Names, History, Future: How Onomastics in Kazakhstan is Changing

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A republican seminar titled “Ұлттық ономастика: Ізденіс пен тәжірибе” (National Onomastics: Research and Practice) was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the end of September. Organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the event focused on pressing issues within the field of onomastics, which deals with the study of names, and explored ways to improve regional efforts in this area.

The seminar’s agenda covered a range of key topics, including updates to methodological guidelines and legislative changes regarding the centralization of onomastic processes. One of the most important discussions centered around updated lists of significant historical figures (“Тарихи тұлғалар”), geographical names (“Жер-су атаулары”), and traditional names (“Дәстүрлі атаулар”), reflecting the country’s ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance its cultural identity through its naming conventions.

Attended by a diverse group of professionals, including Members of Parliament, renowned scholars, and regional leaders in the field of onomastics, the seminar highlighted the importance of names not just as identifiers, but as integral parts of Kazakhstan’s historical and cultural legacy. Among the key participants was Rustam Ali, Chairman of the Committee on Archives, Documentation, and Book Affairs, who emphasized the significance of standardizing naming practices across the country.

As Kazakhstan continues to evolve, the field of onomastics plays a crucial role in maintaining a connection between the past, present, and future. The updates and discussions from this seminar are expected to contribute significantly to the ongoing work of preserving historical memory while modernizing the country's approach to name-related issues. Whether it’s the naming of places, figures, or traditional objects, onomastics remains a key cultural marker that will guide Kazakhstan’s future identity.

This event serves as a reminder that names are much more than mere labels—they are a reflection of heritage, culture, and history, and play a vital role in shaping national consciousness.

XХII Международная конференция "Ономастика Поволжья"

 26-29 сентября 2024 г. в Саратове прошла XХII Международная конференция "Ономастика Поволжья", посвященная исследованию семантики, прагматики, особенностей использования собственных имен в современном языке.

Ежегодная конференция «Ономастика Поволжья» не имеет постоянного места проведения: ее организаторами становятся разные вузы Поволжского региона. Первым местом проведения научного мероприятия в 1967 году был Ульяновск. В этом году конференция собрала 111 исследователей из 34 городов России, а также из Китая, Белоруссии, Казахстана и Приднестровья. На ней выступили такие известные ученые, как Василий Супрун, Сергей Мызников, Валерий Калинкин и другие. Прошла также торжественная передача знамени конференции представителю Астраханского государственного университета профессору Марии Лаптевой, которая станет председателем оргкомитета конференции 2025 года.

«Где высоко стоит наука, стоит высоко человек» — эта надпись находится на стене «научного кафе» Саратовского государственного медицинского университета имени В.И. Разумовского, где прошла XXII международная научная конференция «Ономастика Поволжья». 

Пленарное заседание началось с доклада профессора кафедры славистики, общего языкознания и культуры коммуникации Государственного университета просвещения Олега Викторовича Никитина «Академик А.А. Шахматов как ономатолог».

«В этом году мы отмечаем 160 лет со дня рождения выдающегося академика Алексея Александровича Шахматова. Он был не только выдающимся филологом, но и великим человеком. Один из удивительных фактов его биографии — отъезд в Губарёвку. Он решил сделать жизнь крестьян лучше и помочь им получить образование, став земским начальником. И топоним «Губарёвка» был своеобразным символом для академика на протяжении всей жизни. А в годы его работы в Императорском Санкт-Петербургском университете Алексей Александрович Шахматов помогал студентам, боролся за свободу образования и надеялся, что история нашего языка станет для каждого гражданина России природной необходимостью. Он посвятил этой области много трудов. Мне было очень интересно говорить о его книге «Введение в курс истории русского языка». Там он анализирует исторический процесс образования русских племён и наречий. Мне хотелось рассказать об академика что-то новое и интересное, найденное в архивах!»

— поделился профессор Олег Викторович Никитин.

