Vyvažovací světadíl, Dehydrované moře a Nakřupnuté hory – vítejte na Zeměploše T. Pratchetta
Counterweight Continent, Dehydrated Ocean and Carrack Mountain – Welcome to T. Pratchett’s Discworld

Author(s): Žaneta Dvořáková
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: literary onomastics;toponyms;functions of proper names
Summary/Abstract: Terry Pratchett has created a fictional world, an integral part of which is a detailed and sophisticated system of place names. In his novels there are realistic names giving us an illusion of the real world and often serving as a characterization as well. Association is typical for a further kind of literary toponyms, the names refer to actual places on Earth, they activate our general cultural knowledge encyclopedia and play with the reader and his/her interpretive abilities. The last group of toponyms is purely artistic, they were created as a language game, probably the most important criterion was their aesthetic appeal. The names often deliberately destroy the illusion of reality and probability (we can talk about the anti-illusionist function), they demonstrate their artificiality, that they are a part of the author’s game. Whatever the motivation, meaning or possible allusion, all toponyms in the fictional world of the novels operate in the same way. They locate the story and help in spacial orientation within the Discworld, the names are an integral part of how the characters perceive and experience their space.

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