Transonymization as Revitalization: Old Toponyms of Split

Abstract

The paper deals with ancient toponyms of Split, a city in the centre of the Croatian region of Dalmatia. Along with numerous monuments of spiritual and material culture, toponyms are part of the two-thousand-year-old city’s historical heritage. Split in particular abounds with sources that provide valuable information concerning ancient toponyms. In terms of the study and preservation of toponymy, three basic sources are crucial: the living oral tradition, written records, and old charts — mostly cadastral plans. In addition to researching, recording, documenting, and publishing Split’s ancient place names through toponomastic, geographical, and town planning studies, toponymic heritage preservation is also implemented through the direct use of the names in everyday life. One of the ways of such revitalization of Split’s ancient place names is their transonymization into the category of chrematonyms, i.e. their secondary use as names of institutions, shops, restaurants, schools, sports associations and facilities, bars and coffee shops, cemeteries, and so on. The present paper provides a classification and etymological analysis of detoponymic chrematonyms of Split. The authors propose measures to raise public awareness of the historical information conveyed by the names and raise some issues for consideration regarding further study of transonymization as a means of revitalizing local toponymic tradition.

Keywords

• Croatian language
• transonymization
• toponyms
• chrematonyms
• etymology
• revitalization
• Split