Place Name Origins - Problems of Interpretation

Problems of Interpretation

Place names often need specialists to interpret their meanings. Some of the main problems are:

• Language. Sometimes the language used in the formation of a place name is unclear; for example, some names may be plausibly derived from either Old English or Celtic roots. In recent years there has been a tendency to seek Celtic origins for names in England that were previously taken to be Anglo-Saxon.

• Element order. In Germanic languages, and thus in Old English and Old Norse, the substantive element is generally preceded by its modifier, such as "north farm" (Norwich), "Badecca's spring" (Bakewell). In Celtic place names the order is usually reversed with the thing being described (hill, valley, farm, etc.) as the first element, for example "settlement of the Cuebris" (Tregonebris), "mouth of the Dee" (Aberdeen). However, this is not true of all Celtic names, for example "bald hill" (Malvern).

• Translation. The general similarity of Old Norse and Old English meant that the place names in the Danelaw were often simply "norsified". For instance, in Askrigg ('ash (tree) ridge') in Yorkshire, the first element is indubitably the Norse asc (pronounced ask), which could easily represent a "norsification" of the Old English element aesc (pronounced ash) with the same meaning.

• False analogy. Sometimes, however, the place names were changed by new settlers to match pronunciation habits without reference to the original meaning. For example, the Old English name Scipeton ("sheep farm"), which would normally become *Shipton in modern English, instead was altered to Skipton, since Old English sc (pronounced 'sh') was usually cognate with Old Norse sk — thus obscuring the meaning, since the Old Norse word for 'sheep' was entirely different.

• Lost reason. Interpreting some names can be difficult if the reason for the name is no longer evident. Some names originally referred to a specific natural feature such as a river, ford or hill that can no longer be identified. For example, Whichford (Warwickshire) means "the ford of the Hwicce", but the location of the ford is lost.

• Confusion between elements. Pairs of original elements can produce the same element in a modern place name. For example the Old English elements den (valley) and dun (hill) are sometimes confused, as they can now lack obvious meanings. Croydon is in a valley and Willesden is on a hill.

• Multiple meanings. Some elements, such as wich and wick, can have many meanings. Generally wich/wick/wyke indicates a farm or settlement (e.g. Keswick "cheese farm"). However, some of the sites are of Roman or early Post-Roman origin, in which the wich represents Latin vicus ("place"). These vici seem to have been trading-posts. On the coast, wick is often of Norse origin, meaning "bay" or "inlet" (e.g. Lerwick).