Toponymic patterns in medieval Hungary

A summary of an academic doctoral thesis

Abstract

This dissertation’s main aim is to delineate the toponymic patterns of three major regions in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin – defined by natural geographical features and demarcated by the catchment areas of four significant rivers (Sebes-Körös, Upper Szamos, Maros, and Kis-Küküllő) – through a functional analysis of their early Old Hungarian onomastic material. The application of more recent methods to the investigation, such as relative chronology and historical place-name reconstruction, ensures this work contributes new insights to the still-debated chronological questions of historical place-name typology, as well as reconsidering selected earlier place-name etymologies. The chief scholarly contribution of all these inquiries lies, through the lessons of name and language history, in clarifying linguistic and ethnic issues relating to the Carpathian Basin’s early history.