The aim of the thesis is to examine the nomenclature of the Barra Isles by investigating the distribution and interaction of Norse, Gaelic and English name-forming elements. Consideration is given to the historical, political and economic reasons for changes in placenames, and the language situation is assessed. In a theory-based chapter the function of names, naming strategies, name changes, and reasons for loss of names are examined. The main thrust is to compile a gazetteer of place-names gathered both from historical documents such as maps, sea-charts, registers and travel literature, and from interviews with local people. With the help of a database the corpus is analysed with regard to semantics, morphology and naming intention. Finally, a consideration of the historical development of names illustrates degrees of stability and of change in the place-names of Barra.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:662347 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Stahl, Anke-Beate |
| Contributors | Fraser, Ian |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/15754 |
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