Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• farrokh hajiyani ¹
• Khairollah Mahmoudi ²

¹ Assistant Professor of Ancient Culture and Languages, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

² Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Toponymy is a term used for naming a place or a special geographic feature. It is the scientific study of geographic names. Toponymy is a branch of linguistics which scientifically studies place names from synchronous and diachronic point of view. Considered as an important part of cultural heritage, Toponyms, as linguistic units, are prone to changes that occur in the realm of linguistic. Thus, an examination of toponyms from the perspective of historical linguistics makes a great contribution to our historical knowledge of the language and culture of the people living in that area. This study was conducted to study, in an etymological way, several toponyms in the Bushehri dialect. The method employed to carry out this research is a combination of field research and descriptive-analytical one. Moreover, the tools deployed included voice recorders, questionnaires, and interviews, wherein the language structure was made up of vocabulary. The results reveal that these toponyms emanated from indigenous environmental elements. Hydronyms (i.e., place-names derived from water), Phyto-toponyms (i.e., place-names derived from plants), Zootoponyms, and Memotoponyms play an important role in these toponyms. In terms of morphology, instead of simple names, they are divided into derivatives and compounds. Suffixes are a key component of these toponyms. Moreover, concerning derivative constructions, these toponyms are rooted in Iran's ancient and middle languages. Such toponyms have undergone phonetic, phonological changes, and dialectal changes from ancient times to the Middle Ages.

Keywords

• Toponym
• Bushehri Dialect
• Etymology
• Historical Linguistics
• sound change
• Middle and Old Persian
• sociolinguistics

Main Subjects

• Dialectology