Lexicographic problems of urbanonymy: Names of topographic objects in Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk

Abstract

Legal regulation of the issues of naming, renaming, normalization and codification, registration, and preservation of city names is tied with the linguistic problem of the toponymic space delimitation. Being a point of shared interest of lawyers and linguists, geographers and histori-ans, public authorities and regular citizens, it also relates to the task of developing standardized toponymic terminology that could be used regardless of the context. The publication focuses on normalization and codification of urban names in two cities of the Urals, Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk. The research is based on reference books of different years, lists of street names presented on the Internet, and other sources. The regulatory presentation of the names of urban objects in reference books involves a number of problems, such as eliminating discrepancies in spelling, including orthographic inconsistencies, specifying accents, differentiating the toponym itself from the toponymic appellative (term) being part of the name. It also problematizes the use of mixed-case letter combinations and other questions of formal arrangement of urban names, including the use of numerals, concatenated and separate spellings, hyphenated writing, etc. Noting shortcomings in the traditional ways of urban names presentation in reference books, the author offers solutions to that, citing examples of the standardized approach to dealing with such material.