Still having a conflict potential? German and Hungarian toponyms in the Czech and Slovak national corpora texts

Abstract

The paper focuses on German forms of place names in Czechia and Slovakia, and Hungarian forms of place names in Slovakia, especially on their revitalization and perception after 1989. This concerns their thematization, which is illustrated on the Czech National Corpus and the Slovak National Corpus materials, and on the 1990s discussions about their restoration. German place-name forms are not considered to be a crucial political topic these days; however, Hungarian forms still represent a conflict potential. German forms in Czechia are only thematized in poetry and fiction books, in order to evoke lasting time and the complicated modern Czech history. On the other hand, they are predominantly used in trade names as a marketing tool aimed at German (localization function) and Czech customers (allusive function). In Slovakia, Hungarian forms are not used in marketing and are not thematized in fiction as a positive value connected with the national history.