Oiconyms of Zoomorphic Origin in the Toponymical System of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The article studies oikonyms of Bosnia and Herzegovina, formed from zoomorphic motifs. The relationship between the oikonym and the zoonym is discussed. How animal terms perform the function of place names has been demonstrated with examples. In the main part of the paper, the author presented the semantic types of zooikonyms. The approach includes the formation and etymology information. Accordingly, the largest number of zooikonyms are of Slavic origin while only one is Greek, which only underlines the theses of the Slavic naming continuum in terms of place naming. It is concluded that the study of zooikonyms is important for determining the region's fauna and the relationship between man and nature.

Keywords

• onomastics
• toponyms
• oikonyms
• zooikonyms
• zoomorphic motifs