Dictionary of Moravian and Silesian Anoikonyms: A New Project of Czech Linguistics

Abstract

The priority of our dictionary of anoikonyms (the term used in traditional Slavic onomastic science; in different onomastic schools minor place names, field names, Flurnamen, microtoponyms, etc.) lies in the unique material (collected mainly through a correspondence survey and covering 96% of the territory under investigation), and in the theoretical and methodological conception that represents the Czech onomastic school (V. Šmilauer, R. Šrámek, I. Lutterer, J. Pleskalová, L. Olivová-Nezbedová, M. Harvalík). The onomastic interpretation of an anoikonym is not limited to etymology or word-formation; the Dictionary aims to reveal the variability of anoikonyms together with their geographical differentiation, their structure, their relation to the object as well as the motivational aspect of the naming process. In this way, it represents a new type of anoikonymic (microtoponymic) dictionary which is dominated by linguistic interpretation of the material comprising a great number of dialect forms. Many lexical units that cross the Czech border to Poland and Slovakia give the Dictionary an interslavic, Central-European character; registration of numerous lexical units of German origin, in contrast, emphasizes the multi-lingual connection with the German neighbourhood. The theoretical and methodological approach is illustrated by examples. The treatment of Moravian and Silesian anoikonyms may become a methodological basis for the anoikonymy (microtoponymy) in the <Slavic Onomastic Atlas>.