The naming of waterfalls

As features of the landscape, waterfalls have been studied extensively by geographers, but the names given to these landforms have received relatively little scholarly attention. This paper examines the naming of waterfalls and addresses the question of classifying these hydronyms. The subject is considered in a global historical context, focusing on place names in the anglophone world. Until the 18th and 19th centuries, relatively few waterfalls were named.With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, water power rose in economic importance, and at the same time, there was a growing scientific and aesthetic engagement with the landscape. These developments are suggested as reasons for the increased interest in waterfalls which were then being recorded in topographical literature and on maps, individual names being given to increasing numbers of falls. European exploration added to the knowledge of the world’s waterfalls, many of which were given names by their ‘discoverers’. This naming process accelerated with the growth of domestic and overseas tourism which exploited scenic resources such as waterfalls. Until now, research on the names of waterfalls has been fragmentary, and the classification of these hydronyms has been neglected. This paper demonstrates that waterfall names can be classified in accordance with a recognised toponymic typology. Using examples drawn from waterfall guidebooks, databases, maps, and other sources, the following discussion supports George Stewart’s claim that his toponymic classification is valid for place names of all kinds.

Dicionário enciclopédico de topônimos do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul: uma proposta de modelo

Pós-graduação em Estudos Linguísticos - IBILCE

Um olhar sobre a toponímia dos rios em Mato Grosso do Sul

This study aims to analyze designative hydronyms – terms that name watercourses in general – within the hydronymy of Mato Grosso do Sul, available in the toponymic Atlas of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul database – ATEMS, which were extracted from the official maps of the IBGE, scale 1:100,000, related to the 78 cities in the state. Among these hydronyms, 149 toponyms relating to rivers were selected and analyzed according to their etymology, the taxonomic classification and morphosyntactic structure.