Historic Place Names of New Zealand


Book Description

"The aim of this book is to show how our pakeha place names are linked with our history. It is not intended to be a dictionary of all the place names of New Zealand ... Purely descriptive names whose origins are obvious have been ignored unless circumstances connected with the giving of the name made their inclusion desirable"--Jacket.




Place Naming, Identities and Geography


Book Description

This book presents research on geographical naming on land and sea from a wide range of standpoints on: theory and concepts, case studies and education. Space and place naming or toponymy has a long tradition in the sciences and a renewed critical interest in geography and allied disciplines including the humanities. Place: location and cartographical aspects, etymology and geo-histories so salient in past studies, are now being enhanced from a range of radical perspectives, especially in a globalizing, standardizing world with Googlization and the consequent ‘normalization’ of place names, perceptions and images worldwide including those for marketing purposes. Nonetheless, there are conflicting and contesting voices. The interdisciplinary research is enhanced with authors from regional, national and international toponymy-related institutions and organizations including the UNGEGN, IGU, ICA and so forth.




The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names


Book Description

There is no populated place without a name, and every name is chosen for a reason. This fascinating dictionary unveils the etymological roots and history of thousands of locations and landmarks from around the world. It contains over 11,000 entries, and covers an enormous range of country, region, island, city, town, mountain and river names from across the world, as well as the name in the local language. Place names are continually changing, and new names are adopted for many different reasons such as invasion, revolution, and decolonization. The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names includes selected former names, and, where appropriate, some historical detail to explain the transition. The names of places often offer a real insight into the places themselves, revealing religious and cultural traditions, the migration of peoples, the ebb and flow of armies, the presence of explorers, local languages, industrial developments and topography. Superstition and legend can also play a part. This new edition has been updated to include over 750 new names, including Azincourt, Kropyvnyts'kyy , and Tlaxcala. It has also been edited to reflect socio-political and geographical shifts, notably the reorganisation of the French regions, and their consequent name alterations, as well as the decommunization of Ukrainian place-names. In addition to the entries themselves, the dictionary includes two appendices: a glossary of foreign word elements which appear in place-names and their meanings, and a list of personalities and leaders from all over the world who have influenced the naming of places.




Placenames of the World


Book Description

A placename is often much more than just a label. A name may bespeak the history of a nation, the culture of a people, or the hopes of an individual. Such connections are revealed in this very large reference work on placenames of the world, which offers an in-depth look at the origins of each. First published in 1997, this 2006 edition contains 6,000+ entries--natural features such as mountains, rivers and lakes and human entities such as cities and countries. Each entry includes the name of the feature; a brief description and its geographical location; and the origin of the name with relevant historical, biographical and topographical details. Appendices give the meanings of common elements of non-English placenames (e.g., Abu, as in Abu Dhabi, means "father of"); major placenames in European languages (e.g., Pays-Bas and Paesi Bassi are the French and Italian names, respectively, for what English speakers call the Netherlands); and transcribed Chinese-language equivalents for the names of the world's countries and capitals.




The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals


Book Description

The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals is the only definitive reference on all the land-breeding mammals recorded in the New Zealand region (including the New Zealand sector of Antarctica). It lists 65 species, including native and exotic, wild and feral, living and extinct, residents, vagrants and failed introductions. It describes their history, biology and ecology, and brings together comprehensive and detailed information gathered from widely scattered or previously unpublished sources. The description of each species is arranged under standardised headings for easy reference. Because the only native land-breeding mammals in New Zealand are bats and seals, the great majority of the modern mammal fauna comprises introduced species, whose arrival has had profound effects both for themselves and for the native fauna and flora. The book details changes in numbers and distribution for the native species, and for the arrivals it summarises changes in habitat, diet, numbers and size in comparison with their ancestral stocks, and some of the problems they present to resource managers. For this third edition, the text and references have been completely updated and reorganised into Family chapters. The colour section includes 14 pages of artwork showing all the species described and their main variations, plus two pages of maps.







De-Commemoration


Book Description

In the wake of recent protests against police violence and racism, calls to dismantle problematic memorials have reverberated around the globe. This is not a new phenomenon, however, nor is it limited to the Western world. De-Commemoration focuses on the concept of de-commemoration as it relates to remembrance. Drawing on research from experts on memory dynamics across various disciplines, this extensive collection seeks to make sense of the current state of de-commemoration as it transforms contemporary societies around the world.




Naming Rights, Place Branding, and the Cultural Landscapes of Neoliberal Urbanism


Book Description

In recent decades, urban policymakers have increasingly embraced the selling of naming rights as a means of generating revenue to construct and maintain urban infrastructure. The contemporary practice of toponymic commodification has its roots in the history of philanthropic gifting and the commercialization of professional sports, yet it has now become an integral part of the policy toolkit of neoliberal urbanism more generally. As a result, the naming of everything from sports arenas to public transit stations has come to be viewed as a sponsorship opportunity, yet such naming rights initiatives have not gone uncontested. This edited collection examines the political economy and cultural politics of urban place naming and considers how the commodification of naming rights is transforming the cultural landscapes of contemporary cities. Drawing upon case studies ranging from the selling of naming rights for sports arenas in European cities and metro stations in Dubai to the role of philanthropic naming in the "Facebookification" of San Francisco’s gentrifying neighborhoods, the contributions to this book draw attention to the diverse ways in which toponymic commodification is reshaping the identities of public places into time-limited, rent-generating commodities and the broader implications of these changes on the production of urban space. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Urban Geography.




Indigenous and Minority Placenames


Book Description

This book showcases current research into Indigenous and minority placenames in Australia and internationally. Many of the chapters in this volume originated as papers at a Trends in Toponymy conference hosted by the University of Ballarat in 2007 that featured Australian and international speakers. The chapters in this volume provide insight into the quality of toponymic research that is being undertaken in Australia and in countries such as Canada, Finland, South Africa, New Zealand, and Norway. The research presented here draws on the disciplines of linguistics, geography, history, and anthropology. The book includes meticulous studies of placenames in central NSW and the Upper Hunter region; Gundungurra cave names; western Arnhem Land; Northern Cape York Peninsula and Mount Wheeler in Queensland; saltwater placenames around Mer in the Torres Strait; and the Kaurna in South Australia.




Standardisation and the Wealth of Place Names: Aspects of a Delicate Relationship


Book Description

Standardisation and the Wealth of Place Names – Aspects of a Delicate Relationship is a selection of double-blind peer-reviewed papers from the 6th International Symposium on Place Names that took place virtually 29 September – 1 October 2021. The symposium explored the issues of multiple place names vis-à-vis processes of standardisation. These studies collectively show that there is not a simplistic dichotomy between standardisation and the protection of cultural heritage. Some papers grapple with the implications and execution of standardisation processes, while others explore the emergence of alternative or unofficial names in response to top-down initiatives. The matter of signed place names also receives some attention. A number of papers excavate the layers of multiple place names, thereby contributing to our ‘wealth’ of toponymic knowledge. These proceedings are the product of collaboration between Southern African and international researchers. As such, it is a valuable resource to local as well as international scholars who are interested in the interdisciplinary field of toponymy.