Abstract
LANGUAGE OF PLACE NAMES: TOKAT PROVINCE EXAMPLE
Names of places are important social, historical, cultural and geographical indicators. They give information about origin, language, life style of people living in these places. Besides, they provide significant clues about the places’ topography, location or historical past. . Therefore, these names are research subject to various sciences. . One of the sub-branches of Linguistics, Onomastics researches the places’ names in terms of meaning,structure,origin and etc.
In this study, names of places in Tokat provinces are dealt (handled) and examined within the frame of Semantics. And the conceptual fields of these place names are defined with the motion arising from the results. Conceptual field is a unity constituted by the concepts which are close to each other , completing each other from various points and having a common connection between each other (Hengirmen, 1999: 246). Therefore, in this study, the place names in Tokat having a close meaning with each other, completing each other from various points or having common naming points are gathered in a conceptual field. By this means,we have reached a concrete result about how some situations during naming such as nature, faith,life, and cultural heritage inspired people living in Tokat and the reflections of this to language. Besides, some namings whose area of usage are lessened or meanings of which are forgotten are reminded again by both stating their meanings and showing their conceptual fields.
Keywords
The places in Tokat, conceptual field, Semantics
