1. Standardization of geographical names
Ormeling Ferjan
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2. 8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names
Plaatje truckdriver
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3. Confusion because of different name variants (allonyms)
ЕРЕВАН
Erevan (Fr)
Yerevan (Eng)
Jerevan (It)
Jerewan (W.Ger)
Jerewan (E.Ger)
КУЫБЫШЕВ
Kouibychev (Fr)
Kuybyshev (Eng)
Kujbyšev (It)
Kuibyschew (WG)
Kuibišew E.Ger)
Now: Samara
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4. Confusion because of same name for different locations (homonyms)
Birmingham (UK)
Birmingham (Alabama)
Birmingham (Iowa)
Birmingham (Michigan)
Birmingham (Ohio)
Batavia (historical name for Jakarta)
Batavia (Argentina)
Batavia (California)
Batavia (Illinois)
Batavia (Ohio)
Batavia (New York)
Stratford upon Avon (UK)
Stratford upon Avon (Australia)
Stratford upon Avon (New Zealand)
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5. Standardization of geographical names
National standardisation:
Establishing on a national basis for each geographical object one single name version as the official version
International standardisation:
Establishing, on a national basis for each geographical object one single name version in each script as the official version
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6. Standardization of geographical names
Major aim: avoiding ambiguity and confusion, and therefore gaining time
Subsidiary aims: avoiding political conflict, cf:
Macedonia
Arabian/Persian Gulf
East Sea/Sea of Japan
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7. First awareness of toponymical problems: books published in 1950s
Aurousseau
Weygandt
Rostand
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8. First awareness of toponymical problems: congresses
-First International Geographical Congress: Antwerp 1871: Local names policy
-Third (?) International Geographical Congress, Berlin 1899 (?): project of International Map of the World 1:1 million
-Bonn 1962, Conference on the IMW
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9. 8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names
UNCSGN
1967 London (First) United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names:
each country should have a national names authority to draft a standardized list of geographical names on its territory; it then should submit this list to UN, and then all other UN member states should adhere to it (local names policy).
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10. Policies for national standardization
A. Owner-controlled policy: person/institution in charge of a geographical object decides on the spelling of its name
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11. Policies for national standardization
A. Owner-controlled policy: person/institution in charge of a geographical object decides on the spelling of its name
B. Conservationist policy: the name version as it has come down to us should be preserved (even if that causes discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation)
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8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names

12. Policies for national standardization
A. Owner-controlled policy: person/institution in charge of a geographical object decides on the spelling of its name
B. Conservationist policy: the name version as it has come down to us should be preserved (even if that causes discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation)
Worcestershire – Woostershire
Leicester - Lester
Northamptonshire- Northants
Norwich - Norrich
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13. Attitudes towards geographical names:
Geographical names as linguistic reference tools, so they can be streamlined, spelled as they sound
Geographical names as proper names, part of our cultural heritage. As proper names do not change, so geographical names should not be altered but be preserved.
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14. International standardization policies
Starting from the local names policy:
the source country decides on a conversion system from one script to another, or
the receiver country decides, or
both source country and receiver countries try to work out one joint standard for each writing system
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15. International standardization policies (continued)
But the source country might not have the means to produce a standard
But there are > 160 receiver countries and we do not want 160 versions of each geographical name
So, cooperation of source country and receiver countries might work out best
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16. Counter-argument against standardization:
language
Pronunciation of letter –c-
Spanish
k or th
Italian
k or ch
French
k or s
Czech ts
Turkish
j or dzj
German s
Dutch
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8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names

17. Counter-argument against standardization:
language
Pronunciation of letter –c-
Spelling of sound –sh-
Spanish
k or th ch
Italian
k or ch
sci
French
k or s
Czech ts š
Turkish
j or dzj ş
German s
sch
Dutch sj
So in order to pronounce a name we need to know in which language it is spelled
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18. Issues in names standardization:
1) Following UN Recommendations or not?
2) Do we select modern names or traditional names?
3) Generally accepted names or local dialect names?
4) Should place names be affected by spelling rules?
5) What procedure to be selected for multilingual areas?
6) Should diacritical signs be used integrally? (Roman Alphabet Rule)
7) Should we differentiate name spellings for different age groups or cartographical products?
8) Should we transliterate or transcribe names from foreign scripts?
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19. Use of names should be predictable
Hoogezand: Hoogezandse– Hoogezandsche–Hogezandsche-Hogezandse
Map of the Netherlands
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20. Names changes should be well advertised
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21. 8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names
Course contents
16 Sept Introduction (by Dr Földi)
23 Sept Terminology (Dr Földi)
30 Sept The naming Process, Functions of geographical names
7 Oct Field collection systems, Office processing, National Agencies
? Oct Role UN, Toponymical Guidelines
14 Oct Exonyms, Multilingual areas, Minority names
28 Oct Names orthography (Dr Földi)
4 Nov History of Hungarian names (Dr Földi)
11 Nov etc
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22. Place names are tools and have to be handy!
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23. 8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names
Names on the map
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24. 8th UN Conf Stand Geographical Names
Can the procedures be systematized?
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25. Lehet az eljárásokat rendszerezni?
named feature
Lehet az eljárásokat rendszerezni?
there is an accepted exonym
no accepted exonym
standardized exonym 1
Roman script
other writing system
UN conversion system
NO UN conversion sys.
unchanged use 2
use of this system 3
agreed Dutch system exists
there is no agreed Dutch system
use of this system 4
accepted international system exists
there is no accepted international system
use of Dutch transcription 6
use of this system 5