The Syntax of Place-Names

THE YEARS,place-name studies in the United States have engaged the interest of the historian, the geographer, and the linguist.Their investigations have been concerned to a large extent with the kinds of names given in particular areas and with the influences and conditions that have prompted the application of these.It appears, however, that comparatively little has been done in this country respecting the composition of place-names and their essential syntax.The following extract, taken from "A Study of the Place-Names of Ocean County, New Jersey, 1609-1849,"1 suggests a method of syntactic analysis and indicates the kinds of findings such a method may lead to.In its entirety this work deals with three chronological-periods and a total of 825 names.The material presented here constitutes the syntactic analysis of the 311 names given during the second of these periods, extending from 1703 through 1789.The reader should bear in mind that the statements below describe the syntax of a comparatively small number of designations applied in a limited area over a relatively short period of time.In general, place-names are composed of two essential constituents: the generic, which indicates the kind of feature, and the specific, which gives particular information about it.These two elements together form a modification construction, with the generic serving as the head and the specific as the modifier.2 The order in which these elements occur determines the type of modification construction, and the makeup of each of the constituents in turn affects the total composition of the place-name.