| 2007 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Marja Kallasmaa. What to Do with vere-Final Names? | 2007, nr. 6 |
The article summarizes the available researchexperience on the Estonian vere-final place names and representsthe material on vere-final settlement names found in theplace name files of the Institute of the Estonian Language assupplemented by the KNAB database. A short reference is made tothe available theories, concentrating on the issue of -vere< pere and -vere < veere and basingon the model structure K1Nom/Gen + K2Nom/Gen of Estonian toponyms.The possibility is considered that the alleged assart term –ve(e)r(e) – if the assumptionsof V. Pall and P. Ariste are true, of course – could oncehave also occurred in place names as the initial component, havingby now become indistinguishable from the genitive form of veri'blood', e.g. in Verevainu, Veresell villa (fromthe historical Land Registry of Läänemaa), the supposedterm name *Veer from South-Estonia, and the former *Veerküla.Although nowadays homonymy makes it hard to distinguish amongthe possible different origins of the -vere component inEstonian place names (veri, veer, -u 'slope',veer, -e 'bank, brink' and the supposed veer'deciduous forest, forested hill') the latter could still be consideredfor older Vere-initial names. The differences can hardlybe ascertained without using indirect methods such as studyingthe dialectal distribution of the relevant common names, arealdistribution of the toponyms in question, models of place namestructure, and internal system pressure. In addition, the possibleinfluence of Latvian and Russian dialects should not be overlooked.
Keywords: Estonian language, placenames, models of place name structure, the topoformant -vere,homonymy.
Marja Kallasmaa (b. 1950), PhD, senior reseacher,Institute of the Estonian Language, Department of the Estoniandialects and cognate languages
marja@eki.ee
| 2007 | | | | | | | | | | | | |