toponymies
Toponymy, sometimes encountered as toponymies in plural usage, is the study of place names (toponyms) and their origins, meanings, distributions, and uses. It is a branch of onomastics and covers settlements, geographic features, regions, and areas labeled on maps. Toponyms reflect language, culture, history, and geography, and they often change with political power, migration, and linguistic contact. Researchers distinguish endonyms (the name used by local communities) from exonyms (names used by outsiders or in other languages).
Methods include linguistic analysis of word formation, historical documentation from chronicles and maps, and comparison across
Applications include cartography, GIS, and the standardization of place names for navigation and data interoperability. Many