Metafora capului în toponimie. Privire specială asupra văilor Bistra și Sebeș (Caraș-Severin)
Head Metaphor in Toponymy. A Special Look at the Toponyms of Bistra and Sebeş Valleys (Caraş-Ceverin County)

Summary/Abstract: Between names of places and the life of the people who inhabit a particular region there is a close connection, a fact reflected in the language of the speakers who have lived and live in a territory continuously. Toponymy is directly or indirectly dependent on the common language system, through anthropony. The two sides – denominative and connotative – of the metaphor in the toponymic domain in discussion here turn it into a figure of speech often used both in the common and in the specialized language. The aim of this trope is to fill the gap created by the absence of precise terms meant to describe, as exactly as possible, the surrounding geographic realities. Part of nature, the body easily lends itself to representation in the names of geographical forms. The present paper aims to analyse microtoponyms that constitute metaphors based on elements from the semantic sphere of the head. Such toponyms are numerous in the area where the beautiful Bistra and Sebeș Valleys are located; they mainly represent position in relation to certain points of reference, being created on the basis of analogy. According to their structure, they can be classified into simple and compound. The origin of these appellatives must be sought among the speakers, which gives us important information about the history as well as the ancient material and spiritual culture of the inhabitants of these lands.

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