ABOUT PLACES AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES. PRIMARY TOPONYMS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLANTS IN THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE Cover Image

ABOUT PLACES AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES. PRIMARY TOPONYMS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLANTS IN THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE
ABOUT PLACES AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES. PRIMARY TOPONYMS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLANTS IN THE ROMANIAN LANGUAGE

Author(s): Diana Boc-Sînmărghitan
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts
Published by: Editura Arhipelag XXI
Keywords: primary toponyms; plants; Bistra and Sebeş Valleys

Summary/Abstract: Coming to life together with the mankind and enjoying the advantages of the progress of science, phytotherapy deeply and sustainable influenced the Romanian toponymy, herbal remedies being a common practice of all folks in the world. The microtoponyms from Bistra and Sebeș Valleys preserve unique forms, bringing back to life ancient practices that talk about how human being learned, experimentally, to choose the most useful plants for prophylactic or curative purposes from the nature surrounding them. The phytonimy of the researched localities is based on appellatives which prove the richness of the local flora, denominating forests, trees, shrubs, fruit trees, flowers, vegetables, cereals etc. By their structure, those toponyms may be classified in: simple toponyms (non-derivative and derivative) and compound toponyms. In this study we will concentrate on the category of simple names, non-derivative or primary names. This category refers to names of places formed by a single word (or toponymic morpheme), their essential characteristic being that they cannot be analyzed by the toponymic compounds they are formed of. In the area we are interested in, those toponyms are rather well represented, as it is well known that mountainous regions are more likely to bear such primary topic names. In the researched localities, the simple, non-derivative toponyms come from names of plants, of herbal species that used to grow or still grow in these regions, or describe metaphorically the nature of those grounds.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 09
  • Page Range: 401-409
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Romanian