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175: Physical geography toponyms: a friendly tool for a better comprehension of the geomorphological landscape
Additional Session Chairs: Andrea Ferrando, Paola Coratza
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| Session Abstract | |
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Toponymy is the discipline that systematically studies the names of a place, looking to identify their meaning and origin. In the study of the landscape, place-names are very important for the geographical insight needed to better understand the relationship between man and the environment. Toponymy is a line of research widely used as a tool for geographical studies in different environmental contexts. Geographical studies have already categorised place names into three main categories: physical geography, human geography and socio-economic geography. This session aims to stimulate research that associates toponymy with the physical-geographical features of the landscape, sometimes even suggesting a level of hazard or scientific, scenic, landscape or cultural singularity. In fact, there are many different place-names attributed to the types of landforms, to slope processes such as accelerated erosion, landslides and debris-mud flows, and to volcanic, glacial, karstic, fluvial and coastal morphologies. Sometimes the toponymy also suggests useful information on the geological nature of the bedrock, the hydrogeological and pedological features of the areas. A careful interpretation of toponymy of a physical-geographical nature can also allow for the interpretation and evolution of natural processes, and could be used in spatial planning activities, thus allowing it to be considered an effective, original and friendly tool for a more complete comprehension of the geomorphological landscape. | |
| Presentations | |
Landscape terminology and everyday language Tallinn University, Estonia The paper explores how urbanization and the growing influence of English in daily culture affect landscape-related vocabulary, concepts, and understanding. Landscape is a recorder of cultural activities (Lowenthal 1986) and a mediator of national memory (Cosgrove 1998), functioning through mappable patterns (e.g., settlements, road networks), representation in art (e.g., painting, literature), and language, especially vocabulary and concepts. Globally, landscape studies have evolved from examining how landscapes are formed (how landscape is made), to how they are perceived (how landscape is seen), and now to how they are experienced (how landscape is felt) (Sidaway 2009, Harvey 2024). From here, a study lines leads towards landscape identity, which in terms is largely related to place names, words and terms we use in everyday languages and the comprehension of the meaning of these. As an example, Striedl et al. (2024) analyzed the meanings of landscape concepts (e.g., mountain, sea) across English, German, and French speakers, identifying both similarities and culturally rooted differences. This paper will draw on two planned studies. First, a word listing experiment will map Estonian landscape-related vocabulary. Results will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, e.g., calculating a cognitive salience index to identify the psychological salience of prototypical words (Sutrop 2001). Second, an association test will use stimuli such as mägi (mountain), soo (bog), and mets (forest) to explore associations tied to landscape terms. This method will reveal not only the vocabulary but also the perceptual units linked to these words (cf. Striedl et al. 2024). The Lost Names: The Disappearance of Glacier Names in the Austrian Alps BEV, Austria The United Nations has designated the year 2025 as the "International Year of Glacier Preservation," aiming to underscore the significance of glaciers worldwide. Glacier history is intertwined with climate history, as glaciers respond to changing conditions with a time lag. Since the conclusion of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in 1850, glaciers in the Austrian Alps have significantly diminished in volume, which has also impacted toponymy. The geographic name landscape of the high mountains is evolving, particularly concerning glacier names. Topographic maps have served as vital sources of geographical names for centuries, reflecting their transformations. Glaciers, or more precisely their names, shape the appearance of topographical maps. A diachronic analysis of glacier names from the Austrian national surveys (“Landesaufnahmen”), spanning from the latter half of the 18th century to the present, reveals the enduring changes in toponymy and their effects on cartographic representation. The loss of a glacier does not necessarily entail the complete disappearance of its name; instead, depending on natural conditions, a new name type may emerge that retains part of the original name. In areas where glaciers once existed, other types of toponyms can arise due to altered topography. The geographical conditions may lead to the