Talk "Scottish Ordnance Survey Name Books (OSNBs)"

 

• Presenter: Nevis Hulme
• Format: Structured talk, followed by questions & answers
• View the recording here, streaming length: 1h 12m

This talk gave a brief overview of how the OSNBs are presented online followed by an examination of methods used to record names. This will include a look at the varied layout of OSNBs, the paper forms used by the OS for this work and how people of the areas being surveyed contributed to the collection of names. This could probably be the most detailed examination of the structure of OSNBs given to date.

Online-lecture "The importance of the short country name for modern Czech statehood "

 

The Czech Centres would like to invite you to attend the online lecture Czechia: The importance of the short country name for modern Czech statehood presented by prof. RNDr. Petr Pavlínek, Ph.D.

▶️ The lecture will be broadcast on Zoom and Facebook page of the Czech Centres.

✅ REGISTRATION

To join the online lecture please register here: https://forms.gle/JM3cHMMu8dCaEN4c8

An e-mail with the Zoom link will be sent to you shortly before the lecture.

🟦 TOPIC

This lecture will explain the difference between formal (political) and short (geographical) country names and in what contexts they are used. It will then focus on the short name of the Czech Republic in English: Czechia. It will explain its origins, history of usage, and the progress in adopting it nationally and internationally. It will consider the main reasons behind the reluctance of Czech politicians to adopt the short country name Czechia for over twenty years. The negative consequences of using the formal name “the Czech Republic” in all situations for the country brand and its international recognition will be demonstrated. The decision to adopt and internationally standardise Czechia in 2016 will be explained and the progress in the international usage of Czechia since 2016 will be evaluated.

🟦 LECTURER

Prof. RNDr. Petr Pavlínek, Ph.D. is a professor of geography at the University of Nebraska Omaha and at Charles University. He has been at the forefront of the struggle to adopt the short country name Czechia. He has published four books. His fifth book, entitled Europe’s Auto Industry: Global Production Networks and Spatial Change, will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2024. Petr Pavlinek has also published more than sixty research articles and book chapters on various topics related to the automotive industry, FDI, and regional economic development. His latest article, which was published in Economic Geography in 2024, has introduced the concept of geopolitical decoupling in global production networks and focused on the development of the automotive industry in Iran.

Lecture "People and history in street names of Opole"

Lecture of Monika Choroś "People and history in street names of Opole" will be given on 7th October 2024 in Opole (Poland). 

Stowarzyszenie RODŁO Opole, Oddział Regionalny PTTK Śląska Opolskiego Opolski Klub Krajoznawców zapraszają na spotkanie

z dr Moniką Choroś językoznawcą, wieloletnim pracownikiem Instytutu Śląskiego, badaczką pochodzenia śląskich nazw miejscowych, autorką wielu publikacji na ten temat, która wygłosi wykład "Opole - ludzie i historia zapisana w nazwach ulic".

Spotkanie odbędzie się 7 października 2024 roku, o godz. 16.30 w Centrum Dialogu Obywatelskiego, ul. Damrota 1, I piętro, sala 106.

De nouvelles données pour la toponymie bretonne dans DicoTopo

 

Le Dictionnaire topographique de la France en ligne s’enrichit des données toponymiques de deux nouveaux départements : les Côtes-d’Armor et le Finistère. Ont ainsi été intégrées au dictionnaire plus de 100 000 nouvelles formes toponymiques documentant 391 communes des Côtes-d’Armor et quelque 35 000 lieux du Finistère. 

Ces données sont issues du Dictionnaire topographique du Finistère avec la liste exhaustive de toutes les communes, lieux-dits et écarts dans leurs formes officielles et anciennes d’Albert Deshayes (Spézet : Coop Breizh, 2003), dans une version actualisée par l’auteur, et du Dictionnaire des communes du département des Côtes-d’Armor de Régis de Saint-Jouan (Saint-Brieuc : Conseil général des Côtes-d’Armor, 1990).

