a tipologie particolari di traduzione onomastica. Le analisi potranno ad esempio approfondire le modalità del passaggio del Nome Proprio da una lingua all’altra (tanto ‘in verticale’, cioè da lingue classiche a moderne, quanto ‘in orizzontale’, cioè tra lingue vive, per assumere la canonica distinzione di Folena), o anche focalizzarsi, in base alle specifiche competenze di ogni studioso, sulle forme e le funzioni assunte dal Nome nella lingua d’arrivo o, viceversa, in quella di partenza.

Altri Nomi Propri: non solo Nomi di persona e di luogo

Se antroponimi e toponimi hanno fatto la parte del leone nelle indagini di onomastica letteraria dell’ultimo quarantennio, non di rado l’attenzione degli studiosi ha focalizzato anche altre tipologie onomastiche, più defilate ma altrettanto interessanti. Materia d’indagine può ad esempio essere l’analisi dei titoli intesi come onimi, o dei crononimi di ogni tipo, costituiti principalmente da riferimenti a quelle date puntuali che assumono valore evenemenziale, da alcuni studiosi etichettate come emeronimi (valga l’esempio corrente dell’Undici settembre o, per coniugare tale tipologia con quella dei titoli, del Nineteen Eighty-Four orwelliano o ancora del Quatrevingt-treize di Hugo). Lo stesso dicasi per gli odonimi (come dimenticare la Via Merulana del romanzo gaddiano?), e per numerose altre categorie onomastiche. A condizione che l’analisi sappia individuare una reale significatività e qualche funzionalità narrativa, tenendosi lontana dal rischio di proporre rassegne di tipologie onomastiche puramente nomenclatorie e descrittive.

Nominare e proteggere

Il tema si propone di indagare il complesso rapporto che intercorre spesso tra la denominazione e la censura (o anche l’autocensura). Una tematica che può essere intesa fondamentalmente in due modi: si può cambiare un nome per proteggere un’identità quando si fa riferimento a fatti più o meno reali, attinenti ad es. alla vita privata di chi scrive (come nel Mephisto di Klaus Mann – anche se dietro la maschera di Hendrick Höfgens non fu difficile individuare il cognato dell’autore, l’attore Gustaf Gründgens), oppure, in periodi in cui la libertà di stampa è limitata, stravolgere le denominazioni o cambiarle, o addirittura sottrarle come personaggio alla trama stessa, per evitare che possano evocare fatti o persone invisi a un regime (nelle traduzioni dei romanzi di Agatha Christie la censura fascista cambiò la nazionalità dei criminali, che non doveva essere italiana: nel Poirot sul Nilo del ’39, ad es., Guido Richetti fu sostituito dallo svizzero Guido Reyvillon).

Come ogni anno una sezione verrà dedicata alla

Onomastica letteraria regionale.

Coloro che intendano partecipare al Convegno o che vogliano proporre un loro articolo alla redazione della rivista «il Nome nel testo» sono pregati di inviare a Donatella Bremer (donatella.bremer@unipi.it)  entro e non oltre il 30 giugno 2023 un abstract, non generico, ma sufficientemente indicativo (ca. una pagina) del loro contributo.                                                                                         

Si prega di allegare anche un breve curriculum.

La lunghezza degli articoli da sottoporre al processo di revisione (peer review) per un’eventuale pubblicazione nella rivista «il Nome nel testo» non dovrà superare le 15 cartelle.

Per ulteriori informazioni rivolgersi anche a Giorgio Sale, giosale@uniss.it

Toponymic Wars in Czechia in the Aftermath of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

ANS 2023, January 20, 2023 “A Continuation of Politics by Other Means - Toponymic Wars in Czechia in the Aftermath of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine" by Přemysl Mácha (Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic) The naming and renaming of public spaces in reaction to world events as an instrument of international politics is a common toponymic practice. A case in point is the renaming of the squares in front of the Russian embassies in Prague and Washington, D.C., after the murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted local governments and citizens across Czechia to propose the renaming of streets and other public spaces referring to places in Russia, Russian personalities or Russia itself (e.g. Moskevská, Gagarinova, Ruská) in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. Although this wave of proposals has had mixed results, at best, the debates they have generated have laid bare underlying political tensions existing in the Czech society. On face value, these proposals may have seemed as analogies to Boris Nemtsov Plazas. In many instances, however, the Russian invasion of Ukraine became a proxy for local political conflicts expressed through heated toponymic wars all across the country. The paper will present the results of an analysis of several cases of successful and failed renaming proposals, including the associated arguments and debates, and discuss the spatial, social, political, and historical context which appears to be the key to both the success of renaming proposals as well as their correct interpretation. PŘEMYSL MÁCHA is a senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. His interests include toponymic politics, minority names, enthoecology, indigenous people, environmental and landscape history, cultural heritage, and nature conservation. He has done research in Mexico, New Mexico, and the Czech Republic.

Trismegistos' Names Database

 link 

Names in the ancient world is a tool dealing with personal names in the ancient Graeco-Roman world. In a first phase, as an offshoot of Trismegistos' participation in the Eagle project (see SNAP & NER below), it focuses on names in Latin inscriptions, except for the main Ptolemaic territories (Egypt, Cyrenaica and Cyprus), for which names in the Greek inscriptions from the Ptolemaic period have been added between 2010-2012. Starting from the Clauss / Slaby database, the Latin inscriptions are currently processed province by province, starting in North Africa (currently excluding Africa Proconsularis and Numidia, due to the large corpus there). The next region that will be tackled is the Eastern Mediterranean, starting with Arabia and Iudaea. Since this is a part-time, one-man show, progress is unfortunately slower than we would like, but we hope that what is available is already useful nonetheless.

