Language and Place-knowledge on Norfolk Island

Title
Language and Place-knowledge on Norfolk Island
Publication Date
2015
Author(s)
Nash, Joshua
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8312-5711
Email: jnash7@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jnash7
Low, M
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1080/00141844.2014.889187
UNE publication id
une:22068
Abstract
Using the place-naming practices in the small settler society of Norfolk Island, the home of Anglo-Polynesian descendants of the Bounty mutineers, we advance a linguistic argument against Saussure's claims concerning the arbitrariness of signs. When extended to place names, Saussure's claims about language in general imply place names in themselves hold no significance for how people interact with places. In contrast, we use ethnographic examples to show that people of Norfolk Island interact with the significance of the names themselves. Arguments for an integrated approach to toponymy in which place names are considered alongside other relational (cultural, economic and historical) factors that influence their use and meaning are put forward. We propose 'toponymic ethnography' as a useful methodology for understanding the connectedness of toponyms to people, place, and social networks.
Link
Citation
Ethnos, 80(3), p. 385-408
ISSN
1469-588X
0014-1844
Start page
385
End page
408

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