Hungarian names of settlements developed from hydronyms via metonymy

Abstract

Hungarian names of settlements developed from hydronyms via metonymy

The Hungarian names of settlements in the Carpathian Basin involved in this analysis form a homogeneous group from several aspects. They have all originated from hydronyms and they have all been produced via metonymy by a process called "change in denotation". In the synchrony, they all consist of a single name-constituent both from lexical and from semantic-functional considerations. Their only constituent refers to the fact that the inhabited place can be found next to the body of water whose name has been transferred to the settlement. Thus, these names display only a single name-function, that is "a characteristic feature of the place". In each case one can describe the semantic relationship between the hydronym and the name of settlement developed from it as polisemantic. The study suggests that, in this process of place-name formation, names of (branches of) rivers and streams played a more important role than names of still waters and other sources of water. Two types of hydronyms were used more often in this naming process: the old hydronyms of foreign origin and Hungarian hydronyms of two constituents (especially the ones with the basic constituent -patak 'stream', -aszó 'a dried river-bed', -fő 'river-head', -tő 'the mouth of a river', -kút 'well'). The author describes the chronology and the geography of the hydronymic village-names as well.