Oikonyms in Western and South Asia
Oikonyms in Western and South Asia can be grouped according to various components, reflecting common linguistic and cultural histories.[1] Toponymic study is not as extensive as it is for placenames in Europe and Anglophone parts of the world, but the origins of many placenames can be determined with a fair degree of certainty.[2][3] One complexity to the study when discussing it in English is that the Romanization of names, during British rule and otherwise, from other languages has not been consistent.[2]
Names can be grouped by affixes that form parts of them, including (with examples from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and elsewhere):
- borrowings from various Indo-Iranian languages because of historical Islamic and other cultural influence:[4]
- Sanskritic languages:
- Persian:
- Abad (آباد)
- abode of[4] — e.g. Ahmedabad, Ordubad, Shirabad, Uzbekistan, Islamabad. See also abadi (settlement).
- Shahr
- city[4]
- Qila
- fort[4]
- Nahri
- irrigation canal[4]
- Dera
- tent[8]
- Dravidian languages:
- wal, wali, wala, vli, and vali
- hamlet[7] — e.g. Dombivli, Kasan Wala, Sandhilianwali
Cross-reference
- ^ Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 65.
- ^ a b Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 67.
- ^ Mohd Siddiqi 1982, p. 332.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 74.
- ^ Mohd Siddiqi 1982, p. 335.
- ^ Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, pp. 74–75.
- ^ a b Southworth 1995, p. 271.
- ^ Husain Siddiqi & Bastian 1985, p. 75.
Sources
- Husain Siddiqi, Akhtar; Bastian, Robert W. (1985). "Urban Place Names in Pakistan: A Reflection of Cultural Characteristics". Names. 29 (1): 65–84. OCLC 500207327.
- Mohd Siddiqi, Jamal (1982). Significance of technical terms in place names—a case-study of Aligarh District. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 43. pp. 332–341. JSTOR 44141245.
- Southworth, Franklin C. (1995). "Reconstructing social context from language: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian pre-history". In Erdosy, George (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Indian philology and South Asian studies. Vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110144475. ISSN 0948-1923.
Further reading
- Southworth, Franklin C. (2004). Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781134317776.
See also
 | This article has not been added to any content categories. Please help out by adding categories to it so that it can be listed with similar articles, in addition to a stub category. |
 | This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |