Naming places: on and around Kangaroo Island

Abstract

Placename research or toponymy is a relatively new venture for linguistics. Once restricted to the domains of history, geography, surveying and cartography, placename research has now begun to receive the attention it deserves in Australia, with several conferences, publications and bodies devoted entirely to toponymy. Institutions like the Australian National Placenames Survey and the Committee for Geographical Names of Australasia are dedicated to recording all known Australian names, documenting their pronunciation, history, meaning and map location.