O NADMIERNEJ POPULARNOŚCI MODELU PAMIĄTKOWEGO W POTOCZNYCH ETYMOLOGIACH NAZW MIEJSCOWYCH
On the excessive popularity of the commemorative model in popular etymologies of place names

Summary/Abstract: This paper concerns a noticeable and intensifying tendency for excessive popularisation of the semantic commemorative model in popular etymologies of place names. It discusses popular etymologies of a few toponyms and the motivations popularised in the region (inconsistent with the findings of onomastics): Wąchock: wywąchały (smelled out); Kielce: kieł (a canine); Opoczno: Opocz (Opocza), no, no!; Gniezno: gniazdo (a nest); Bydgoszcz: Byd (to wake up), Gost (to stay up); Żywiec: Żyw (alive), on the example of selected culture-based texts. The proposed thesis provides that the primary and principal cause of the heyday and popularisation of commemorative semantics of toponyms is a coincidence of contemporary factors such as: development of regionalism as a social and cultural movement, care for the cultural values of the homeland, regional education development and model, implementation of regional EU projects, implementation of local marketing and promotion strategies pursued for business, in particular tourist, purposes, and the regional megalomania related to the creation of the cultural and literary Origin Myth of the primitive settlement and its inhabitants. Etymological and onomastic methodologies, which allow for the specifi city of the toponymic material and popular thinking, were applied to the analysis of the popular toponyms.

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