TOPONYMIC STUDIES IN GREAT BRITAIN (20TH–21ST CENTURIES): EVOLUTION, METHODS, AND COMPARISON WITH UZBEK TOPONYMS

Abstract

This thesis traces the evolution of toponymic studies in Great Britain from the early 20th century to the present, highlighting a progression from philological antiquarianism to an interdisciplinary field integrating linguistics, geography, folklore, and critical theory. The establishment of the English Place-Name Society (EPNS) in 1920 revolutionized the discipline through systematic county surveys, emphasizing etymological analysis of linguistic layers (Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Norman) and landscape correlations. Key scholars such as Eilert Ekwall (river names), Margaret Gelling (environmental descriptors), John Field (field names), and W.F.H. Nicolaisen (folklore influences) illuminated place names as historical and cultural artifacts. Late-20th- and 21st-century developments, including Berg and Vuolteenaho's Critical Toponymies (2009) and cognitive linguistic approaches, explore naming as a mechanism of power, identity, and spatial cognition in urban and modern contexts.

In comparative perspective, the thesis juxtaposes these advancements with the sacred toponymy of Bukharan ziyoratgohlar—Uzbekistan's Sufi pilgrimage sites—where names encode spiritual hagiography, locative descriptors, and cultural resilience against Soviet-era suppression. Both traditions underscore toponymy as a repository of memory and heritage: Britain's empirical preservation via EPNS parallels Bukhara's devotional continuity in fostering communal identity and tourism. Ultimately, this analysis advocates for global onomastic collaboration to safeguard intangible cultural landscapes amid modernization.