In 2023, we will also start processing the personal names mentioned in ancient authors in light of the Networks of Ideas and Knowledge in the Ancient World [NIKAW] project (2022-2026). These names will also be integrated in this portal.

The underlying database of the Names in the ancient world portal consists of a complex set of tables. At the heart of the structure in the NamRef table, where each attestation of a separate personal name is collected (currently 20,715 records). This is linked to the Ref table, where clusters of names referring to the same individual are grouped together as attestations of individuals (currently 11,020 records). The onomastic structure consists of three tiers, dealing with names (NAM), name variants (NAMVAR), and declined name variants (NAMVARCASE) respectively. The Nam table currently has 38,277 names. Each of these standard names is connected to a set of variants, often in different languages / scripts, in the NamVar table (225,163 variants). For each of these variants, declined forms were created in the NamVarCase table. This last table is the largest, with 968,627 entries, and forms the link between REF and NAMVAR & NAM. The original TM People structure developed for the Egyptian data also includes a prosopographic Per table, but as explained below this is not a feature we will implement for other regions.

Please keep in mind that the Nam table (in contrast to the NamVar table) has only been fully developed for names attested in Egypt. Several Greek and Latin name variants attested in other regions will be linked to this table if they also appear in Egypt, but there is still a large group of variants without an overarching standard name record. This will improve in the future while we process more names, but for indigenous names this requires a thorough familiarity with local onomastic habits. Since we do not have this expertise, this is something we will not undertake ourselves, but we are happy to collaborate with other projects to set this up for particular languages/regions. Please contact us if you are interested!

The Names in the ancient world portal is not designed to become a prosopography of the ancient world. The focus is on (attestations of) personal names. We have therefore only developed the onomastic structure to standardize this data. Yet personal names obviously refer to people, and this component cannot be ignored completely. We have therefore retained the Ref level from the original TM People structure (which you can find here), a table where names that refer to a person in a single attestation (what we call an identification cluster) are grouped together. This table can be used as a starting point for other projects that would like to bring together prosopographies or even create new ones. Starting from this level of attestations has the benefit that different projects do not necessarily need to agree on prosopographical identifications. They are often tricky and speculative and require a lot of expertise on things such as imperial and local careers, regional epigraphic habits, etc. We will therefore not undertake such identifications ourselves, but aim to link to as many prosopographical projects as possible in order to guide our users to relevant information about the people behind the names. We currently already have links to the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names for Greek name variants, where prosopographical identifications have been made for each variant. For some other useful (online) prosopographies, see, for example, the Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic, the Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire and Prosopography of the Byzantine World, and the original TM People for Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt (more are listed on the Digital Classicist Wiki). If you would like to collaborate in order to show links to your project on our website, please contact us !

We hope that even in its current state the tool may prove useful enough to avert nemesis. Also, digital instruments such as this one have the advantage that they can be updated and improved easily. We would therefore be very grateful if users not only show clemency, but also help us improve the quality: suggestions and mistakes can be reported by clicking on 'Report an error' in the header above.

Online databases tend not to be quoted, or only reluctantly. Often scholars will not document the use of digital tools and point to the (printed version of the) sources directly. Gradually, however, scholarship seems to enter a new phase where online edition is taking over the front position from paper copy. For this purpose, we have developed stable numeric identifiers for each entry in each of the TM People tables. For more information, please consult the 'How to cite' section below.

Coverage estimates

Estimates of the progress made for various provinces (up until July 2022):

Province	Greek inscriptions	Latin inscriptions
Egypt	90%	100%
Creta & Cyrenaica	Ptolemaic only	100%
Cyprus	Ptolemaic only	100%
Mauretania Caesariensis	0	100%
Mauretania Tingitana	0	100%

The Semantics and Politics of Placenames in the Western Regions of Côte-d’Ivoire

ANS 2023, January 20, 2023 "The Semantics and Politics of Placenames in the Western Regions of Côte-d’Ivoire" by Michel Nguessan (Governors State University, IL, USA) The paper discusses 1) placenames and ethnic diversity, 2) the semantics and morphosyntax of placenames, 3) the sociology and politics of place names in Côte-d’Ivoire, a West African country. This paper focuses on the western regions, initially inhabited by Kru and Southern Mande peoples including subgroups such as Bété, Dida, Wê, Bakwé, Krumen, Gouro and Gagou. In addition to local ethnic groups, during colonial and post-colonial times, other populations moved into these western regions from other parts of Cote d’Ivoire and from neighboring countries and created their own villages with distinctive placenames. This study is based on several years of field work using semistructured interviews in these western regions. The study also utilized data from local government and administrative sources in the regions. The findings of the study show 1) multiculturalism and ethnic diversity in placenames; 2) the meaning and the syntax of placenames; 3) preferences in the use of placenames from different ethnic groups by communities, government entities. The study also shows that while most ethnic groups interact with one another and leave in relative harmony, each group tends to self-segregate into their own villages. For instance, a village with a Baoulé name is predominantly inhabited by Bété people. Each ethnic group expresses the desire to have placenames in their own language in order to maintain their cultural identity. However, for purposes of administrative organization, government entities favor placenames that are native to the regions. MICHEL NGUESSAN is an Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at Governors State University, in Illinois. He has academic background and research interest in languages and linguistics/onomastics, software engineering and computer science, and library and information science. He graduated from universities in Côted’Ivoire, the USA and Canada.