English placenames

The toponymy of England, like the English language itself, derives from various linguistic origins. Modern interpretations are apt to be inexact: many English toponyms have been corrupted and broken down over the years, due to changes in language and culture which have caused the original meaning to be lost. In some cases, words used in placenames are derived from languages that are extinct, and of which there are no extant known definitions; or placenames may be compounds between two or more languages from different periods. Many names predate the radical changes in the English language triggered by the Norman Conquest, and some predate the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons.

Placenames typically have meanings which were significant to the settlers of a locality (not necessarily the first settlers). Sometimes these meanings are relatively clear (for instance Newcastle, Three Oaks); but, more often, elucidating them requires study of ancient languages. In general, placenames in England contain three broad elements: personal names (or pre-existing names of natural features), natural features, and settlement functions. However, these elements derive from ancient languages spoken in the British Isles, and the combinations in a single name may not all date from the same period, or the same language. Much of the inferred development of British placenames relies on the breaking down and corruption of placenames. As the names lose their original meaning (because a new or modified language becomes spoken), the names are either changed, or drift to new forms, or are added to. An example is Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire, whose name seems to have grown by the accretion of elements stressing the hill in the language currently spoken.

The placenames of England are of diverse origins, largely due to historical changes in language and culture. These affected different regions at different times and to different extents. The exact nature of these linguistic/cultural changes is often controversial, but the general consensus is as follows.

The British Isles were inhabited during the Stone and Bronze Ages by peoples whose language is unknown. During the Iron Age, we can observe that the population of Britain shared a culture with the Celtic peoples inhabiting Northern Europe at the time. Land use patterns do not appreciably change from the Bronze Age period, suggesting that the population remained in situ. The evidence from this period, in the form mainly of placenames and personal names, make it clear that a Celtic language, termed Common Brittonic, was spoken across England by the Late Iron Age. At what point these languages spread to, or indeed developed in, England, or the British Isles as a whole, is open to debate, with the majority of estimates falling at some point in the Bronze Age.

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