Substrate toponyms

[Ante Aikio]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------


Dear HISTLING members,

I am a student of the Sami (Lapp) language and general linguistics in
Finland; my field of interest is comparative Uralic linguistics, in
particular the origin and history of Samic and Finnic languages. I ask for
your advice on references that discuss traces of language shifts in place
names. I am currently working on a paper that discusses Sami substrate
place names that occur in central and southern Finland, and I intend to
write my dissertation on the same subject.

It would be most useful to get acquainted with similar research conducted
elsewhere. I am interested in any references that discuss related issues.
However, papers on the subject are scattered and hard to come by. Both
theoretical and methodological treatments of general interest and case
studies concentrating on a particular language and/or area are welcome.
References in English or German would be most welcome; however, if there
are important works in other common languages (Russian, French, Spanish,
etc.), I will try to make out the relevant parts with the assistance of
colleagues and a dictionary.

Questions that I find particularly interesting include e.g. the following:
what toponyms are borrowed in language shifts, i.e. what kind of
typological traits does toponymic substrate display, and how it differs
from superstrate influence; what kind of phonetic and structural
nativization and alteration the borrowed names undergo; are there cases of
a manifest toponymic subtrate, but little traces of language shift in
other parts of the lexicon and/or grammar; to what extent can toponymic
substrate be used as evidence of ethnic history (in the absence of
historical records).

In exchange for information, I can only offer my warmest thanks - and, of
course, I will be glad to answer any questions concerning Samic substrate
toponyms in Finnish, and related issues, in the case that someone finds
the subject to be of interest.

with best regards,

Ante Aikio
---
University of Oulu, Finland
e-mail: ante.aikio at oulu.fi