The Surnames of Cornwall

The book, The Surnames of Cornwall (published in January 2019) , a gazetteer of family names in Cornwall, grew out of the Surnames of Cornwall Project. That aimed to study the surnames by looking at the historical evidence for their geographical distribution and at early spellings. The Surnames of Cornwall

  • gives the purported meanings for 760 of the surnames which were the most common or the most unique to Cornwall in past times.
  • includes spelling variants of the names.
  • describes the areas in which the names originated and where they were found in the 1800s.
  • notes some well-known bearers of some of the names.
  • includes an introduction setting out the context for the study of surnames.

10 Questions about Icelandic Names

Icelandic names have left many a foreigner puzzled and tongue tied. On the volcanic island in the North Atlantic lives a nation of a little over 350.000 people with it’s own language and a unique alphabet. Jón Jónson and Björk Guðmundsdóttir might seem like a random jumble of letters but in Iceland they are as mundane as boiling hot water shooting out of the earth.

Naming traditions in Iceland are fascinating and might seem complicated to the outside eye. Icelandic people often get questions from foreigners about their names. The following are answers given by Laufey Haraldsdóttir to some of the most common questions about Icelandic names.

Call for papers: 29th Anthroponymy and Toponymy Conference, Algaida, Spain, October 4, 2019

The 29th Anthroponymy and Toponymy Conference will take place on 4th October 2019 at the Casal Pere Capellà (Algaida, at the University of the Balearic Islands). The call for abstracts will remain open until 31st May 2019.

The thematic areas are:
a) Toponymy. Geographical aspects
b) Toponymy. Historical aspects
c) Toponymy. Normative aspects
d) Anthroponymy. Philological and historical aspects

If you would like to present a paper, we would appreciate it if you would send the title of the paper and abstract (300 words max.). Registration for attending the conference is also now open. Registration is free. We will be issuing attendance certificates.

University of Minnesota task force urges renaming Coffman Memorial Union

 

A University of Minnesota task force has recommended changing the names of four Twin Cities campus buildings because of what it deemed their namesakes’ racist or anti-Semitic practices. The group’s report, released in February 20, comes after a 16-month process that some regents and students have criticized as overly plodding, with the task force following up last year on the work of an earlier committee. The task force backed renaming Coffman Memorial Union — for former U President Lotus Coffman, who presided over a major university expansion but also excluded black students from campus housing and programs — as well as three other buildings. President Eric Kaler will review that report and present his own proposal to the U’s governing board in March.

Call for proposals: The 2020 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics

The 2020 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) will be held at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Nationally and internationally, the AAAL conference has a reputation as a comprehensive and stimulating conference. Conference participants can look forward to in-depth colloquia, paper, poster, and round-table sessions, as well as topical and thought-provoking plenary presentations, excellent book exhibits, and plentiful opportunities for networking.

Proposals are invited for individual papers, colloquia, posters, and roundtable discussions. The deadline for proposal submission is 4:00 p.m. on July 17, 2019 (EDT; UTC-4).

The Republic of Macedonia officially renamed “Republic of North Macedonia”

The official change of the country’s name was first implemented on Macedonian government website, which will be followed by the replacement of signage at the various border crossings due to take place today.

The flag of  NATO was raised in front of the Macedonian government building in an official ceremony held on the 12th February 2019 to mark Macedonia’s signing of the accession protocol to join the military alliance. The photographers documented the removal of old signs and the set-up of new ones. There is a five-year period laid out in the Prespes Agreement for all official documents and references to transition to the new name, so one should not expect changes overnight in all aspects of the country’s life.

Call for Papers by American Language Journal

Submissions in the 2000-8000 word range will be considered, with a focus on:

– linguistics and literature
– second language education
– Native American language education and revitalization
– heritage language education
– computer-assisted language learning (CALL)
– language policy
– applied linguistics

There is no preference for any particular academic subject. As such, articles will be accepted in a number of languages, including (although certainly not limited to) English, Spanish, Navajo, and Mayangna.

All papers are peer-reviewed. We would be happy to discuss your submission if you have questions. Please submit any question, abstract, or article to researchreadwithyou.com.

Renaming Philippines to ‘Maharlika’ needs congressional action

Changing the Philippines’ name would require a new law and the public’s approval in a referendum, Malacañang said on Tuesday, February 12, 2019, after President Duterte had revived a proposal to rename the Philippines to “Maharlika.”

Proposals to change the name of the Philippines have been around since the 1970s. “Maharlika” is the Filipinos’ “ancient heritage,” long before the arrival of Western colonizers. “Maha” is Sanskrit for “noble” or “great” while “likha” means “create,” thus, Maharlika means “nobly created,” according to the article. But some scholars are opposed to the name change, saying it would disregard Filipinos’ historical roots and national identity.

Lycian and Pisidian Place Names Databank

Toponyms of Pisidia and Lycia, or TPL is a searchable online database containing the metadata of Pisidian and Lycian place names attested in the Greco-Roman period (8th century BC, 3rd century BC). Pisidia and Lycia represent a region of ancient Asia Minor corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey.

 

This project aims to give access to the references of Pisidian place names in literary sources and to provide a georeferenced map of places of Pisidia and ancient Lycia. This project results from Lauriane Locatelli‘s thesis “The toponymy and ethnonymy of ancient Pisidia” and Simone Podestà‘s thesis “Storia e storiografia della Licia”.

Call for papers: “Apellative and onoma”, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, September 27-29, 2019

The “Professor Nikolai Kovachev” Centre of Bulgarian Onomastics with St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo kindly invites you to participate in the next International Scientific Conference  on Onomastics in honour of Prof. Dr. Ludwig Selimski, marking his 80th anniversary “Apellative and onoma. Aspects of Scientific Research” which will take place on September 27th – 29th, 2019.

 

Working languages are English, German, French, Russian and all Slavic languages.
Applications for participation will be accepted till May 31th, 2019 to email: cbo_vtu@abv.bg

The papers in full text should be handed over to organizers by the end of the 2019.