Toponymie de la Provence: état des lieux, questions, enjeux et errements

Abstract

The objective of this contribution is not to present the results of new in-depth research on the provençal. It rather aims at raising the awareness of an informed and curious -but non-specialized -audience to the different aspects of the toponymy, using examples from a very particular French region: Provence. Firstly, we mention some general information related to the presence or passage of different populations speaking different languages and belonging to different cultures throughout this region and their influence on the names given to different places. Then, we offer examples of difficulties and errors in retranscribing or explaining the same Provençal names. Our personal contribution is identifying and analyzing several new examples -includingfunnypopular etymologies, in addition to those cited by the classic studies on this topic.

Keywords

• toponymy
• provence
• etymologies
• popular etymologies
• intangible cultural heritage