Le Dictionnaire topographique de la France est une réalisation du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (CTHS), menée en collaboration avec l’École nationale des chartes, le Centre Jean-Mabillon et les Archives nationales. 

Il entend collecter l’ensemble des noms de lieux anciens de la France et en offrir des possibilités d’exploration renouvelées. Il couvre aujourd’hui 44 départements du territoire national.

La publication des données relatives aux Côtes-d’Armor a bénéficié du soutien du Conseil général des Côtes-d’Armor.

Submissions to the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee

 

Are you referring to "Glacier A, B and C" in your research?

The deadline for submissions to the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee is Friday 25th October! Find more guidance and how to apply here: https://apc.antarctica.ac.uk

Māori and Moriori place names maps launched

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New Zealand Geographic Board members at the launch of the new Māori and Moriori place names maps. Photo: RNZ / Pokere Paewai

The New Zealand Geographic Board has launched a new set of tangata whenua place names maps.

The maps, updated for the first time since 1995, present Māori and Moriori place names as they were prior to European settlement.

The two maps, one for Te Ika a Māui and one for Te Waipounamu, contain about 900 names each, from Te Rerenga Wairua all the way down to Rakiura.

That includes mountains, pā, wāhi tapu and māhinga kai, collected from iwi and hapū groups or made official through Treaty of Waitangi settlements.

Many of the names were sourced from a never-published 1940s centennial atlas, with the Māori names compiled by Sir Āpirana Ngata.

But the board also worked closely with iwi groups to gather the information and stories behind each name.

New Zealand Geographic Board secretary Wendy Shaw said iwi had the ultimate choice of what was included in the maps and what was left out.

"The names that are most significant and important to them are the ones that got included, obviously and one to one million [scale] we can't show every single name and so there had to be a cartographic choice as to which names could be shown."

Shaw said it is important that the maps show Aotearoa as it was in 1840 prior to widespread European migration.

"We were really trying to keep the integrity of the map pre-1840 because some of the names that apply to features back then, the features don't actually exist now."

This includes much larger glaciers in the Sourthern Alps Kā Tiritiri-o-te-Moana, the old Napier harbour Te Whanganui-a-Orotū and a pre-eruption Mt Tarawera.

Minister for Land Information Damien O'Connor was there to launch the maps.

He said there's been an energy in recent years to pronounce Māori place names correctly.

The maps will help both to refer to history and to bring people up to date with Te Reo Māori, he said.

"It's a step forward and as we wander around our country we will see some of the old historic maps that came from Captain Cook's voyage and we are all quite proud of those, I'm sure that actually as we move forward people will have these maps in place."

In recent years there has been a move towards restoring Māori place names, such as in the far north where Russell might become Kororāreka once again.

Surveyor General and Chair of the New Zealand Geographic Board Anselm Haanen said the board restores Māori place names where the community is generally in support.

"People whether Māori or non-Māori have strong connections to places where they were brought up and and where they know, so the board doesn't routinely go around changing names without just cause but the board does have a statutory function to recognise original Māori place names."

He said the recognition of Māori place names is often transitional as in the case of Mt Taranaki.

The maps will be sent out to every school in the country, and a set of maps will be sent to every marae and iwi organisation by the board.

Haanen said they will support the new Aotearoa History curriculum.

"I think it helps to tell some of the stories behind these place names so it's one thing to see the name but a lot of people, including Māori for that matter don't always know where the names come from and what they mean."

The maps will soon be available to purchase and can be downloaded through the Land Information New Zealand Website.

Namenkundliches Online Kolloquium

 

Liebe Freunde und Interessierte der Gesellschaft für Namenforschung, hiermit möchten wir Sie über ein neues Format der GfN informieren.


Ab dem Wintersemester 2024/25 wollen wir ein Namenkundliches Online-Kolloquium durchführen, in welchem onomastische Projekte und Ideen vorgestellt werden können. Das Kolloquium soll vor allem zum offenen und sachlichen Austausch dienen und namenkundliche Themen auch für Studierende aufbereiten.

