Entertainment / Literature / Toponym: A place-name, such as 'Detroit' or 'Transylvania,' or 'Rooster Rock.' Toponyms are fascinating on a linguistic level. Often their etymology reveals an etiological narrative from local mythology or folklore (such as Arthurian legends for how some regions of Wales were named) or historical evidence concerning linguistic migrations. For instance, in the northern parts of England and the East Midlands, towns with name-endings such as '-by' or '-thorp' are all places named by the Danish Vikings, who invaded and settled in those parts around 800 CE. On the opposite shore, in southeastern parts of England, towns with name-endings such as '-chester' or '-caster' were once Roman military bases (from Latin castrum, a fort), and they were built before 410 CE. Toponyms tend to be linguistically conservative, so the name may not change even after new invaders or settlers take over the area. Hence, in the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico, aboriginal words and phrases still survive in place names like Milwaukee, Alaska, Oklahoma, the Willamette river, Saskatchewan, Ottawa, Acapulco, Tenochtitlan, Oaxaca, and thousands more.
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Entertainment / Literature / Danelaw: (Anglo-Saxon, Dena lagu) The region of northeast England up to the southern part of Scotland that was conquered and inhabited by Viking invaders. In 871 CE, a Wessex army under King Aethelred (the Wes MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Onomastic: Related to names. For instance, a character's name might contain an onomastic symbol--if that character is named Faith (as in 'Young Goodman Brown') or Lucy Westenra (which means 'the light of the wes MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Semantic Bleaching: The process by which a word loses all its original meaning--a phenomenon quite common in toponyms and personal names. For instance, few English speakers think of 'Red People' when they hear the topony MORE