TOPONYMIC GUIDELINES OF POLAND - KSNG Nazwy geograficzne

Kresowe (borderland) dialects are characterized by the semipalatalpronunciation of [ç,], [z,], [ tç,], with a stronger stress, which)causes a prolonged pronunciation of the stressed syllable and a partialreduction of unstressed vowels. These features are not reflected in thespelling of geographical names.Certain features are characteristic of areas larger than the area ofa single dialect, e. g. the change of ra-, ja- intore-, je- (characteristicof the northern part of the country). These features are reflected incertain geographic names (compare Żory in Silesia and Żaryelsewhere, Dąbrówno in Kujawy and Dąbrowno in southern Poland,Redłowo in northern Poland and Radłów elsewhere, Pleszew inWielkopolska and Płaszów in Małopolska).4. Origin of Geographical Names in PolandThe oldest geographic names in Poland are from pre-Polishperiod. These are usually names of large objects like mountain ranges(Sudety, Karpaty), rivers (Wisła, Odra). Lake and river names innortheastern Poland usually have Baltic origin (Prussian, Yatvingian,Lithuanian), e.g. Mamry, Pregoła. However, these old names are notvery frequent.The majority of geographic names in Polish lands are eitherthose specific to the whole Slavic territory (e.g. Studzienica,Kamienna, Potok), or those, whose phonetics is specifically Polish(e.g. Dąbrowa, Bród, Czarna Rzeka).The following toponyms exemplify the group of names beingthe old polish or dialectal appellative. The most common examplesinclude:Bardo ‘hill’Bielawy from bielawa ‘swamp’Bielsko from biel ‘marsh’Chełm ‘hill’Debrzno from debrz ‘ravine, valley’Hel ‘foreland stretching into the sea’Kałek from kał ‘mud’Kościerzyna from kościerz ‘scrub’22