Place names or toponyms are used to name particular features of the landscape. The word 'toponym' can be etymologically explained by the ancient Greek words for place (topos) and name (onyma) (1,2). From a linguistic point of view, they are empty labels that have no meaning at all. This is because they refer to one unique feature where they stay attached to, as opposed to species names. Historically however, toponyms originate from the language and words spoken when they were invented. Place names are containers of historical information as they stem from descriptions of linguistic and historic realities. (2) Many toponyms owe their existence to nearby rivers, hills, plants, trees, wildlife or even the acidity of the soil (1).
The Hic Sunt Dracones-project sets the goal to get a better understanding of the relation between toponyms and the historical landscape. It does so by extracting place names from historical maps from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century and subject them to analyses from the digital humanities 'toolbox'. Digital text analysis, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and statistical methods will be applied to quantify the relationships that toponyms link to certain landscape elements. The long-term perspective used here enables tracking the way in which place names change (or not) in relation to historical landscape features.
More specifically, the focus is on place names and landscape features that refer to wetland areas. According to a basic definition, it is land that has been saturated long enough so that the soil is poorly drained and various types of biological activity and vegetation adapted to a wet environment are present. (3) Among the most important groups of wetland names are the hydronyms or water names. They link up to a certain presence of water. Obvious examples are the placenames that originate from lakes, rivers, canals, ponds, or streams. (4) Much less clear are fieldnames with a reference to the 'wetness' of the soil. An example can be found in the dutch-language fieldnames such as meersch, beemd or broek, all relating to wet arable meadows. (5)
References
(1) PAULISSEN MAURICE, "Talig erfgoed in het landschap: geografische namen als landschapshistorische bron", De Maasgouw, 137/1, 2018, 17-22.
(2) DEVOS MAGDA, "Microtoponiemen en agrarische geschiedenis", Naamkunde, 32, 2000, 69-87.
(3) MITSCH WILLIAM J EN JAMES G GOSSELINK, Wetlands: John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
(4) KEMPENEERS PAUL, KAREL LEENDERS, VIC MENNEN e.a., De Vlaamse Waternamen. Verklarend en geïllustreerd woordenboek. Deel I: De provincies Antwerpen, Limburg, Vlaams-Brabant en het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Werken van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Toponymie en Dialectologie, Vlaamse Afdeling, dl. 29, Leuven, Parijs & Bristol, CT: Peeters, 2016.
(5) PERSOONS BRECHT, Cursus Naamkunde: Centrum voor Historische Talen, 2022.