hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2014-01-27

■ #1736. イギリス州名の由来 [onomastics][toponymy][etymology][map][celtic]

　昨日の記事「#1735. カナダ州名の由来」 ([2014-01-26-1]) に続いて，今回はイギリスの州 (county, shire) の名前の起源について．まずは，州境の入った地図を掲げたい．Ordnance Survey - Outline maps より入手した，1972--1996年の旧州名の入った地図である．下図をクリックして拡大 (65KB) ，あるいはさらなる拡大版 (260KB)，あるいはPDF版 (243KB) を参照しながらどうぞ．



　以下の州名の由来は，Crystal (143) にもとづく．Western Isles, Highland, Central, Borders など，自明のものは省略してある．当然ながらケルト諸語に由来する州名が多い．

Avon	"river"
Bedford	"Beda's ford"
Berkshire	"county of the wood of Barroc" ("hilly place")
Buckingham	"riverside land of Bucca's people"
Cambridge	"bridge over the river Granta"
Cheshire	"county of Chester" (Roman "fort")
Cleveland	"hilly land"
Clwyd	"hurdle" (? on river)
Cornwall	"(territory of) Britons of the Cornovii" ("promontory people")
Cumbria	"territory of the Welsh"
Derby	"village where there are deer"
Devon	"(territory of) the Dumnonii" ("the deep ones", probably miners)
Dorset	"(territory of the) settlers around Dorn" ("Dorchester")
Dumfries and Galloway	"woodland stronghold"; "(territory of) the stranger-Gaels"
Durham	"island with a hill"
Dyfed	"(territory of) the Demetae"
Essex	"(territory of) the East Saxons"
Fife	"territory of Vip" (?)
Glamorgan	"(Prince) Morgan's shore"
Gloucester	"(Roman) fort at Glevum" ("bright place")
Grampian	unknown origin
Gwent	"favoured place"
Gwynedd	"(territory of) Cunedda" (5th-century leader)
Hampshire	"county of Southampton" ("southern home farm")
Hereford and Worcester	"army ford"; "(Roman) fort of the Wigora"
Hertford	"hart ford"
Humberside	"side of the good river"
Kent	"land on the border" (?)
Lancashire	"(Roman) fort on the Lune" ("health-giving river")
Leicester	"(Roman) fort of the Ligore people"
Lincoln	"(Roman) colony at Lindo" ("lake place")
London	"(territory of) Londinos" ("the bold one") (?)
Lothian	"(territory of) Leudonus"
Man	"land of Mananan" (an Irish god)
Manchester	"(Roman) fort at Mamucium"
Merseyside	"(side of the) boundary river"
Norfolk	"northern people"
Northampton	"northern home farm"
Northumberland	"land of those dwelling north of the Humber"
Nottingham	"homestead of Snot's people"
Orkney	"whale island" (?) (After J. Field, 1980)
Oxford	"ford used by oxen"
Powys	"provincial place"
Scilly	unknown origin
Shetland	"hilt land"
Shropshire	"county of Shrewsbury" ("fortified place of the scrubland region")
Somerset	"(territory of the) settlers around Somerton" ("summer dwelling")
Stafford	"ford beside a landing-place"
Strathclyde	"valley of the Clyde" (the "cleansing one")
Suffolk	"southern people"
Surrey	"southern district"
Sussex	"(territory of) the South Saxons"
Tayside	"silent river" or "powerful river"
Tyne and Wear	"water, river"; "river"
Warwick	"dwellings by a weir"
Wight	"place of the division" (of the sea) (?)
Wiltshire	"county around Wilton" ("farm on the river Wylie")
Yorkshire	"place of Eburos"

（後記　2014/02/24(Mon)：イギリス州名の学習にはこちらをどうぞ．）

　・ Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2003.

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