The German place nomenclature in South west Africa, under the influence
of various toponymic and linguistic factors, spontaneously developed
into a unique toponymicon.
The specific nature of this toponymicon is marked by a large number of
inherited name transfers from Europe on the one hand and a partially or
fully germanized local toponymicon with numerous examples of translations,
adopted loan names and substitutions on the other hand. This
unique toponymicon mainly originated from the inter linguistic interaction
between German, Afrikaans and the indigenous languages of the
territory.
The supposition on which the theoretical concept and research method
was formulated and executed, is the dichotomous nature of the place
names as onomastic and linguistic signs. The German place names have
certain general, but also intrinsic toponymic and linguistic features
in common. This prompted the diachronic and synchronic analysis of the
place names on both linguistic and onomastic levels.
The onomastic approach entailed the analysis of the structural composition
of the place names; the toponymic motives; the interlinguistic contact situation;
the origins, etymologies and semantic aspects of the names. On the linguistic level the names were analyzed according to syntagmatic and paradigmatic criteria and categorized according to linguistic principles pertaining to proper nouns, specifically toponyms or place
names. The conclusion was reached that the German South West African toponymicon,
despite the large number of name transfers that occurred and
the close resemblance with its European origins which is still clearly
discernible, appears on the formal and functional level as a unique,
yet true Southern African toponymicon . / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1986.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/8680 |
| Date | January 1986 |
| Creators | Moller, Lucie Alida. |
| Contributors | Botha, T. J. R. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | Afrikaans |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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