Lesson Title: Names on the Land: Toponyms

Author: Eileen Taylor

Author Info: West High School, Salt Lake City, Utah
Grade: 9-12

Time Needed: Two to three class periods

Overview: In this lesson, students locate and identify place names as clues to the history of settlement in an area. Although this lesson is written primarily for AP high school students, portions of it can be used with much younger students.

Definition of Key Terms:

Toponym: The name of a place; place name
Cultural Region: An area that is distinguished from other areas on the basis of distinctive cultural traits such as ethnicity, religion, language or other aspects of culture.
Sequent Occupance: The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.
Cultural Landscape: The features constructed by humans that form part of the visible environment.

Objectives: Students will:
1. Define key words of the lesson.
2. Understand the significance of place names in individual states or regions.
3. Research place names.
4. Identify layers of groups (explorers, ethnic, religious, etc.) that settled an area.
5. Make a time line.
6. Give an oral presentation.
7. Evaluate the significance of findings.


Materials:

1. Topographical and political maps of the U.S. and other regions.
2. Topographical, political and road maps of your area.
3. Book: "Names on the Land" by George Stewart.
4. Many states or even counties have books on local place names.






Preparation:

Place names or Toponyms, often survive as evidence of the early settlement in an area. For example, on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, there are at least four "layers" of place names, each a product of a stage of settlement. The first layer, the Arawark Indians, had no written language, so most of their words died with them. Still, a few place names such as Aqualta Vale, Liguanea, and Guanaboa are derivatives from Arawak words. In fact, the name Jamaica itself may be Arawak in origin. Spanish is the second layer. The Spanish dominated Jamaica until they were forced out by the British in the mid-seventeenth century. Spanish names of many towns Port Antonio, Santa Crux, Montague Bay, and rivers, Rio Mooney, Rio Core, remain throughout the island.
The most numerous toponyms in Jamaica are the layer consisting of English, Scottish, and Welsh names like Kingston, Junk, and Llandovery. Finally, some settlements, particular in the interior mountains, show the influence of a fourth layer--African. These settlements were established and named by escaped slaves in the eighteenth century and by those emancipated after 1838. Wit-a-Bit and Quick Step in the isolated Land of the Look Behind are examples. These lilting names, with English words arranged in Jamaican structures that reveal African influences, are symbols of the varied cultures that have produced the diverse Jamaican society (Cundall 1971)

Activities:

1. Discuss all key terms.
2. Have a teacher led discussion using maps to discover patterns of place names various places in the United States.
3. Divide the class in to small groups.
4. Assign each group a particular area of your community and the surrounding area.
5. Have students research or do fieldwork to discover toponyms of street names, businesses, physical landscape, etc. of their assigned area.
6. Have students research the origin of these place names to identify the people who settled these areas and make a time line.
7. Have each group present their findings to the whole class.


Evaluation:
A class discussion where students discuss the significance of their findings.

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