MD

Older urbanonyms can be termed traditional names, because they describe the place with reference to nearby infrastructural or natural features without any legal significance or designation. Such urbanonyms appeared spontaneously, merely as a means for inhabitants to orientate themselves and communicate locations between themselves.

There are two types of spatial perception of urbanonyms during Lviv’s Magdeburg time: those that were proper names of features with exact boundaries; and those that described a territory without exact borders (the spatial ambiguous notion).

So, I will try to research the solid layer of horonyms upon administrative-legal area of Early Modern Lviv. (Most “streets” can be accepted as horonyms. It is necessary to research the item “street”, as a linear item, separately).

Therefore it is suggested to classify town's proper names by their denotats, more precisely clearly – by items instead of to use proper nouns classification.

The perception of denotats changed overtime.

For example, in some Lviv's data everyone of the denotats with “laneus” received the possessive proper name with the mark of quantity:

• “Dwa łany y czwierć Szpitala S.Ducha” (Two laneus and ¼ of Saint Holy Spirit Hospital),
• “Pułtora łanu p. Doctora Noucampiana Pawła” (One and a half Laneus of Doctor Pawl Noucampian),
• “Półszosta łanow Freiborkowskich” (Five and a half laneus Freiborkowski).

The irradiation of name meanings, whereby the proper noun of the name was passed  from one object to another.

For example, the 1570 data author, who identified a Sokolnickie suburb, used this proper name for the following denotats: town, way, street:

• „łan ieden Piotra Hand[l]a poczynasię z drugą stroną miasta sokolnickiego od forty mieyskiey“ (Piotr Handl one laneus have its beginning in opposite side of the Sokolnickie town from the own gate),
• „od Łanu Syxtusowego który iuż poszdł pod cegielnią na gościniec Sokolnicki“ (from Syxt laneus nearby brick-yard to Sokolnicki way),
• „Pełczynski łan ieden, preciwko niemu ulica Sokolnicka przedmiescia Halickiego“ (One Pelczynski laneus [there is] Sokolnicka street of Halytske suburb in opposite to it ).

The irradiation of denotat meaning the denotat passed from one concept to other one.

It is clear that each use referred to the word “mountain (gora, gura)” exactly. However, the context of some 17th century data:

(1607 year) – “Gury kamienne y wapienne piece” (Stone mountains),

(1636 year) “Gorzy do łamania kamieni” (Mountains for breaking stones)

demonstrates that at times officials used the same terms to refer to a “quarry”.

Unclear notions of meaning (the concept ambigous)

a) Two or more denotats describe the same item (For example, the terms “plot (plac)” and “small holding (grunt)” are similar).

b) Protonotions or descriptive names.

c) The proper name without any denotat.

Onomasation of appeals

It is impossible to translate the denotat (concept of object) “vulka”, because it is a distorted or changed word from the old Ukrainian воля [volia] and old Polish wola (meaning will or independence).

Primarily this concept meant a settlement that was not subject to any rent. A landowners invited peasants to found a settlement and cultivate fields, vegetable gardens, graze cattle on his own territory etc; that's why this area was wild, settlers or tenants were free of taxes for some period.

A little “volia” named by the shrill word “volka” and during the centuries its writing schedule transformated to “vulka”. The first schedule (form, way) of writing was “wolia”, the shrill one – “wolka” and the last one – “wulka”.

There are many cases where the word “vulka” had transformed to the proper name, - there are proper noun “Wulka” in the 18th century Lviv register.

Urbanonym’s life time

The immobility (buildings, fields, mills, etc) was named by a name or surname of its proper name until late 16th – early 17th century and the denotat remained constant, but the proper noun changed after selling or bequeathing the laneus, house, field or any other item.

Examples of fixing such changes is evident in the 1636 register note:

„Jan Popieluch, ktory od Jana Włocha kupieł [grunt]“ (Jan Popieluch had bought [the small holding] from Jan Wloch).

Multivariate spelling of the proper noun in Lviv manuscripts.

For example officials wrote the name of town`s village Kulparkiv in such versions: Gotlperkow, Kolpark, Kolperkow, Kolparkow, Kulparkow.

Duplication of proper names existed in the cases that the same owner had two or more of the same items. There were two mills named Canonichyy in Lviv's suburbs, for example.

Conclusion

The research of the historical urbanonymy is impossible without the knowledge of historical topography.

In sum, one can see the list of Early Modern typical features for urbanonyms: the ambiguous notion of an area, the perception of the item’s concept, irradiation of name, unclear notion of meaning, onomasation of appeals, urbanonym’s life time, multivariate spelling of the proper noun, and duplication of a proper name. A scholar has to keep in mind these features in researching historical urbanonymy.

To avoid this complication, a researcher must complete two steps:

1. To classify items and draw their hierarchical graph, which should show all manner of a town’s items (natural, manmade and demarcated) and connections of their levels.

2. As it is impossible to depict some urbanonym features by the hierarchical graph it is useful to superimpose the obtained data on town items with their proper nouns by GIS. Such a "map" enables "tying" the proper names to items alongside their characteristics, properties and exceptions, not to mention the source base and the literature of the problem. Such visualization should considerably facilitate the continuation of urban historic studies.