Studie z Aplikované Lingvistiky (Jun 2016)
Toponymie městského prostoru v kontextu mezioborovosti české onomastiky — kritické poznámky a perspektiva dalšího výzkumu / Toponymy of the Urban Area in the Context of Interdisciplinary Approaches to Czech Onomastic Research — Critical Remarks and Perspectives of Further Research
Abstract
This study focuses on the current situation in Czech research of toponymy (place names), particularly urbanonymy (urban names, predominantly street names). The study of place names offers considerable potential for interdisciplinary approaches to research; however, scholars (both in onomastics and in non-onomastic disciplines) currently lack interest in such cooperation, and this represents a major barrier to the development of mutually inspirational research in the field. The article outlines three main reasons underlying this situation: the long-established tradition of Czech onomastic research drawing on etymological and historical approaches towards place names; the prevailing emphasis on onomastic material; and an overly simplistic view of what constitutes onomastic research and methodology as well as of their application in interdisciplinary cooperation. In response to this situation, the author discusses a modern research concept which has the potential to offer a new methodological impulse to Czech onomastics and restore it to its former status as a respected discipline — the concept of the linguistic landscape. This concept could be successfully applied to research exploring the urbanonymy of modern Czech cities built during the post-war era — such as the new Socialist cities dating from the 1950s, or concrete housing estates. However, several problems need to be discussed — including the proprial status of urbanonyms, the definition of the urban area, and the relations between standardized (predominantly official) and non-standardized (unofficial, popular) forms of urban place names.
