The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names: Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society
Cambridge University Press, 2/2/2007
EAN 9780521168557, ISBN10: 0521168554
Paperback, 778 pages, 24.6 x 18.9 x 4.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in 2004, this alphabetical dictionary is a major reference work, based on the archives of the English Place-Name Society and reflecting the scholarship in the subject, of all the names of cities, towns, villages, hamlets, rivers, streams, hills and other geographical locations included in the Ordnance Survey Road Atlas of Great Britain (1983). It provides a reflection of contemporary England, not just its historical past. Every place-name entry has a unique National Grid reference number, a list of historical spellings, the age and meaning of the name and its etymology (pre-Indo-European, Indo-European, Celtic, Primitive Welsh, Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Old French, Middle English, Modern English). Where appropriate, a commentary is provided on comparable names, on the problems, history and significance of the name for settlement, economic and social history, the development of the language and on its variant pronunciations and spellings.
Preface
Guide to dictionary entries
List of abbreviations
Glossary of most frequently used elements
Distribution maps
References
Places-names.
Review of the hardback: '... a captivating resource for those of us simply curious about the oddities of English place-names ... This catalogue of place-names will make an essential tool for anyone seriously involved in the cartography or topography of the British Isles ... It is a project that is dizzying in scale, and manages the rare trick of being a useful commercial resource, an unimpeachable scholarly reference and a source of great pleasure for the curious.' Rare Book Review