This paper addresses an interesting issue in name theory, specifically the relationship between toponyms and spatial representations, as well as the cultural differences manifesting themselves in connection with these. Studies have shown that the name model (a general knowledge of names) created based on the mental representation of names is partly language and culture dependent. Thus, the knowledge of the speaker on how reliably the toponyms correlate with the actual features of the landscape or whether they should only be considered as labels identifying an area is culturally determined. This, in turn, influences the extent to which name-users may rely on them in structuring space and in creating a cognitive map.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of ideologically meaningful proper names, mainly oikonyms, and also to the indication and description of the three main tendencies noticed in Ukrainian oikonyms from the end of 1989 until 2016, during the social and political transformations in Ukraine and the decommunization processes connected with it. Using examples, the authors illustrate the phenomenon of korenizatsiya (nativisation), namely the recovery of historical names from before sovietisation, allusiveness, ensuring a neutral nature for names by referring to objects outside the area of politics and ideology, as well as glorification, the honoring and memorializing of events, heroes, and symbols connected with the past and modern history of Ukraine.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the linguistic and onymic properties of the geographical names of the Hutsul region (Гуцульщина, Ukraine) used by Stanisław Vincenz in the first volume (“Prawda starowieku”) of his tetralogy “Na wysokiej połoninie” (“On the High Uplands”). The volume was first published in 1936. The second edition appeared in 1980 in Poland and was the one which had the greatest impact on the reception of the Vincenz’s work in the Polish readership after WW2. This is why the 1980 edition has been used as the source of analysed toponymic material. The main finding is that the analysed toponymy is of heterogeneous and (to a certain extent) hybrid nature, combining Polish, Ukrainian, and dialectal Hucul linguistic properties, which perfectly coincides with general tendency in the use of geographical names of the Hucul region in texts produced in the Polish language from the mid-19th century. The names used by Vincenz in the book written in the period 1930–1936 seem to faithfully reflect some specific characteristics of Hutsul toponymy in the 1930s (as discussed by the linguist Stefan Hrabec in his dissertation). Finally, some instances of toponyms’ declension present in “Prawda starowieku” are discussed together with some examples of (partially folk) etymologies codified by Vincenz in his work.

Wine is a crucial part of the cultural history of the territory within the current borders of Bulgaria from the earliest times until now. It plays an important role in the life of Bulgarians and is a multiethnic heritage of this land. Bulgarian toponyms only archive a lexicon associated with wine in a small degree, with more toponyms found regarding vines and vineyards which were characteristic elements of the native landscape. The Bulgarian enonyms constitute a “multilingual patchwork”, where the locality (present, but not dominant) is mixed with globality. Locality is mainly reflected in the detoponymic and deanthroponymic names referring to the Bulgarian heritage and also the Thracian, Greek and Roman legacy of those lands. Globality is revealed in the linguistic “hybridity” manifested by the free use of foreign models, naming vocabulary and intertextuality appealing to a global experience. This part of Bulgarian enonymy derives mainly from the English and French language, as well as Spanish, Italian, Greek and Latin.

This article deals with the name of the town Węgrów on the river Liwiec, whose name is based on the obscure hydronym Węgra Potok. This name is juxtaposed with another place name, Węgra, which is found near Przasnysz and is named after the river Węgra (today known as Węgierka), as well as other names beginning with wągr-||węgr-. The author challenges Witczak’s (2015) hypothesis that the name of Węgra comes from the Sudovian (Jatvingian, Yotvingian) language. The article raises historical, archaeological and geographical arguments that oppose the possibility of a Yotvingian influence in these regions. Consequently, the author contends that the place names have a Slavonic root, linked to the noun węgorz (a type of fish), or the meandering nature of both rivers. There is also a discussion of the name patok||potok (stream/brook).

This article presents some cultural, historical and linguistic insights on the names of the Szczutowskie and Urszulewskie Lakes, both situated in the historical Dobrzyńskie Lakeland, today on the border between the Mazovian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeships (the historical border between Polish and Prussian-Teutonic states). The author also takes into account the description of the local place and terrain names, showing a common relation with the natural landscape, in which the two lakes are immersed.

This paper describes the characteristic lexicon in the Devic’ katastichos, the monastery book of the monastery Devic in the vicinity of the town of Srbica in Kosovo and Metohija. In this book, the priests wrote down the gifts that the believers gave them from 1762 to 1789. Based on the name of the believers, the names of the places from which they originated, their professions, based on the list of gifts to the monastery, the measurements determining the weight, volume or length of gifts, a clear picture can be formed about the dynamic life of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija during the 18th century, as well as the active life of Devic Monastery, to which the gifts were donated by the Orthodox Serbs, and also by the Albanians. According to the 2011 census, there are no more Serbs in Srbica, and the Monastery Devic was damaged in both World Wars and was burned down in 1999 and 2004. The work is dedicated to the celebration of eight centuries of autocephality of Serbian Orthodox Church (1219–2019), and consequently the autonomy the Serbian education, science, art and the entire spiritual life of Serbs, whose origins are related specifically to Kosovo and Metohija.

The paper discusses the method of the substitution by homophones that is extensively used in many fields in China, among others onomastics, such as toponymy or anthroponymy. The Chinese language has always contained a considerable number of homophones, i.e. words pronounced alike but spelt/written differently and having different meanings. The situation resulted from two main factors: the nature of the Chinese language and the sound changes to spoken Chinese language, i.e. a strong tendency to sound simplification. The method of the substitution by homophones is mainly aimed at reshaping already existing names by replacing their previous form, for some reasons unwanted. However, it is also broadly applied to create new names by using words which are homophonic with the words denoting the idea they symbolize. The paper presents some various reasons and aims of the use of the method in the domain of Chinese geographical names, and the more detailed analysis of its use in the changing of old street (hutong) names after 1949 in Beijing. The research material consists of 1,159 hutong names, and the names changed by the use of the method accounts for 23.5% of the total.