Wherein lies the heritage value of place names?

Abstract

There is a growing academic consensus that place names represent a valuable form of intangible cultural heritage of humanity and therefore they deserve systematic recognition and protection. However, when we attempt to put this idea into practice, we run into many problems. First, we have to define the heritage value of place names and establish the object of protection efforts. Second, we have to weigh political, moral, and practical implications of specific choices, set protection priorities and select from alternative courses of action each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we have to reflect self-critically on our protection efforts in order to honour the dynamic nature of toponymic systems and allow people to choose or coin place names for the places which are important to them. The paper discusses the most important dilemmas we face in place-name recognition and protection and suggests possible solutions to some of them.