formation of new natural lakes from glacial meltwater, or artificial lakes may be created through damming. These newly assigned names fall under the category of hydronyms. When a glacier ceases to exist, the corresponding type of name, known as a glazionym, also disappears. However, a toponym may still appear on the map in that region due to the transition of the name type, where a glazionym evolves into an oronym or a name for a landform. The naming process will be analyzed through specific examples. The aim of this presentation is to illustrate how the retreat or disappearance of glaciers influences geographical names on topographical maps. Examples of evidence of mismatch between toponyms and landforms in Campania Region cartography UNIVERSITY OF SANNIO, Benevento, ITALY It is well known that toponyms in cartography help ‘reading’ the landscape in its plano-altimetric and environmental features. Sometimes, however, they do not show any correspondence from a linguistic standpoint or are inappropriate, as erroneously associated with location and/or morphology of the landscape. What is reported above was observed in some maps of the Campania region (Southern Italy). The first mismatch (i.e. the linguistic one) witnesses the frequentation of the locations by civilisations or cultures now disappeared. Of such civilizations, only the toponomy handed down by local tradition survives. On the other hand, the second mismatch (i.e., the one with the plano-altimetric features of the landscape), only indirectly indicates the morpho-topographic landscape features and/or its geomorphic evolution. However, very often, these apparent discrepancies in toponomy became established and entrenched in local communities over time, allowing for the definition of widely recognised geographical entities, even reported in official non-cartographic acts and documents. This increases the chronological dimension and sense of territorial belonging. This happened in some inland areas (e.g. Sannio and Irpinia) of the Campanian Apennines that experienced a long history of occupation by different cultures and civilisations: these latter connoted the locations and landscapes features with their own names, which “survived” to the natural geomorphic evolution also. Toponyms, history and geomorphological landscape peculiarities intertwined in these areas, allowing the geographer/geomorphologist to reveal geo-environmental scenarios hitherto unimaginable in a landscape that has always been anthropised. They are therefore able to ‘unveil’ river and slope dynamics that shaped a given landscape with its human presences. The lack of understanding or even cancellation led, in some cases, to landscape mismanagements in terms of planning and natural risk assessment. It remains confirmed, however, that the study of toponyms in these areas proved to be of great importance, also because they allowed detecting and highlighting locations of considerable scientific importance (e.g. geomorphosites). These latter further enrich the geological heritage of these landscapes form a geo-touristic point of view and from a sustainable development perspective. Identification and classification of physical and human geography toponyms in the Antola Natural Park (Ligurian Apennines) 1University of Genoa, Italy; 2Regione Liguria, Genoa, Italy; 3Ente Parco Antola, Torriglia (Genoa), Italy; 4Geologist, Isola del Cantone (Genoa), Italy The paper analyses place names tied to physical-geographical and human features of the Antola Natural Regional Park (Ligurian Apennines) to provide insights into the understanding of landforms and their evolution through time. The protected area is around 5,000 ha wide and was established in 1995; it is included in the metropolitan city of Genoa along the border with the regions of Piedmont, Emilia and Lombardy. The park owes its name to Mount Antola (1597 m a.s.l.), known as “the mount of the Genoese”, which represents the watershed between the park's main valleys: the Vobbia and Brevenna valleys (which flow into the upper Scrivia valley) and the Brugneto and Cassingheno valleys, which flow into the upper Trebbia valley. This position allowed the mountain to become an important commercial crossroads between the inhabitants of the two main valleys during the past centuries. Preliminary cartographic research was based exclusively on the Military Geographical Institute's 1:25,000 scale maps, surveyed between 1936 and 1937; the selection is linked both to the abundance of detail of this cartography and to its consolidated use in this type of research, with particular reference to the studies on Ligurian toponymy developed since the 1960s. The research highlighted numerous place names with a clear geographical connotation, linked not only to aspects of physical geography, but also to vegetation and agriculture, livestock breeding, animal life, human settlement, industries, crafts and communication routes. Toponyms tied to elements of physical and human geography can be classified into main categories:
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