Topic summary
Toponyms
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Toponymy.
Toponymic structure
Toponyms are often composed of two elements, described as the "generic" and the "specific". The generic identifies the kind of place denoted by the name, while the specific distinguishes the place from others in the same class. In the toponyms Oldham and Newham, for example, the generic is ham (meaning "homestead"), while the specifics are old and new. There are also "simplex" names, which consist of a generic only. English examples include Bath, Chester, and Poole.