Für das kommende Wintersemester können wir erfreulicherweise bereits zwei Vorträge ankündigen:

1. Termin: 4. November 2024, Montag 18 Uhr

Erika Kegyes: “Kulturtransfer durch Markennamen: österreichische und ungarische Markennamen im Vergleich” 

Kurzbeschreibung: Marken und ihre Namen sind allgegenwärtig. Sie beeinflussen unser Leben, unsere Kultur und vor allem unsere Konsumentscheidungen. KonsumentInnen von Nachbarländern nehmen Form, Klang und Bedeutung von Markennamen bewusster wahr, wenn sie Produkte aus dem Nachbarland wählen und treffen ihre Entscheidungen auch durch die sprachliche Nachricht der Markennamen. Welche Markennamen sind geeignet einen positiven Kulturtransfer zu verwirklichen und damit die Kaufentscheidung zu fördern? Diese Fragen haben wir am Beispiel österreichischer und ungarischer Markennamen in einem Projekt untersucht, das von der Stiftung Aktion Österreich-Ungarn (2021-2023) getragen wurde. Im Vortrag werden die Ergebnisse des Projekts aus der 
Perspektive der Namenforschung vorgestellt.

2. Termin: 9. Dezember 2024, Montag 18 Uhr

Martina Heer “Tweety, Rüebli, Pluto & Zwirbel – Zur Vergabe und Verwendung von Namen bei Pfadfinder:innen”

Kurzbeschreibung: Der Vortrag thematisiert die Namenvergabe und die Namenverwendung von Spitznamen in sozialen Gruppen. Dabei richtet sich der Blick konkret auf den Verein der Schweizer Pfadfinder:innen. In der Schweiz ist es Tradition, dass jedes Mitglied bei den Pfadfinder:innen einen sog. Pfadinamen erhält. Diese Namen werden individuell bei einem Taufritual von der Gruppenleitung vergeben und sind primärmotiviert. Bei diesen gruppenspezifischen Namen handelt es sich um Spitznamen nach dem Prinzip der Übernahme  i. S. v. Kany 
(1992: 42): D.h. es werden zum einen standardsprachliche, schweizerdeutsche oder fremdsprachliche Lexeme verwendet wie beispielsweise Tierbezeichnungen (Biber, Leu), Himmelskörper (Pluto, Stella), Adjektive (Happy, Quick) oder Eigennamen (Ragusa, Skittles) sowie Namen von fiktiven Figuren (Merlin, Tweety) oder historischen 
Personen (Winston).

Falls Sie ab dem Sommersemester 2025 auch einen Vortrag halten wollen, melden Sie sich gerne bei uns.

Für den Termin am 4. November 2024 melden Sie sich bitte unter 
folgendem Link an. Wir senden Ihnen dann kurz vor der Veranstaltung den Zoom-Link zu.

Außerdem möchten wir Sie bei einem weiteren Thema um Mithilfe bitten. Wir haben viele Angebote für Rezensionen, daher bitten wir um Bekanntgabe, wer Interesse hätte, solche zu übernehmen. In diesem 
Zusammenhang ist es auch möglich, Themengebiete zu nennen, in denen man gerne rezensieren würde (z.B. Familiennamen, Ortsnamen, Flurnamen, Markennamen etc.). Bitte schreiben Sie uns, wenn wir Sie in Zukunft 
wegen anstehender Rezensionen kontaktieren dürfen.

Herzliche Grüße,
Barbara Aehnlich, Gerhard Rampl, Elisabeth Gruber-Tokic und Martina Heer

--
Gesellschaft für Namenforschung (GfN) e.V.
c/o Universität Leipzig
Namenkundliches Zentrum
Beethovenstraße 15
D-04107 Leipzig
Homepage: www.gfn.name
E-Mail: gfn@uni-leipzig.de