Toponymic Policy in Naming City Facilities: Theoretical and Applied Issues

Abstract

The paper focuses on the issues of toponymic policy in relation to naming city places. The phenomenon of toponymic policy, per se, is a focal area of research in a multitude of humanities studies. However, the notion itself still requires theoretical and methodological clarification, and has not yet received a comprehensive reading. Nor is there a general understanding of methods and algorithms for the implementation of toponymic policies at the local level. The number of extensive comparative research on regional practices is also rather limited. The article attempts to comprehensively define the concept of “toponymic policy” and concludes that this is a complex activity which has specific aims depending on the spatial coordination function of toponyms. It is equally particular in terms of management, adoption rules, and practical implementation. In the abstract, toponymic policy is a set of legal, organizational, scholarly, methodical and media-related principles that build the rules for assigning names to urban places, as well as the norms for their use in business communication. In practical terms, toponymic policy is the very task of urban places naming, carried out by authorized legal entities. On the semantic side, toponymic policy also entails a humanistic, sociocultural component that connects it with linguistic, ethnic, cultural, ideological and other types of policies. The article highlights the role of strategic management in municipal toponymic policies, describes the principles of information sufficiency and openness in its implementation. It also presents examples of typical collisions in the contemporary practice of urban place naming.

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