California Toponymy - a collection of geographical names, including the names of natural and cultural objects in the state of California . The structure and composition of the toponymy of the state is due to its geographical location and rich history .
California Name
The etymology of the toponym is not exactly known. According to the most common version, the name appeared due to one of the most famous cartographic errors in history associated with the mythical island of California .
In 1533, the Spaniards landed on the southeastern tip of the peninsula under the command of ; presumably, he gave the peninsula (which he accepted for the island) the name "California" ( Spanish ), borrowed from the then popular chivalrous novel "The Acts of Espandian " ( Spanish) Las sergas de Esplandián of the Spanish author García Rodriguez de Montalvo , a famous his previous novel is Amadis Galsky . In the "Acts of Espandian" on an island called California, there are black women warriors, among whom there is not a single man. All the weapons of the warriors are made of gold - the only metal available on the island, and in large quantities [1] . According to another version, the peninsula was opened in 1535 by E. Cortes , inspired by the novel of Rodriguez de Montalvo, and assigned it the name "Santa Cruz" ("Holy Cross"), but then this name, as it has already been repeatedly used in the New World , was replaced on California. In any case, the name "California" was already put on the map of D. Castillo in 1541 [1] .
There is also a version according to which the name comes from lat. calida fornax ("hot stove"), which the Spanish colonists characterized the region’s hot climate [1] . In Dixon’s textbook, in the section “The Origin of State Names,” the option is given: “Spanish researchers who came to these places found the climate so hot that they gave it the name“ furnace heat ”( Spanish calor de forni ).” This version of V. A. Nikonov and other toponyms are considered unreliable [2] .
State Nicknames
California, like all American states, has a number of nicknames . The most famous of them are “Eldorado State” ( English El Dorado State ), “Golden State” (official Golden State ) (official nickname), “Golden West” ( English Golden West ), “land of milk and honey” ( English Land of Milk and Honey ), "grape state" ( English The Grape State ) [3] . The vast majority of nicknames, including official, arose in connection with the so-called " California Gold Rush " - a massive unorganized mining of gold in 1848-1855. Then came the nickname of the state's inhabitants - “Gold Diggers”, “Gold Hunters” - “gold diggers”, “gold hunters”. Gold reserves in California quickly ran out, but the nickname has been preserved and currently has a pronounced advertising character [4] . Along with those mentioned, California has the same nickname “ The Eureka State ”, since the ancient Greek word “Eureka” has been the state's motto since 1849 [5] .
The formation and composition of toponymy
See also
- California Island
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Rays, 2002 , p. 181.
- ↑ Nikonov, 1966 , p. 169.
- ↑ The State of California - An Introduction to the Golden State from NETSTATE.COM . Date of treatment April 7, 2016. Archived March 30, 2016.
- ↑ Tomakhin, 1982 , p. 74.
- ↑ Tomakhin, 1982 , p. 89.
Literature
in Russian
- Belenkaya V.D. Essays in English toponymy. - M .: High School, 1977 .-- 227 p.
- Zhuchkevich V.A. General toponymy. 2nd edition, revised and amended. - Minsk: High School, 1968 .-- 432 p.
- Leonovich O.A. Toponyms of the USA. - M .: High School, 2004 .-- 247 p. - ISBN 5 -06-004969-8.
- Nikonov V.A. A Brief Toponymic Dictionary / Ed. E.I. Belev. - M .: Thought, 1966 .-- 509 p. - 32,000 copies.
- Pospelov E. M. Geographical names of the world. Toponymic dictionary / resp. ed. R. A. Ageeva. - 2nd ed., Stereotype. - M .: Russian dictionaries, Astrel, AST, 2002. - 512 p. - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-001389-2 .
- Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / A. M. Komkov. - M .: Nedra, 1986.- 459 p.
- Tomakhin G. D. America through Americanisms. - M .: Higher school, 1982. - 256 p.
in English
- Davidson, John. The origin and the meaning of the name California . - San Francisco: Geographical Society of the Pacific, 1910.
- Chapman, Charles E. A history of California: the Spanish period . - Macmillan, 1921.
- de Montalvo, Garci Rodríguez. Las sergas de Esplandián (The labors of the very brave Knight Esplandián) / William Thomas Little (translator). - Binghamton, New York : Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton, 1992. - Vol. 92. - ISBN 0866981063 .
- Hale, Edward Everett (March 1864), " The Queen of California ", The Atlantic Monthly T. 13 (77): 265–279 , < http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer ? frames = 1 & coll = moa & view = 50 & root =% 2Fmoa% 2Fatla% 2Fatla0013% 2F & tif = 00271.TIF & cite = http% 3A% 2F% 2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu% 2Fcgi-bin% 2Fmoa% 2Fmoa-cgi% 3F29is 0013-41 >
- Polk, Dora Beale. The Island of California: A History of the Myth. - Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1995 .-- ISBN 0803287410 .
- Putnam, Ruth. California: the name / Herbert Ingram Priestley. - Berkeley: University of California, 1917.