The Dorna toponym. Etymology and linguistic interference issues
The Dorna toponym. Etymology and linguistic interference issues

Summary/Abstract: In order to establish a toponymic etymology one is supposed to identify the manner in which facts of language relating to names connect to the signified reality and its socio-geographic context. The study of the Dorna toponym represents such a case proving that there are situations in which a good knowledge of the extra-linguistic reality from a diachronic perspective becomes an argument in favour of the validity of a certain linguistic interpretation. The analysis of homonym toponyms, of the derivatives and phrases containing a specific toponym in relation to the designated reality and its history indicate toponymic series with a similar history. Our particular case deals with series of descriptive origins and personal origins. The analysis of the toponymic field of the hydronym Dorna (the name of the main right tributary of Bistrița river) emphasizes the changes affecting the Romanian proper names following the contact with the German language motivated by the country being governed by Austrian authorities in the period 1774–1918, changes that mainly influenced the entire socio-geographic context corresponding to this toponymic field.

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