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The toponymy of England, like the English language itself, derives from various linguistic origins. Modern interpretations are apt to be inexact: many English toponyms have been corrupted and broken down over the years, due to changes in language and culture which have caused the original meaning to be lost. In some cases, words used in placenames are derived from languages that are extinct, and of which there are no extant known definitions; or placenames may be compounds between two or more languages from different periods. Many names predate the radical changes in the English language triggered by the Norman Conquest, and some predate the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Placenames typically have meanings which were significant to the settlers of a locality (not necessarily the first settlers). Sometimes these meanings are relatively clear (for instance Newcastle, Three Oaks); but, more often, elucidating them requires study of ancient languages. In general, placenames in England contain three broad elements: personal names (or pre-existing names of natural features), natural features, and settlement functions. However, these elements derive from ancient languages spoken in the British Isles, and the combinations in a single name may not all date from the same period, or the same language. Much of the inferred development of British placenames relies on the breaking down and corruption of placenames. As the names lose their original meaning (because a new or modified language becomes spoken), the names are either changed, or drift to new forms, or are added to. An example is Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire, whose name seems to have grown by the accretion of elements stressing the hill in the language currently spoken.〔''Bre'' is Welsh, ''dun'' English for hill. "It looks as though the local British people spoke of 'the hill' and the English, not realising 'bre' was a common noun, took it for the name of the hill. A later failure to understand the meaning of the Old English 'dun' has caused the .. .. name to become Breedon on the Hill" 〕 ==Origins== The placenames of England are of diverse origins, largely due to historical changes in language and culture. These affected different regions at different times and to different extents. The exact nature of these linguistic/cultural changes is often controversial,〔Pryor, F. ''Britain AD'', ISBN 978-0-00-718187-2〕 but the general consensus is as follows. The British Isles were inhabited during the Stone and Bronze Ages by peoples whose language is unknown. During the Iron Age, we can observe that the population of Britain shared a culture with the Celtic peoples inhabiting Northern Europe at the time.〔 Land use patterns do not appreciably change from the Bronze Age period, suggesting that the population remained in situ.〔 The evidence from this period, in the form mainly of placenames and personal names, make it clear that a Celtic language, termed Common Brittonic, was spoken across England by the Late Iron Age. At what point these languages spread to, or indeed developed in, England, or the British Isles as a whole, is open to debate, with the majority of estimates falling at some point in the Bronze Age. The principal substrate of British placenames is thus Celtic in origin, and more specifically Brythonic ('British'), ancestral to modern Welsh and more distantly related to the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland. The oldest placenames in England appear to be the names of rivers, many of which should certainly be interpreted as Brythonic in origin. In the areas of England in which Brythonic languages were not replaced until relatively late on (Cumbria, Cornwall), most placenames are still essentially Brythonic in origin. After the Roman conquest, many Latinate placenames appear, particularly associated with military settlements. Often, these were simply the latinisation of existing names; e.g. ''Verulamium'' for ''Verlamion'' (St. Albans); ''Derventio'' for ''Derwent'' (Malton). After the collapse of Roman Britain, few of these placenames survived. Most Roman sites are known by later names; many are marked as Roman sites by the suffix ''chester/cester/caster'' (from the Latin ''castra'' = camp), but with no reference to the Roman name. The influence of Latin on British placenames is thus generally only slight. In the so-called "Dark Ages", which followed the end of the Roman Empire, major changes occurred in most of the part of Britain now called England. (Brythonic-speaking Cornwall was an exception, more akin to Welsh toponymy.) The language of this region became Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic language originating in north-west Germany and Denmark. Traditionally, this has been supposed to be due to a mass migration of Angles and Saxons into Britain, "pushing back the Celts into Wales and Scotland".〔 However, this view is supported neither by archaeology nor by genetics, and it is possible that a small ruling class of Anglo-Saxon settlers culturally 'Germanised' the region of Britain over successive generations.〔Thomas MG, Stumpf MP, Härke H. Evidence for an apartheid-like social structure in early Anglo-Saxon England. Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Oct 22;273(1601):2651-7.〕 Whatever the cause, due to this linguistic (if not cultural) replacement, most placenames in modern England are discernibly Anglo-Saxon. A large fraction of these contain personal names, suggesting that they were named after the first Anglo-Saxon to dwell there. Personal names are less common in Brythonic placenames. Some English placenames commemorate non-Christian religions. Many of them refer to the old Germanic religion: see List of non-Christian religious placenames in Britain. A few centuries after, in the period c. 850–1050 AD, the north and east of England and the islands and coasts of Scotland were settled by Norwegian and Danish 'Vikings'.〔Schama S. A History of Britain Volume 1. ISBN 978-0-563-48714-2.〕 Many placenames in these areas are thus of Old Norse origin. Since Old Norse had many similarities to Anglo-Saxon, there are also many hybrid Saxon/Norse placenames in the Danelaw, the half of England that was under Danish rule for a time. Again, many of the Viking placenames contain personal names, suggesting they are named for the local Norse/Danish lord or chieftain.〔(Standard English words which have a Scandinavian Etymology ) 〕 After the Norman invasion of England in 1066 AD, some Norman French influences can be detected in placenames, notably the simplification of ''ch'' to ''c'' in ''Cerne'' and ''-cester'', and the addition of names of feudal lords as in Stoke Mandeville.〔(Place Details )〕 However, extension of the Norman system into the lowlands of Scotland resulted in the development of Scots as the spoken language, which was based on the Northumbrian dialect of Old English. Non-Celtic place names are therefore common in the southern part of Scotland, for instance Edinburgh. Placenames in Britain have remained relatively stable since the early Norman period, breaking down and 'weathering' to modern forms, but without further dramatic changes. At most, some place names have continued to accrue pre- or suffixes, such as 'Little'; or distinguishing features, such as a local river name. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Toponymy of England」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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